Taimoor Rana is seasoned criminal defense attorney specializing in DUI related cases. He shares his expert legal opinion here “Strong Odor of Alcohol on Suspect’s Breath” Is it possible? »
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- I am sure about the fact that you would have never seen a DUI case where the officer does not report an odor of alcohol on the suspect’s breath. Never ever.It is expected by the officer that the person who has been stopped by him must have drunk and so there must be an odor of alcohol on his breath, and it is a psychological fact that we see, hear and smell the same thing that we expect to see, hear and smell.
But here I really want to tell you that it is a fact that most police DUI reports are formatted for the usual symptoms. There is given a box for "odor of alcohol", which the officer is required to check off. Usually there are three boxes, that has labels "strong", "moderate" and "weak"; but there is no box for "none", so this means that there is no other option for the officer other than to check off one of the three boxes. Mostly the "strong" box is checked by the officers. It is presumed that the stronger the odor of alcohol, the more intoxicated would have been the person who has been arrested.
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Man charged with DUI 4 times legal limit »
Deputies had arrested a man that found passed out in his vehicle. He was having a blood-alcohol level of more than four times then legal limit.
It has been reported by The Marion County Sheriff’s Office that authorities have been called upon by a gas station clerk Monday night and he told them about a man passed out in a vehicle. It has been found by a deputy that the man, who was later identified as Rafael Delgado Rivera, smelled like alcohol, he had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech was used by him.
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The Fact: Field Sobriety Tests are Designed for Failure »
The police officers commonly use roadside field sobriety tests ("FSTs") in DUI investigations in order to determine whether a driver is under the influence of alcohol. Typically, these tests consist of a battery of 3-5 excercises, such as walk-and turn, one-leg stand, "nystagmus" ("follow the pencil with your eyes"), finger-to-nose, alphabet recitation, "Rohmberg" (eyes-closed-position-of-attention), etc. It may be subjectively decided by the officer that whether the individual "failed", or the officer may decide it after applying recent federal "standardized" scoring.
These DUI tests possess an aura of scientific credibility. Unluckily, despite of all the facts, these tests have no real basis in science and they are almost useless in a drunk driving case.
First, as it is known by any traffic officer or DUI attorney that the decision to arrest is made at the driver’s window; the FSTs that are given are supposedly to determine probable cause to arrest. These tests are actually taken for the purpose of gathering evidence.
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Diabetes and the Counterfeit DUI »
Opposite to a popular belief, police officers does not have any inherent skill and they seek very little training in detecting levels of intoxication. In reality without taking into consideration any alternative explanations, they are just psychologically predisposed in a drunk driving investigation to “see” what they expect to see.
Let us consider one of those possibilities her. As we all know, those who are suffering from diabetes commonly experience hypoglycemia i.e. low blood sugar levels. And its symptoms are slow and slurred speech, poor balance, impaired motor control, staggering, drowsiness, flushed face, disorientation, explaining this in other words, it has all those symptoms that are considered as the classic symptoms of alcohol intoxication. To the arresting police officer this individual will look and act like a drunk driver, and it is obvious that he will fail any DUI “field sobriety tests”.
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