Arrested in PA and catheterized

[illegal smile]

Afew weeks ago I was pulled over and charged with driving under the influence of mariujana.They handcuffed me and took me to the hospital for a urine test.I told the arresting office I had just gone to the bathroom a few minuted pryer to being pulled over and would not be able to go to the bathroom. they put in a room for an hour and for the life of me could not pee in the cup.This is where it gets trickey.They wanted to give me a blood test but I'm a Hemophilic and the nurses and risk management of the hospital decided they would not do this.The arresting office got tired of waiting for me to go, so they rushed me into a despencery room and stuck a tube up my penis to extract urine.Now under my health condition(bleeder) I was not examined by a doctor to see if this was something that should be preformed to a hemophilic.I was kind of forced into the procedure with the thinking I would loose my licence for a year if I did not consent.Now I'm normally not a complainer but this seem awlful extreme. Of coarce it came back positive and I was charged with DUI. My question is Does this seem right!! eventually I would have gone to the bathroom. How long should they have waited and you would think they would have examined me by a doctor and I was not.Should I be contacting a lawyer??

[l8tnightskunk]

I say you give it a try and contact a lawyer

[rugdoc]

i would never pee in a cup for a cop. Even if was to lose my license for my life I would never pee in a cup. I would definitely contact a lawyer, and I would have called my lawyer at the hospital. Its is always a good thing to keep the number of a experienced lawyer with you at all times.

[Weed420]

Yeah definitely contact an attorney for a free consultation. All states are different as to how they handle these kinds of cases. Did he perform any roadside tests? If you gave him no outward signs of intoxication then he performed the UA illegally and everything gets thrown out of court and plus with your health issues you should have a good case to sue.

[RooRman]

I am sorry to hear about your situation.

A catheter is more then extreme given that at any point they had you in custody you would have tested postitive. They could have simply given you a glass of water and waited, the results would be the same.

I would certainly contact a lawyer in regards to all this. I am surprised the hospital would even go along with doing such an envasive procedure on someone with known medical complications and against your consent. You may have grounds for a law suit against the hospital as well.

[fineas]

Dont know laws in your state but that is assault, Unless you consent for treatment Call your lawyer

[TorturedSoul]

Can they even tell from a urine test if it was from usage immediately prior to the incident versus a few weeks (or longer) back? Or are they trying to say that what you did that far back would cause you to be actually "under the influence?"

Sounds like a good case to fight and get national recommendation. I hope someone who knows how can set up an anonymous account for people to donate for a legal fund for you and that you have the courage to run this one for all it's worth.

I'd donate. It would only be $20 or so but if every member here coughed up that amount it would be a tidy sum!

Good luck.

[Soniq420]

High illegal smile,

Man that's a tough afternoon, condolences for your suffering.

I wanted to offer my opinion on whether I thought you had a chance with a lawyer but had a few questions for you before giving my opinion.

1) Didn't they try to get you to sign a consent form for catheterization. If they just performed a medical procedure without consent it would influence my opinion heavily - this seems odd.

2) Did you express objections and they just went ahead anyway?

3) Who is "they" in the context of inserting the catheter? Was it a nurse?

4) Did the cop try to get you to drink water and wait

5) When you say rushed to the dispensary, do you mean they physically moved you to medical room and just started the procedure?

6) Did you tell them you were a hemophiliac, I can't imagine a cop or nurse so stupid as to run through that stop sign without a doctor and consent form. What if they couldn't stop the bleeding? Talk about the liability sheesh.

I'd have thought they'd make you drink a bunch of water or try for a hair test or or something. I guess it takes all kinds.

Looking forward to your reply & hope you're feeling better.

Regards,
Soniq420

Originally Posted by illegal smile

Afew weeks ago I was pulled over and charged with driving under the influence of mariujana.They handcuffed me and took me to the hospital for a urine test.I told the arresting office I had just gone to the bathroom a few minuted pryer to being pulled over and would not be able to go to the bathroom. they put in a room for an hour and for the life of me could not pee in the cup.This is where it gets trickey.They wanted to give me a blood test but I'm a Hemophilic and the nurses and risk management of the hospital decided they would not do this.The arresting office got tired of waiting for me to go, so they rushed me into a despencery room and stuck a tube up my penis to extract urine.Now under my health condition(bleeder) I was not examined by a doctor to see if this was something that should be preformed to a hemophilic.I was kind of forced into the procedure with the thinking I would loose my licence for a year if I did not consent.Now I'm normally not a complainer but this seem awlful extreme. Of coarce it came back positive and I was charged with DUI. My question is Does this seem right!! eventually I would have gone to the bathroom. How long should they have waited and you would think they would have examined me by a doctor and I was not.Should I be contacting a lawyer??

[Hightide805]

Thats a sad story, a lawyer would be your best bet,

one thing I thought about driving:

I was under the impression that by signing for your licence you agree to all searchs and tests that the law would give you, and if you disagree with them they have the right to arrest you. I was told that cars or anything on the road is not the same as your house, they do not need a warrent or anything because you are on public roads.
anyone herd of this, only in cali?

[l8tnightskunk]

i think you mean probable cause

[TorturedSoul]

Originally Posted by Hightide805

I was under the impression that by signing for your licence you agree to all searchs and tests that the law would give you, and if you disagree with them they have the right to arrest you. I was told that cars or anything on the road is not the same as your house, they do not need a warrent or anything because you are on public roads.
anyone herd of this, only in cali?

Wow, I knew there had to be a downside to living in California. In many states, there must be suspicion for an officer to do a search. Often an officer will try persuading a motorist to consent to a search (one can always RESPECTFULLY refuse; no reason need be given). Of course the officer can and often will call for a K9 unit to perform a walk-around of the vehicle and if the dog indicates drugs in the vehicle, that is a valid reason to suspect that there are some in there and search it. But often there are rules against prolonged holding of the motorist without grounds to do so, and if the K9 is tied up for very long the officer has no choice but to let the motorist go if she/he steadfastly refuses to allow a search. The fact that the motorist refuses to allow the search is NOT grounds for suspicion. Surprisingly, many people allow searches when they have something to hide. Even more surprisingly, many people allow searches when they do NOT have anything to hide. It must seem easier for such people to just lie down belly-up and give up their rights. They should know that a right not exercised will sooner or later disappear.

Now if you are referring to allowing one's PERSON to be searched, many states allow this, again, IF there is valid suspicion. Most or all states also allow this regardless of whether there is valid suspicion or not if the officer places the motorist in their cruiser for any reason.

There is also the "implied consent" law in most if not all states that you may be referring to. This is more or less an administrative thing having to do with the state's Bureau of Motor Vehicles in that refusing to submit to a test (generally "test" being a breathalyzer) can and generally does result in the BMV automatically levying a one-year suspension of the motorist's driver's license. This generally does not automatically guarantee a guilty verdict in the event of a DUI trial, however - perhaps due to the Constitutional amendment that protects one from being made to give evidence against themselves. Of course the lawyer will often then tell their client, "I WISH you hadn't refused the test, then I would have had something to work with," but lawyers have and do still get such people off from time to time.

That last paragraph is generally concerning the allegation of driving under the influence of alcohol, but in states where there are no specific separate statutes concerning driving under the influence of OTHER drugs (one must remember that alcohol itself is a drug, albeit one that is far more dangerous) the state generally must use the same procedures.

One wonders at the validity of the officer's actions in the OP's situation, but one does not know the particular statutes concerning all of this in the state of PA. It may, indeed, be that the form that the person signs to get their driver's license in that state includes permissions for such an invasive search. I would tend to doubt it but I do not know.

[Hightide805]

I was thinking of the "Implied consent" law, thanks torturedsoul.

ya, it happend to a person around town that I know.

[nbk380]

Originally Posted by illegal smile

Afew weeks ago I was pulled over and charged with driving under the influence of mariujana.They handcuffed me and took me to the hospital for a urine test.I told the arresting office I had just gone to the bathroom a few minuted pryer to being pulled over and would not be able to go to the bathroom. they put in a room for an hour and for the life of me could not pee in the cup.This is where it gets trickey.They wanted to give me a blood test but I'm a Hemophilic and the nurses and risk management of the hospital decided they would not do this.The arresting office got tired of waiting for me to go, so they rushed me into a despencery room and stuck a tube up my penis to extract urine.Now under my health condition(bleeder) I was not examined by a doctor to see if this was something that should be preformed to a hemophilic.I was kind of forced into the procedure with the thinking I would loose my licence for a year if I did not consent.Now I'm normally not a complainer but this seem awlful extreme. Of coarce it came back positive and I was charged with DUI. My question is Does this seem right!! eventually I would have gone to the bathroom. How long should they have waited and you would think they would have examined me by a doctor and I was not.Should I be contacting a lawyer??

in the future ask for the lawyer as soon as the cops go beyond name - rank - serial number!!! your beat!

[Soniq420]

Originally Posted by Hightide805

Thats a sad story, a lawyer would be your best bet,

one thing I thought about driving:

I was under the impression that by signing for your licence you agree to all searchs and tests that the law would give you, and if you disagree with them they have the right to arrest you. I was told that cars or anything on the road is not the same as your house, they do not need a warrent or anything because you are on public roads.
anyone herd of this, only in cali?

They have the right to take your license if you refuse testing, not to arrest you.

Arrest is supposed to be based on evidence or observation of your actions by DRE (drug recognition expert) <--- crock of Sh&t in my opinion, but it's how it works

[this1nsakilla]

ok well my opinon is that it was verry extream the thc would have been in your system for at least a month so russhing to find out weather or not it was wouldent matt not only the what was his reason for thinking u were under the ininfluence did he find probable cause and from my experince they can tot force u to pee in a cut or be apart of any procedures with out your consent all they can do is detain u untill u comply
a layer would be your best bet i have been busted in pa on several ocations and even if you are in the wrong a lawer could help u get fines reduced or maybe get it thrown out in other words fight it or if your loyer says plead no contest do that to
o ya and by probabel cause i mean did he smell any thing find any thing or stuff like that and if he did a sobrity test there is no way they could tell it was for mj