Bachelor 19 - Chris Soules - Discussion - #3

cindebugg wrote:

GuardianAngel wrote:How do we know that he didn't go help CPR after he told them he'd call them back? Maybe he called his lawyer, couldn't get a hold of him, and left because he didn't want to give a statement until he spoke to his lawyer.

You can not leave the scene of an accident just because you don't want to give a statement.

mindless wrote:

cindebugg wrote:

Newto wrote:The trial is about this current incident.  Not sure if past problems can be brought up during trial.  Anyone here an attorney who could answer that question??

I'm not a lawyer but my daughter is a 20 yr. paralegal in Georgia that has worked a lot of these type cases. I'm aware the laws can differ from state to state but this is what she told me earlier today.  

The distract attorney will try to motion the court to allow past offenses brought in.  If the judge doesn't allow it and if Chris testifies and perjures himself (for example, saying that this is his first offense or he's never done anything like this before) the DA can use that to "impeach" Chris and bring forth the past offenses to prove he perjured himself. This is why most defendants don't testify.

Rather than do a new post I'm just going to type the rest of what she said right here.  She said that in her 20 yrs. she has never heard of a lawyer who told a client to hole up and wait on a warrant unless they were buying the client time to sober up.  In fact they would advise a sober/innocent client to cooperate fully with the investigation and take the breathalyzer.  She also said that they could have arrested him immediately without a warrant and in her opinion when he didn't cooperate it spurred the police to get a warrant so there wouldn't be any issues later. In other words they want all the i's dotted and t's crossed.  About him fleeing the scene she said that it doesn't matter if police had all his info, knew him personally or knew where to find him, unless an investigator gave him permission to leave he couldn't legally do so. If someone picked him up and drove him from the scene they will most likely be in legal trouble too. Last but not least, if there are open containers of alcohol they will check the temperature of the liquid.  FWIW

Like I said, this is based on Georgia law and my daughter's knowledge and experience with the subject matter.  I am in no way placing blame or innocence on Chris.  It's a sad situation no matter how you look at it.

Thanks for the information! I also thought they could've arrested Chris, if they'd got hold of him. The problem was that he was holed up inside a private residence, which they couldn't enter without permission, hence why they had to get a search warrant. I haven't seen any article mention an arrest warrant, just a search warrant, so I think the issue was entering the property to retrieve him. I also can't see the point of waiting in Chris's case, unless he needed to buy time. His attorney wasn't even present at court the next day in person, so I doubt she was at Chris's house at the time of the arrest either. And it's obvious that you can't just leave the scene even if you state your name to someone and leave your car in the ditch, otherwise all drunk drivers would do it. Not saying Chris was drunk, but how would they know since they couldn't test him until 5 hours later. If I was involved in a bad accident and panicking, I would think I'd be dying to prove I did nothing wrong, not run off and create more unnecessary suspicion, not to mention commit a crime by doing so. I really don't buy that Chris wasn't aware of it being a crime, since he kept being uncooperative and apparently didn't even tell them who picked him up. JMO.

chi-girl wrote:New ET Story:

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/exclusive-chris-soules-wasn-apos-200100969.html

*snipped*
Soules hired three high-powered Des Moines, Iowa, attorneys, who have asked the public "not to prejudge this case based on media coverage."

Ladybug82 wrote:

Was it right to leave?  No, it's against the law.  As much as I'd like to say and hope I'd to the right thing, I don't know how I would react in the situation.  

And to add alcohol containers in a wreck can become open.  And even if open doesn't mean he was drinking or drunk.

The not coming out without a warrant makes things look worse, IMO.  But I don't know if he was acting on his lawyers advice (would think he was) and I won't begin to speculate on why he may have been told that.  But it could have been for many reasons other than waiting for alcohol to leave his system.  IMO, I'd have been a wreck knowing what I'd just caused and that the victim that he knew was not doing well or he may have received word that the victim didn't make it.  It's a small town, if it's anything like what I grew up in (though my hometown is lots bigger) news and gossip spread quickly.

Should he be held accountable for his wrong doing?  Yes, IMO.  But I'll wait and see what further facts come out before condemning him to a life sentence, pulling out my pitch fork, tar and feather or getting a firing squad together.  But that's JMO.