The defendant was driving his vehicle North on North County Road when he passed a deputy and looked at him with a dazed and confused look. The vehicle was slowing down and speeding up and he was drifting out of his lane. When he got to the next light, he turned without signaling and was stopped by the officer. The officer noticed that the defendant had red, glassy eyes, had an odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage coming from his breath and his speech was slurred. He was unsteady of his feet when he got out of the vehicle and had a difficult time opening the glove compartment and getting his documents out of his wallet. He told the officer that he had 2 or 3 drinks. During the walk and turn, the defendant lost his balance. During the instructional phase, used his arms for balance, took ten steps instead of the instructed nine, made an improper turn, stepped off the line, took 12 steps back instead of 9. During the one leg stand, the defendant immediately lost his balance, put his foot down several times, used his arms for balance, and swayed while standing. During the finger to nose, the defendant did not keep his eyes closed as instructed, failed to return his arms to his side and did not touch his finger to his nose. The defendant was arrested for a DUI and was taken to the Breath Alcohol Testing facility where he gave 3 samples of his breath. The first sample was a volume not met sample, the second was a .169 and the third was a .193. The firm filed a motion to suppress the evidence in the case based upon the stop being unlawful and in violation of the clients 4th Amendment Right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Result: State dropped the DUI charge.
DUI & Criminal Division
