In my defense, I would like the Court to know that I am an excellent driver with a clean record and feel the speeding charge against me came as a result of a bad decision because of fatigue from driving through winding mountains all day.
The car I was highway driving for the first time, loaned by my roommate, is much faster than my 20 year old Volkswagen Vanagon. I am giving the Court photos of both vehicles as evidence of this fact.
On Sunday, July 12, I wanted to show an out-of-state visitor who had just arrived the night before, a tour of the best mountain places around Boulder that I frequented growing up. Briefly put, I did not plan the day’s excursion well and tried to show my friend too much in one day. I was stopped for driving 55 in a 35 twelve hours after I left my home at 10 am that morning. I drove over 380 miles that day, including Nederland, Georgetown, Keystone, Breckenridge, Loveland Pass and Rocky Mountain National Park, in addition to several side hikes.
I was traveling through the National Park from about 9-10PM and was vigilant about the 35 MPR speed limit. My friend was not feeling well from the altitude and I was especially careful driving because of her headache and general discomfort. Nonetheless, during a straight away area of the road as we were nearing the exit of the Park, I saw two cars in front of me and thought it would be easier for me to pace behind them, as I often do with highway driving and cycling, to help me maintain the speed limit without having to keep my eye on the speedometer.
After I saw the flashing speed limit sign and slowed down to 35 and passed through the entrance gate, I accelerated to catch up with the two cars in front of me and that was when the Park Ranger cited me for speeding. In hindsight to accelerate like that to catch up with the cars in front, for the reason of pacing behind them, was a stupid thing to do but not related to Marijuana.
I honestly feel it unfair to ask someone who has been driving for several hours not to be given an opportunity to walk around to find my “land legs” before being asked to walk a straight line and balance on one leg as I was immediately asked to do. I put my foot down after nine because of extreme shakyness in my leg due to nervousness and lack of practice walking that I deserved. Other than the jittery leg, my balance was fine and the video will reflect this. My leg was shaky from continuously driving my car all day, being dizzy from windy mountain roads that my body is not accostomed to, having not eaten since late afternoon and also very nervous about being stopped. I have Autism Spectrum Disorder and one of the consequences of that is shaking when nervous.
Two additional Park Ranger cars, and three more officers, joined the first Ranger who stopped me. The two Rangers who drove me off were rude to me on several occasions, such as yelling at me twice, shoving me through a doorway, and putting their hands on my shoulders at the jail.
I agreed to the blood test and my rights were read to me at the Medical Clinic in Estes Park before I gave my blood specimen. I was cooperative with the Park Rangers throughout the entire experience.
The Car Registration and Proof of Automobile Insurance were taken and have yet to be returned.
It never occurred to me that Colorado laws regarding the use and possession of Marijuana do not apply in the National Park. If I had known, I would have been a lot more careful. It seems not only appropriate but important that the State of Colorado and/or the National Park Service inform the public of this legal discrepancy.
The use of Marijuana is my daily habit, mainly while working on an intricate website I am developing. My friend is not used to pot and I smoked very little on that day.
I am giving the Court photos of my car and my roommate’s car that I was driving that day. This was the first time I have driven his car on the highway and was aware it was not only a much faster car than what I am used to, but also quieter. I did intentionally speed briefly in the Park on a very straight part of the road, with the thought to “pace behind” the cars in front of me, to help keep my speed at 35 MPH, as we were leaving the National Forest, and obviously that was a stupid thing to do.
I never through the entire day felt that my driving was impaired from the brief periods of Marijuana use earlier in the day. I submit to the Court a hair analysis report that will reflect my daily habit of long-standing use of Marijuana. I am a YouTube star who is known for being an advocate of Marijuana Legalization and I publicly share my daily habit for the purpose of educating the public on the positive mental effects of the plant.
There should have been conversation involved in my DUI Test, because if there had been, they would have noticed that I was coherent enough to drive a car. I would have been willing to do any challenge asked of me because I like those kinds of games. In the future when they aquire body cams due to the Michael Brown law, I hope to enjoy watching Police Officers in Colorado on YouTube save lives of pot tourists with amusing DUI tests that involve asking the subject questions that only a person who is too stoned would have trouble answering. Stoned drivers are supposed to be a danger to themselves and others because of what it does to their minds, not their balance. The word of two people who cannot provide video evidence of my DUI test and have a vested interest in prosecuting me should not be held superior to my own video that proves that I do not lose my balance when I am as stoned as I can possible be. I filmed this video in front of the drug testing place to show how high I was when my blood was taken.
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"Possession of marijuana is punishable by up to one year in jail and a minimum fine of $1,000 for a first conviction. For a second conviction, the penalties increase to a 15-day mandatory minimum sentence with a maximum of two years in prison and a fine of up to $2,500. Subsequent convictions carry a 90-day mandatory minimum sentence and a maximum of up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000."
"First offense (DUI, DUI per se, or habitual user) - imprisonment in the county jail for a mandatory minimum of five days but no more than one year; fine of at least six hundred dollars, but no more than one thousand dollars; at least forty-eight hours but no more than ninety-six hours of useful public service; the court may impose a period of probation that shall not exceed two years, which probation may include any conditions permitted by law.Id. § 42-4-1307(3)."
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