Tiger Woods Facing DUI Charges

Word is that police arrested Tiger Woods for suspected DUI. News reports say that police smelled a strong odor of alcohol. The police say that Mr. Woods refused a chemical test and was “arrogant.” Tiger says he fell asleep because of prescription drugs he took for back pain.

As with most criminal incidents, there is a difference of opinion as to the facts and as to those facts ought to be viewed. I would respectfully note that there were also allegations of drug/alcohol use in the incident a few years ago when Tiger crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant and his then wife came out swinging with a golf club. There was no arrest in that circumstance but it led to a heap of family law trouble.

Having not had the benefit of reading the police report, nor talking to Tiger, I’m really not ready to weigh in on this, but I can make a few comments that might assist the average person confronted with the realities of DUI.

If you’ve been drinking, please call a cab, Uber, Lyft, a friend, walk home, rent the bridal suite of the nearest hotel; all of these options are less expensive and less embarrassing than a DUI.

If you are stopped, cooperate with the police, give them the test, don’t fail the attitude test. Refusal creates more problems and will probably not help your case. You don’t have to answer questions. You don’t have to do the Field Sobriety Tests. You don’t have to give them a breath test on the street. You do have to give a blood or breath test at the jail.

Save all of the paperwork that you get from the police. Call an attorney as soon as possible. Bring the paperwork to the attorney. You’ll want to everything possible to avoid jail time, and minimize the impact of the arrest on your driving privilege.

Recognize that DUI is a trap waiting for people to fall into it. Tiger fell in. The trap was waiting. Watch the news, his case is just starting. It will be interesting to see the final result.

Here’s a link to a news story about this:

http://www.jdjournal.com/2017/05/29/tiger-woods-reportedly-arrogant-during-dui-arrest/?utm_source=MMNA&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=t_17740–dt_20170530-cid_34271-Did_5100190-ad_JDJ~MMNA-logid_[MCTS_CESLOGID]