A mid-30s manual laborer was recently charged with driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) in Floyd General District Court. He had fallen asleep in the driver’s seat of his car with the motor running and drug paraphernalia under his hand. The police officer charged him with DUID because he believed the client was either under the influence of marijuana or had smoked marijuana.
The man was concerned about his future, especially since he had a prior conviction of recklessly handling a firearm on his record. Attorney Cerid Lugar represented him to protect his rights and defend him in this legal situation. Driving under the influence of drugs requires proof of operation and impairment. The tests that the officer required our client to take were for alcohol testing, not drug testing. There is no published court case to date that serves as precedent for finding someone to have been driving impaired under only the influence of marijuana. The officer could not testify to when our client actually consumed, inhaled, or ingested marijuana, and therefore the Commonwealth could not prove impairment for a DUID conviction. The charge was dismissed after just one court date with prejudice upon motion to strike for probable cause of arrest.
Case results depend upon a variety of factors unique to each case. Case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any future case.