Here Come the Judge

[wgt]

Tuesday is court night in Allegany. Tonight, Tyler should learn his legal fate as he appears before the Allegany Court Judge. A hefty fine and mandatory counseling are a given. License suspension is also a given with the length of suspense up to the judge. Tyler could petition lifting this if a strong case could be made that a car is required in his employment. I certainly don’t expect that to happen. Court will require Tyler's participation in the Bona counseling program dealing with substance abuse. His assigned counselor will communicate regularly with the judge to report progress. These Bona counselors are kept mighty busy, as are their counterparts at campuses across the land. It started last August at Bona when dozens of citations (underage drinking &/or open containers on Main Street) were issued by APD on the first weekend students returned to school. More recently, 2 Frosh who broke into the Bird Cage & vandalized it (stole nothing) last week are also appearing before the judge tonight. How do we ever survive our youth? Hopefully all will learn by their mistakes. Often the best teacher.

[Pinions]

With all due respect, the judge has no discretion in a suspension for an alcohol related offense. License is to be suspended at arraignment if blood alcohol content is alleged to be greater than .08%. this suspension remains in effect until case is resolved. If convicted of DWAI, license suspension is 90 days for first offense; DWI is 6 months; bith can be longer if prior DWI/DWAI convictions.

In both pre-conviction and post-conviction suspensions, a defendant can, in most situations, get a conditional license.