Well perhaps it lets the Seahawks or Lofa avoid NFL sanctions or penalties but it would not obviate the blemish on Lofa's status as a team leader, or the embarrassment to Ruskell's emphasis on character. And it does not negate the fact that Lofa was driving with a blood alcohol 2 x the legal limit.

Gotta love the legal system we have.

Perhaps the arresting officer is a Seahawks fan and strategically forgot to read Lofa his rights, and then highlight that fact in his arrest report?

The embarrassment from everyone knowing he drives an effing Accent is punishment enough.

pilot makes a good point - the best point, really. lofa will have to work diligently to repair his public image, and timmay's model for character players will undoubtedly take a hit.

however, i offer a counterpoint: kobe bryant. kobe was a much more high-profile individual, and the public seems to have forgotten his colorado incident and subsequent legal proceedings.

if lofa never hits court, he'll have an easier time rebuilding his image... especially considering he wasn't, uh, "caught with his pants down" or killed somebody like leonard little did.

I doubt it alba, nabbing a celebrity is quite the feather in the cap. The cop may well have been star-struck and not thinking straight because of Lofa's status, but i seriously doubt he intentionally made himself look bad to help him.

Your neighbor doesn't sound like the greatest attorney. The only things that could deemed inadmissible would be anything from between when he was arrested the first time and when he was read his rights and essentially re-arrested. The officer still had probable cause to stop him in the first place and conduct the field tests, and everything at the police station is still valid. Basically the only thing that could get Tatupu off would be if the only incriminating evidence was from events that took place between when he was handcuffed and when he was read his rights - clearly not the case.

All of that aside, if Tatupu tries to wiggle is way out of this on a convoluted technicality, it would actually be worse for him. The penalties and a mark on his permanent record aren't what are important as they might be for a regular person. His biggest concern is public and league perception.

Officers briefly forget to read suspects their rights all the time, and then correct that mistake. This isn't some abnormal thing. It just creates an unusable void in time between arrest and reading of the rights.

Embarrassment? Clearly Lofa can afford to buy any car he wants, but he's driving a Hyundai. I think he understands the car you own is no big deal and feels sorry for these shlubs who derive some self-importance from the stupid car they drive. He probably finds this whole, "Oh, how embarrassing for Lofa" thing to be quite funny.

Besides, how do you know that his driving that car isn't part of some promotional campaign he is participating in? Maybe he's laughing all the way to the bank, I don't know.

Courts ruled years ago that the Miranda-reading loophole was not sufficient to toss a case.

I'm guessing the neighbor has been out of law school for at least 15 years.

Either that, or he's a tax attorney or some other specialty, but is one of the typical lawyer d-bags that still pretends they know everything about anything. Hey, I took Contract Law my first year, maybe I can be quoted about my "expert" opinion on the Sonics case?

Whether or not Frank's neighbor has it right, I don't think anyone with money gets convicted on a 1st time DUI offense. It will get plead down to negligent driving in the worst case.

DUI convictions are for people with PD's.

anyone have a link to the public record. Frank posted that Lofa had a BA taken at the police station... which is normal... however nothing was said about a sobriety test or his BA conducted at the scene (drive through). That right there would throw this case out the window... not to mention the above. After all, one beer in your mouth will make it smell like beer.

Lofa "exhibited signs of intoxication" based on his responses to the field sobriety tests. Lofa refused to submit to a breathalyzer test in the parking lot, but once he arrived at the police station was told he either does that, or they draw blood. Refusing either of those is an automatic suspension of your driver's license for a year, I believe. So Lofa decided to do the BA, and blew a .15 and a .158.

I don't see Lofa getting out of this, regardless of his miranda rights issue. I don't see how it would matter anyway, as that's just getting out on a technicality, doesn't remove the fact he was drunk.

I love Lofa, he's my favorite player. I have his jersey. But if there is one thing I can't stand, it's DUIs. I've had two different relatives killed by drunk drivers, and drunk driving is the easiest crime to NOT commit, yet people continue to do it. In addition, getting caught isn't a "one time issue" as I guarantee that Lofa has driven drunk before, he just happened to get caught this time.

I do have faith in Lofa's ability to straighten up his act following this, as I do believe in his moral character, and hasn't exhibited any behavior prior to this to suspect different. With guys like Koren, or Stevens, they've had a history of being major screwups, Lofa hasn't.

I also remember my days of being a 20 something and invincible. To quote Hal Holbrook: "Man looks in the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss."

We have arm chair Quater backs on this blog.Now we have arm chair attorneys too.With the money lofa has you can bet he'll have a real good attorney.If the law messed up you can bet that real good attorney will get him the best deal he can.Time will tell,so all you arm chair attorneys relax an wait an see what happens.

No one is going to question Lofa's status as team leader. What he does on the field is unquestioned. Athletes stick together. They know stuff like this happens and they don't let it affect their relationship. Look at how many guys stuck by Vick until they couldn't do it anymore.

Lofa is still the man to the team. Lofa is still the man to me. No blemish in my book. I'd bet money that Lofa's teammates could care less about this save to tell him to be careful. They know he brings it on Sunday, every Sunday, all year.

Jibo1-and to add to what you write. Before people on this blog would insult the character of just Frank. Now they are attacking his neighbors and calling him a "lawyer d-bag[s] that still pretends [he] know[s] everything about anything." Nice people.

I for one appreciate this sort of post from Frank. It is relevant and insightful. The more readers of this blog insult the integrity or character of its author and bad-mouth his insights the more likely it is to turn into every other message board in the world --- full of anonymous insults, idiotic ranting, and lacking any coherence. At least the TNT hasn't started allowing people to have their own avatars or to rate each others posts (note to editors: do not allow this).

seriously a Hyundai? What a bonehead, beyond the DUI it seems like Lofa and his cronies like to get drunk and act like a bunch of meatheads, which is disheartening and makes it a little harder to cheer for him on Sundays..

it's sad that most sit here in judgement of lofa, san can you honestly say you have never made a bone head move? maybe while even drunk? please
if you feel the need that much to judge go to law school or hope for jury duty.

Lofa probably drives a Hyundai for low profile....Possibly his boozin car..Maybe if he drove his Benz it might be more of a target for the coppers...

Oh ya...Im going to go with Franks neighbor on this one, Lofa will get off, DUI cases MUST be perfect inorder to get a conviciton. I have seen a simple lack of an officer not giving the exact time on a report letting someone off. As in he missed the time by 1 minute. Not reading Lofa his rights could be good enough, but it also opens the door to any other mistakes the officer made during the arrest.

Gandalf

thanks for clearing that up. Yes it's my understanding that if you decline sobriety, its an auto suspension your driver's license for a year. However either case if you blow over the legal limit, and convicted, that's grounds for a suspension of your driver's license too. Neighbor is going through that right now.

Still wondering why Lofa was driving a 2006 Hyundai Accent worth about 11k lol :P

Maybe the 2006 Hyundai Accent didn't belong to him. Did it say he's the owner in the police report? My guess is that it belongs to one of his friends who probably drive something like that in their mid 20s.

Same sort of thing happened to Cato June with the Bucs.
So the lesson here is all the NFL players have to do is refuse a breathalyzer test and they can walk....and get a good lawyer!!!

I always thought a person was automatically guilty if they refused a breathalyzer?

___________________________________________________________________
A DUI charge filed against Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Cato June last year has been dropped.

"The evidence to support the charge just wasn't there … for the state to go forward," attorney Ron Hanes told The Tampa Tribune in an e-mail. "We were confident of Cato's innocence when we saw the evidence.

"Cato has great respect for the law and has understandably been very concerned about this situation with the team and the league. I know he will work even harder to put this behind him."

June was stopped on Nov. 19, 2007, after he was clocked at 66 mph in a 45-mph zone. Arresting officer Peter Bucher, in the arrest affidavit, said that as he approached June's vehicle, he detected the smell of alcohol.

June refused a breathalyzer test. But the officer subsequently conducted a field sobriety test and noted in his report that June "exhibited clues of impairment." June was charged with a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence.

Any of you have that friend or know of a person who is the kind of guy that although he isn't Mr. Hosptial Corners he's still a guy with great character? He's the guy that's moral code is a little more solid then the rest of the gang & everyone's usually glad to have him around because he's a stand up guy & he'll have your back in a bind, etc.... To take it one step further; anyone of you know of a time when that same guy makes a stupid decision because maybe he's celebrating for whatever reason & he ends up driving when he shouldn't & he hits an innocent bystander? Here's this man with great character that acted 'out of character' & ended up causing injury to someone who didn't deserve it. Now the stand up guy has to live for the rest of his life knowing that the one time he decided to drink & drive was the only time it took to change his life forever. It more then sucks for both persons on both ends of the spectrum. I know of such a person & I know that he will be stereoptyped for the rest of his life. No one remembers all of the wonderful things he did for others or have much he gave.
To assume Lofa always parties & just so happened to get caught is to assume too much based on one incident. I don't know him personally but I've always read incredible things about the man.
He could be that man that made the error this one time & hopefully all he'll need is this one time to realize it's not worth it.

snakedoctor ..

what did Cato blow at the police station? And no Sobriety test is enough to convict someone of a DWI. It's my understanding from the intensive training the military gives us that Sobriety tests are there to assist if someone is drunk and driving unless the law has changed.

Might of been the case with Cato.

Fact is Lofa blew almost twice the legal limit and it was greater at the police station.

Wow, before everyone was Lofa's pal, sticking up for him and vouching for his good character. Then people decided to rip anyone that has ever had a drink and drove. Now everyone is a lawyer, spewing off facts that they know little about. Then they rip the guy who gave sound advice to a neighbor. We all play lawyers on TV, the neighbor is an actual lawyer, not some mook that reads Yahoo! news stories all day.

I find it comical that I was ripped for being an elitist (by someone that hasn't a clue what the term actually means, obviously) but I've never presumed to know an NFL player, always admit to my own faults, and have never tried to give legal advice.

I work with alcoholics and drug abusers that are working towards sobriety, most of them got to me via DUI's, not one story of their individual DUI's is the same, from arrest to judgement to punishment. Not one. Because DUI's are very fluid and their outcomes depend on so many different factors, I bet not one person chiming in on this topic, including me, knows how this will end.

nods @ problemsolved

Suppose it was Bill Gates that got nabbed DUI. Do you think it would go to court? Do you think the officer would be lookin for a job?

My fiance is a lawyer. I asked her about the specifics of the law before I wrote anything on here about it. The .155/.158 at the police station combined with the failed field sobriety tests and reasonable cause for pulling him over makes it a pretty open and shut case.

I don't see any reasons why the prosecutor would plead down the case, but maybe he has season tickets. Since his BAC was above .15, then he is pretty screwed. He'll have to spend at least 48 hours in jail or 30 days with an ankle bracelet. He could get up to a year, but I assume he will just plead guilty and get the minimum. He will have his license suspended and then he will have to have an Ignition Interlock Device for a year.

He should just cut the deal and have it done as quickly as possible. I don't know how busy the court calendar is, but he might be able to get it all done prior to the season. I think continuing it and drawing it out is a mistake.

I crossed the line by being snarky and calling the guy a "d-bag". But I stand by my overall point - Unless the guy quoted is an actual criminal or DUI attorney, or has inside knowlege of the case, his opinion carries no more weight than anyone else's.

I'm not "arm-chair lawyering" here, either - I am a lawyer. But I wouldn't pretend to know or give advice outside of my specialty. Unfortunately I see others in my profession do it all the time, often to the detriment of those that rely on it. At any rate, using the phrase "almost guarantee his arrest will get thrown out" is a gross overstatement, since flipping through any Crim-Pro textbook or WA court case clearly shows that a gap in reading Miranda rights will not always invaliate the arrest or evidence obtained.

My rant has nothing to do with Tatupu's case, or my personal feelings on it.

IMO, a post like this just does more harm than good - it's not providing useful information, and is only just fanning the flames of needless speculation. Maybe my standards are too high, but I think that if a "legal opinion" was going to be passed along, it should be one that came from a lawyer that specializes in that field, or was at least willing to have his name on record with it.

The law is the law and whatever happens thats pretty messy affair no matter how you play it. Most first time offenders are going to get that knocked down. If had(s) a previous record then it would be a different story. But since as far as I know its his first he is a leader in the community and he has been a good guy - he will probably get community service or something similar and the equivalent of a slap on the wrist.
Now what should happen then for LF and the Hawks is they should do something to help supporting MADD or some other similar group.
As for my support for him on the field that changes nothing.
DWI is stupid - and for a guy making that much bank he should have got a limo or car service and there is no excuse. Absolutely none.
I don't know why the Hawks have not enforced that for their own protection. For Instance - As soon as you sign with the team you should be given a biz card with the number of a car service that when ever you call it no matter the circumstance you can call and they will pick you up and you get charged out of your salary!

I find it highly disturbing that everyone is avoiding another SERIOUS issue at brought to light here. The Police report says Lofa was driving a HYUNDAI ACCENT! I was highly distraught when I read this. I want to know where his friends and family were when this tragedy occured. What about his fellow team mates? Surely they should have stepped in here and help avoid this horrible lapse in judgement. As a professional Seattle athlete that is no way to "represent" your team and your city. I think Lofa owes this city an explanation!

Miranda rights only cover statements. Due to the officer's mistake, all of his statements could be thrown out, but a DUI case has nothing to do with statements.

As long as the officer had probable cause to stop the car and Lofa failed a breathalyzer test, there is more than enough for conviction. Statements made after appropriate Miranda warnings just add to the case.

That being said, this is his first offense, and it is likely that Lofa has the charge lowered.

Quote:
"Comment by Scipio @ 08:05 - Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Gotta love the legal system we have."

I do love the system it's better than any other system. Our legal system is a whole lot better than systems that presume guilt. How'd you like to live in country where you have no rights protected by the Constitution or the legal system doesn't enforce protection of those rights? God bless America!

Before all the legal beagle wannabes here tell us all how the case will turn out, let's just see. If the officer screwed up with the fundamental warning, what other things did he mess up? Impaired driving cases are a lot more complex than most people think and the breath test results have rules which provide a pattern allowing for their admissibility or not. More detail is required before a definitive response can be made.

Lofa is an idiot for two reasons:

1. Everyone knows you don't speed when you're drunk driving.. you have to slow down and maintain focus.. sometimes relaxing your head against the window can help, especially when the road is spinning.. you also must use the turtles to your advantage - bouncing up and down is a bad thing.. maintain focus! Also, you must have cop-vision on at all times, and with four passengers, this should not be an issue.. Everyone must be on point.. sometimes you will find that you slowed down for a Ford Taurus or an LTD, and it wasn't a cop after all (recognizing headlights from a distance is an acquired skill) but better safe than sorry..

2. Never drive drunk in your Hyundai.. Parts are just too expensive to replace.. Take out your Benz or your Hummer, but leave the main ride in the garage.. Scratches on a Hyundai will only sink you deeper into debt - Maaco is highway robbery..

"He will have his license suspended and then he will have to have an Ignition Interlock Device for a year." sweet so he can drive without a license as long as he has the IID in his car. WOot! :P


Snydro.. you serious?

Hyundai's have full warrenty... what is it 10 years now days? I'm guessing you were joking. Good laugh however it's ment to be taken.

I hope you were kidding Navy, I'm still laughing.

Sucks when this is the crap we're resorted to talking about...

this might clear some things up... this coming from the PI

There will be extenuating factors. Knauss said some things in the police report might not reach the jury. Additionally, it may or may not make a difference that the arresting officer did not immediately advise Tatupu of his constitutional rights.

"Technically it has no bearing," Seattle attorney Mike Hunsinger said. "However, as a general rule, when the arresting officer does something that is not by the book, or is sloppy and careless, it creates an opportunity for the defense lawyer."


http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/football/363182_moore15.html?source=rss

Frank
please make another entry so we can get back to Seahawks football.

Yes, my post was completely serious, and not meant to be ironic at all..

Rumors have SA linked to New Orleans - What are the odds!

Ok, all of you who say that Lofa should be emarrassed for what car he was driving when driving drunk are morons. Give me a break. Now, I don't want to be too hard on Lofa. I too have been in my mid twenties and drank too much and decided to foolishly drive home drunk. I was just lucky and didn't get caught. I think a lot of people condemming Lofa right now can probably say the same thing. He made a bad choice when he wasn't in his right frame of mind. He got caught before he hurt anyone. And that's the main thing. He'll be ok. I'm sure he'll make it right. Because of his celebrity, the judge will probably have him do community service so that he can use his celebrity to talk to young people about the dangers of driving drunk. So I'm not going to judge him for making a youthful mistake. I just hopes he learns and doesn't do it again.

I have a friend who hired a specailist to dispute the accuracy of the breath alyzer test in court they are a very tempermentle device if you have 1500.00 or so you can get him or another expert. These are the guys that used to calibrate, and or have used and tested them as a profession. Very easy to dispute the BA but if you get a blood test your screwed.

Who gives a damn what kind of car Lofa does or doesn't drive? If the guy wants to walk to work in Jesus sandals or drop in by helicopter, I really don't care. What has it to do with any of us? So can we just give the whole 'Hyundai' thing a rest, please.

As for the DUI charge, I trust/hope that Lofa will take his punishment like a man - if he truly regrets his actions [and he should], then he shouldn't try to get off on a technicality. After all, it's not as if he's gonna do time for a first offence. The league will give him a slap on the wrist and so will the team. He should learn from it and be a better, more responsible member of society for this experience. Who knows - he might be incredibly lucky that the cop nabbed him before he might have gone on and been involved in an accident. Be thankful for small mercies....

Hunsinger would know. He is the alumni-appointed legal gopher for the UW. Just Google any UW player who has run into trouble in the past decade and you'll find that mysteriously, they all decided to be represented by Hunsinger.

"I trust/hope that Lofa will take his punishment like a man - if he truly regrets his actions [and he should], then he shouldn't try to get off on a technicality."

Yeah because that's the "right" thing to do in this country. Ha, nobody with any sense whatsoever would want that $@#! on their record. Especially if they can get it squashed. Must be pretty cool up their on your HIGH HORSE. Go preach ethics to congress.

Paulb7070 - I'm not on a high horse, it's just that I think that one of the major problems with society is that many [if not a majority] of people don't want to take responsibility for their actions. Whether that be financial [sure, let's blame the banks or the Fed for the sub-prime crisis rather than the people who actually entered into loan agreements without having the means to pay for their purchase, same with personal loans/credit card debt, etc.], environmental [don't ask us to cut back on our carbon emissions...] or just good ol' fashioned DUI. In my humble opinion, the world would be a better place if we refused to accept all the excuses and coulda/woulda/shoulda rhetoric that we constantly hear from all levels of our society every day.

Lofa SHOULD take his punishment on the chin - he DID drive under the influence of alcohol - he DID break the law... whether he actually will do the right thing remains to be seen. Like I said in my earlier post, I hope he does.

There is a way to pay for your DUI and a way to get off like it never happened.DEFERED You go on probation for a year or two and if you don't have anymore DUI's puff it's gone not on your recond.I did a Defered about 25 years ago maybe 30.

Oh please!! Who in their life has not drove a car after having a few too many? Give me a break! Probably a thousand after every Seahawk home game...

I think the cop was clearly trying to help Tatupu. For one, he let him wait a couple of hours before blowing his "official sample", which was just a hair under 2x the limit. I've heard the penalty is much harsher when you are above 2x. Also, quite kind to forget the Maranda rights! This might just get the whole thing dismissed! But a real 12th man cop would have just let him go home after the McD's stop (maybe get a quick autograph first) or make one of the sluts in the back drive!!

At the end of the day, driving drunk is obviously not a smart idea. But come on, the guy is in his young 20s, and I am sure he will never do this again. Lesson learned, life goes one. Hope he upgrades from the Hyundai though!

The law has changed in the last 25 years.

Deferred prosecution is standard in this state these days. If he participates in a program he'll do zero time and have it off his record.

That doesn't get him out of trouble with the team or league but this isn't that big of a deal in terms of legal trouble.

As a fan, I hope Lofa really means it when he says he knows he let the team, the fans, and the community down. He's a leader on the field and kids look up to him. My suggestion to him is to get out and be proactive in owning it and making amends.

"Deferred prosecution is standard in this state these days."

Tatupu didn't hire Fox/Bowman/Duarte to go deferred. And nowadays, no lawyer in his right mind would advise a client to do a deferred prosecution on a case like this. Ever. Saying a DP is "standard" is a simply not true.

"If he participates in a program he'll do zero time and have it off his record."

A completed DP may mean no jail time, but by no means does the charge go completely off anyone's record.

More than any other issue surrounding Lofa's arrest. The fact that our "justice" system is largely influenced by the size of the defendents bank account Leads me to believe 51 is getting off.
I'm not a lawyer, but I slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Comment by humiliator @ 06:15 - Monday, May 19th, 2008

I'm not a lawyer, but I slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Conjecture! I don't think you did sleep at a Holiday Inn, Express or otherwise. Objection! Can I get a ruling on this? Can I get a witness?