Left car after rtc, was badly concust and ended up in a wooded area near crash for 3 hours where I consumed alcohol.

[wish-I-stayed-in-the-car]

Hi,

As the title says I was in a car crash 3 days ago (I was driving and it was only my car that had crashed), I have to go to the police station mid August. The wooded area near where I had crashed is actually a 15 minute walk away from a well known party beach in my area (gets in the local news a lot during hot weather for anti-social behaviour from teens drinking and taking drugs). I was incredibly concust, despite only being in the wooded area for 2-3 hours I had thought it had been there a lot longer, maybe a day due to falling unconcious or asleep I believe more than once. I did end up at someones house looking for help and thats what I had aparently told them " I was in that forest for atleast a day, maybe two". During my time in the wooded area (it apsolutely is not a forest) I had found someones stash and drank thier drink. I know it sounds so stupid but honestly I wasn't thinking, I had a fairly big hole in my head and I think I was just trying to relieve my pain.

I am hoping to use the "hip flask defense" despite the odds seeming so terribly highly stacked against me. I do not have a whitness to me drinking the alcohol after the accident however I was with someone for approximately 2 hours prior to the RTC. Would this count as a witness? they are "in good public standing" and so am I bar this pending offence hanging over my head.

I had told the officers about the drink I had found as well. I intend on going back to the wooded area in the hopes of finding out if the drinks as well as the t shirt I had lost are still there so I would know if the officers went back or not. My thinking is if the tshirt and drinks arent there then happy days the police may have actually went back and retrieved them helping my case. I am not too hopeful for this as I believe the onus is on me to prove that and I am unsure if they would use resources trying to help me. If I did go back and find the drinks bottles next to or near my lost t shirt I'm not sure if it will help at all. I did think I could take a photo and the geolocation would show however I could obviously just have placed the drinks there before taking the photo. Any comments on this would be greatly appreiciated.

I suppose the crux of my question is, would a whitness saying I was sober for the two hours prior to the incident be enough to give me a fighting chance?

It was a blood sample I provided btw, when I was blowing into the breathalyzer I was close to fainting and I wasn't even blowing hard enough to get a reading so it had to be bloods. At the the time I was asked if I would like my own sample and I declined (again still not quite in the right frame of mind). Can I assume this means it is to late to get my own expert on BACS testing and I know getting an expert is something my solicitor will likely wish to do if possible (havn't actually chosen a solicitor yet). I also don't believe I was asked what I had eaten that day or my height etc so unsure how the officer answered those on the MGDD or if they are even neccessary. The officer may have actually asked tbh my memory still isnt fantastic surroundting the event.

Will the concusion help me with the fact i had left the scene, the car was still there and I did go to get help despite it being 2-3 hours.

Thanks in advanced folks!

 

[Martin Hammond]

Good afternoon,

Before I answer could you explain where you were when the police found you and arrested you?

Thanks
Martin

 

[wish-I-stayed-in-the-car]

Good afternoon,

Before I answer could you explain where you were when the police found you and arrested you?

Thanks
Martin

Yes sure Martin, I had knocked on the door of an old couple looking for help once I started coming around. They phoned an ambulance and the police.

 

[Martin Hammond]

Thanks for that.

You have two hurdles to get over to have any success with a case such as this.

Firstly, you are going to need to be able to convince a Court that what you are saying is true. Obviously your concussion and the witness will assist with this.

Then you need a toxicologist to carry out a calculation to show that the alcohol you consumed accounts for your eventual reading.

Obviously you can hire lawyers to do this work for you but the cost will be substantial, or you can try to organise the case yourself which will be extremely difficult. Sorry that those choices are not better, but it is realistically what your choices are.

Bear in mind you may face charges for having the accident to start with regardless of the alcohol.

I hope this helps

Kind regards
Martin.

 

[wish-I-stayed-in-the-car]

Thanks for that.

You have two hurdles to get over to have any success with a case such as this.

Firstly, you are going to need to be able to convince a Court that what you are saying is true. Obviously your concussion and the witness will assist with this.

Then you need a toxicologist to carry out a calculation to show that the alcohol you consumed accounts for your eventual reading.

Obviously you can hire lawyers to do this work for you but the cost will be substantial, or you can try to organise the case yourself which will be extremely difficult. Sorry that those choices are not better, but it is realistically what your choices are.

Bear in mind you may face charges for having the accident to start with regardless of the alcohol.

I hope this helps

Kind regards
Martin.

Thanks so much for this very informative response Martin.

Does the CPS make as many mistakes leading to cases being dropped as the inetrnet and some solicitors websites would make it seem? Im pretty sure I know the answer is no already but in your professional opinion does it actually happen very often?

 

[Martin Hammond]

I absolutely disagree with anyone who suggests they can get cases dropped. I have worked in this field for a very long time and I can tell you it is very very rare that the CPS will drop a case.

On the other hand cases can be won provided there are solid defences and decent solicitors involved but you have to be prepared for a lengthy battle and to be ready to pay the fees involved.