Summary: Police officers are permitted to suspend a DUI checkpoint and restart at a later time if the checkpoint creates unreasonable traffic delays.
Illustration: Monroeville Police set up a DUI checkpoint on Route 22. The checkpoint began to cause excessive delays in traffic. The police stopped the drunk driving checkpoint (stopped checking for vehicles completely). After the flow of traffic died down, the police restarted the checkpoint. The PA Supreme Court ruled that this is permissible.
On October 2, 2008, the Pennsylvania State Police announced a year-long initiative “aimed at taking intoxicated motorists off the road.” As part of this initiative, state police will conduct DUI checkpoints every weekend of the year. During times of inclement weather, the police will use “roving DUI patrols.”
Brief Legal Summary: For the purposes of 3804(b)(2), ARD is considered a conviction on the date of acceptance.
Case Summary: Appellant William Joseph Love was convicted of DUI and sentenced as a repeat offender under 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3806(b).
Love was arrested and charged with DUI in February 2006.He was accepted into the ARD program in June 2006.In September 2006, Love was arrested and charged with a second DUI.Love was removed from the ARD program in March 2007.In September 2007, Love was found guilty of the September 2006 DUI.Love entered a guilty plea to the February 2006 DUI.Love was sentenced on his September 2006 DUI in November 2007 as a repeat offender.
According to 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3806, a defendant who is convicted of a second or subsequent DUI within a ten year period is subject to an stricter punishment.The trial court reasoned that under 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3806(a)(1) and (b)(1), Love’s first DUI, which resulted in his acceptance into ARD, was considered a conviction as of the date he was accepted into ARD.On appeal, Love argued that the trial court erred in considering his ARD a conviction as of the date he was first accepted into the program rather than the date he entered his guilty plea for that offense.
The Superior Court concluded:
For the purposes of 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3806(b), a DUI which results in the acceptance into an ARD program is considered a conviction as of the date the defendant is accepted into the ARD program.Simply put, acceptance, not fulfillment, triggers the repeat offender provision.
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