aviationvic

Hello all,

Long story short, I was arrest for public intoxication in the beginning of 2017. Later I had pleaded no contest; The judge had dismissed my case without charge or convection after 90 days of deferral. Towards the end of 2018 I had applied and received my 1st class medical. Without saying "YES" to Medical question 18(w):

History of nontraffic convictions:
-The applicant must report any other (nontraffic) convictions (e.g., assault, battery, public intoxication, robbery, etc.). The applicant must name the charge for which convicted and the date of the conviction(s), and copies of court documents (if available)

Which I thought this would not apply to me, since my case was dismissed and I was never convicted. Then till recently I had opened up the actual FAA medical form and went to question 18 and when I clicked on it, it popped up

-"Arrest" means being detained or taken into custody by any law enforcement or military authority for any reason related to a driving stop for suspected driving while intoxicated by, while impaired by, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. List, for each arrest, the place, date, and circumstance (s) of the arrest. "Conviction" means any judgment of guilt based on a jury, court, or military verdict, a plea of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendre/no contest. Examples include, but are not limited to, assault, battery, disorderly conduct, domestic violence, driving under the influence, driving while intoxicated, murder, possession of drugs, public intoxication, reckless driving, etc. If you answer yes, you should report all misdemeanors and felony convictions regardless of the classification of the conviction and regardless of whether the conviction is pending on appeal to another court. List the charge(s) for which you were convicted, the date of the conviction, and the state, federal, military, or foreign court in which you were convicted. If a conviction has been reversed or vacated in a final judgment, state the date of the final judgment and the court that issued the final judgment. If the record of a conviction has been expunged, state the date that the record was expunged and the court that ordered the expunction.....

Which I didn't remember reading this part at all when I was applying for my medical. Does this mean I had unintentionally lied on my FAA medical? Any insight of what should I do? Should I report to them now?

Thank you in advance!

rickair7777

My read is that 18(v) requires that you report arrests, convictions, rehab/education, etc for DUI type events or drivers license actions (which usually result from DUI).


For other criminal matters, 18(w) says report only convictions.

So my take is that your public intox (assuming no vehicle of any sort involved) was NOT a DUI type event or DL action so it would fall under 18(w), which only requires reporting of convictions, not arrests/charges.

aviationvic

Thanks for responding, yea no vehicle was involved. Is this part that got me worried the most

"Conviction" means any judgment of guilt based on a jury, court, or military verdict, a plea of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendre/no contest.

Since I had pleaded no contest.

rickair7777

Better ask an aviation lawyer.

I would think that a no contest plea is not automatically a conviction unless the judge assigns a conviction. If the judge dismissed the charges I don't think that's a conviction. Might be a legal nuance.

I'm guessing the FAA would have flagged it by now if it had popped up on any federal database (unlikely since this is a low-grade misdemeanor).

aviationvic

Yea that's what I was thinking too. I am just worry if FAA really see this as conviction and I didn't report it; they might take my medical away...
I am probably going to ask an aviation lawyer.

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated!

JohnBurke

While you did plead no contest, which is a guilty plea without admitting or denying guilt (like nolo contendre), you did not have a judgement of guilt. From your statement, you entered a plea, but the case was dismissed without judgement (with or without prejudice, or did it simply expire?). A conviction is a judgment, which you say you did not receive. The judgement can come based on several conditions, one of which you meet, but the key is the judgement of guilt, which you did not receive.

You're best consulting with an aviation attorney directly, with specifics. Some are missing here.

aviationvic

Yea, so basically I entered a plea then the judge gave me deferred disposition which:

The Judge may grant Deferred Disposition for the dismissal of an offense. Deferred disposition is an unsupervised probation for a specific amount of time. If you meet the conditions of your deferred, the citation is dismissed.

not sure if it is with or without prejudice

JohnBurke

Neither; the judge is giving you a chance. The time period has elapsed and the matter has been dismissed, or you're still within the deferral probationary period?

A discussion with retained counsel is warranted. You can get some assistance initially from AOPA (Aircraft Owner and Pilot Association) through member services that addresses both legal and medical questions; a legal plan is also available that will provide referral and assistance.

aviationvic

The deferral probationary has been ended 2 years ago.

OK, I will do that.

Thank you for helping!