The defendant was stopped for traveling 68 mph in a 35 mph zone. The officer conducting the stop, upon making contact with the defendant, noticed the defendant to have the distinct odor of alcohol on his breath, glassy, watery/bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. The officer then requested a DUI investigator to perform a DUI investigation. When the DUI investigator arrived, he observed that the defendant swayed as he stood, had the odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath and bloodshot/glassy eyes. The defendant performed field sobriety exercises unsatisfactorily. During the Walk and Turn test, the defendant failed to maintain his balance, did not touch heel to toe, stepped off the line, took the wrong number of steps and used his arms for balance. On the One Leg Stand test, he swayed while balancing, used his arms for balance and hopped to maintain balance. During the Finger to Nose test, the defendant failed to return his arms to his side as instructed and failed to touch his nose with his finger. The defendant incorrectly recited the alphabet during the Alphabet test, and incorrectly counted from 100 to 75 backwards. The defendant admitted that he drank 2 beers an hour while at the beach from noon to 6pm. He admitted to having a “buzz” and that he did feel the effects of the alcoholic beverages. The defendant refused to take the breath test. The firm set the case for trial, but before trial the State dropped the DUI charge.
DUI & Criminal Division
