Sobriety Checkpoints Part 1
With July 4th weekend almost upon us, many states will be intensifying their DUI enforcement procedures on the days preceding and following this coming holiday weekend; most notably are the Sobriety Checkpoints. These checkpoints are conducted in “hot spots” to apprehend drivers that are under the influence of alcohol, or other substances that affect your ability to drive.
These temporary installations allow local and state law enforcement the opportunity to check numerous drivers for the possibility of drunk driving in a short period of time; usually a few hours before and after midnight, when, as previous law enforcement research indicates, intoxicated drivers are at their highest percentage on the road.
If you happen to be stopped at one of these sobriety checkpoints remember that as the officer approaches your vehicle to communicate with you, he or she will begin to observe the passenger(s), the driver, they will briefly look at the vehicle contents, and when close enough to the driver’s window the officer will often sniff the vehicle’s interior for what they call the “presence of alcohol.”
In short police officers are observing the behavior of the occupants and of the driver for signs of “criminal conduct.” In doing so the officer has started the DUI Process of building a case against you, possibly to use against you in a court of law, even before they have reached the window to talk with you.
“Everything you say can and will be used in a court of law”, even if your Miranda rights haven’t been read to you. Meaning, if the officer hasn’t read your rights to you, and you have been talking non-stop as an attempt to talk your way out of the situation you are in, stop! Speaking in this manner signals to the officer that you are possibly under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance. Therefore, in the officer’s eyes he could establish probable cause, then he could assume that you are in fact under the influence of alcohol, drugs, intoxicants or any combination thereof, and subsequently you will be arrested for DUI/DWI.
If the officer suspects that you are under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance you may be asked to perform some “Field Sobriety Tests.” Which are designed to measure your level of intoxication through a combination of mental and physical activities.
Here is some common Field Sobriety Tests (FST):
• Reciting the alphabet backwards, which is a challenging if not impossible task to accomplish normally.
• Counting backwards between two designated numbers. This FST is not as challenging to do, but it does measure your mental acuity and any improper response signals to the officer possible intoxication.
• The (HGN) Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test, measures the involuntary response of eye movement usually with a pen approximately 6” from the nose slowly moving from side to side and up and down. If the eyes begin “jerking” to follow the pen as opposed to a smooth motion, this is supposed to indicate some level of intoxication.
• The one-leg lift requires you to stand while lifting one leg up while counting to 30 or you will be asked to just stand at attention for 30 seconds. The officer will watch your body for swaying, and any signs of imbalance are supposed to indicate some level of intoxication.
• The walk-and-turn test requires you to walk heal-to-toe while counting your steps as you perform this test. This FST has been designed to test your ability to divide your attention between a physical and mental action.
• Preliminary Breath Test or (PBT) is sometimes issued at the time of a vehicle stop, and is primarily used to measure your BAC level. A refusal of this test could result in a longer driver’s license suspension or revocation.
Currently there are only 3 Field Sobriety Tests (FST’s) that have been approved by the NHSTA and they are the HGN, walk-and-turn and one-leg-lift. Any other tests that an officer requests a suspect to do are not approved tests and a good DUI attorney could discredit the FST information, if in fact you are arrested for DUI/DWI. On the other hand if someone represents themselves in court or has an attorney who doesn’t know DUI law, there would be no one to dispute the evidence, because neither one would know any different.
READ: Humans have a tendency to start showboating; the thought here is if I do more it shows that I haven’t been drinking. Which in reality it is the opposite, doing more than what is asked of you could signal to the officer that you are intoxicated even though you might not be. The key here is to follow the directions given by the officer, no more and no less.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. If legal advice is needed please contact an attorney in your area for more clarification regarding your constitutional and legal rights.
