Cody Money, a 22 year-old who struck and killed a 16 year old while driving under the influence of marijuana and prescription painkillers over 2 years ago, returned to jail last week after violating the terms of his release. He is currently incarcerated as the King County Correctional Facility in downtown Seattle.

Before his original trial, Money's attorney successfully argued that the blood drawn after the accident should be suppressed because police officers had no probablecause to draw his blood. They did so anyway. After losing the evidence, the state agreed to reduce his DUI, reckless driving and reckless endangerment charges to misdemeanors.  In lieu of jail time, Money reached a deal to attend substance abuse treatment for six month, reporting daily to counseling and facing random drug screenings.

This part of the story highlights an important lesson that attorneys are willing to tell anyone willing to listen. It is advice that will serve you well:

Hire an experienced attorney. They can be the difference between significant jail time and other, more palatable punishments.

This lesson is sufficient for a quick blog post. Unfortunately, Mr. Money's story does not end there.

Money did not abide by the terms of his release. He was hauled back into court earlier in November for failing to attend court-ordered rehabilitation at King County's Community Center for Alternative Programs (C-CAP). At that hearing, Superior Court Judge James Cayce released him back to his family and ordered him back to rehab.

He did not stay out for long. Less than a week after that hearing, Mr. Money entered C-CAP with drug paraphernalia that was discovered at a security checkpoint. C-CAP has a zero tolerance policy against drug paraphernalia on the premises. Mr. Money had several syringes and a spoon stowed away in the crotch of his pants.

A judge at the Superior Court quickly issued a bench warrant for Money's arrest, and he was booked back into King County Correctional Facility.

This leads us to our second lesson of the day:

Abide by the terms of your release. A good, experienced attorney can help explain what your release means, under what terms you must live, and can often paper over smaller violations. Some messes, however, are too great for even the best of attorneys to clean up without repercussions.  Attempting to bring drug paraphernalia into a court-ordered substance abuse program is among those messes too big to clean easily.

If you face a DUI where your blood has been drawn, or face heading back to jail because of a violation of your terms of release, do not hesitate to contact attorney Steve Karimi. He will use his experiences as a prosecutor to ensure that your rights are protected.