Facts: The defendant was pulled over at a roadside sobriety checkpoint for having an expired tag. Stopping officer noticed that the driver had an odor of alcohol coming from him, glassy eyes, slow lethargic movements and was slurring his speech. The DUI officer responded and noted that the driver was fumbling through the same documents for 10 minutes and could not find his registration. The defendant exited his car and shuffled his feet losing his balance. He consented to roadside tasks and during the walk and turn stopped after the first 9 steps and had to ask what else to do. On the way back after the first 9 steps, the defendant lost his balance where the officer had to actually walk behind him to make sure he didn’t fall. During the finger to nose task, the officer testified the defendant did not keep his head back and NEVER touched his nose at all. During the alphabet task, the defendant swayed noticeably and paused for about 3 to 5 seconds on the video after he got to the letter D as well as the letter X. The defendant was arrested for driving under the influence and taken back to the Breath Alcohol Testing Facility. He was asked how old he was on video and he said, 35 or 36? He then refused to give a breath sample. The firm went to trial and after closing arguments: VERDICT: Not Guilty.
DUI & Criminal Division
