A Sixth Offense Massachusetts DUI charge was brought against Steven Pierce from Billerica and resulted in him being held without bail as dangerous by a judge from the Gloucester District Court. Any offense over a third offense can result in the Commonwealth seeking an indictment and bringing the case to superior court. A sixth offense is typically indicted so that the Commonwealth can seek a higher sentence that involves State prison time. If a drunk driving charge stays in district court, the maximum penalty for the DUI charge is 2.5 years. While a judge can give on an after time resulting in a total sentence beyond 2.5 years, a district court judge can only impose a house of correction sentence while a superior court judge can sentence a defendant to state prison as well as impose longer periods of prison time.
According to a news account in the Gloucester Times written by Nick Curcuru, Pierce failed to stop for the police, was alleged to have driven erratically, crossing the center lines. The news account states that Pierce struck a pedestrian. Pierce is alleged to have been unable to stand when getting out of the car. The news account claims that Pierce told the police that he had a few vodkas and then told the police at booking that he had seven to ten drinks.
One interesting issue that is raised by this case is the admissibility of Pierce's statements to the police officers. Given the evidence of erratic driving prior to the stop, a Massachusetts OUI attorney could argue that Pierce should have been read his Miranda rights immediately upon being stopped. Generally, when a motorist is pulled over for suspected drunk driving, police do not have to provide Miranda warnings because the stop is not considered custodial. The rule of Miranda v. Arizona, requiring the Miranda warnings only applies to custodial interrogations. The United States Supreme Court ruled in Berkemer v. McCarthy, that in a typical drunk driving case a motorist is not in custody and accordingly Miranda warnings are not required. A Massachusetts DUI lawyer could argue that Pierce's case is outside of the rule of Berkemer and that Miranda warnings were required because the police already had probable cause to arrest for drunk driving.
