Refusing a breathlizer after passing the field sobriety

[Powerdrive]

This happened in Texas. A friend of mine was pulled over directly in front of the bar he left. The police officer immediately ask him to get out of the car.. not stating why he initiated the traffic stop in the first place. My friend passes the field sobriety test, then the cop asks him to blow. He refuses and gets arrested for a DWI. Will this hold up and lead to a conviction? This happened in Texas.

[titanicvol]

in Tennessee, we have what's called the 'implied consent' law where you have to give a breathalyzer if asked. If you refuse, you break that law and are automatically guilty. What may save your friend....if the only reason he was pulled over was because he was pulling out of the parking lot of a bar, that's considered profiling and should not stand up in court. I remember the same thing happened to the late Steve Mcnair here in Nashville. He was pulled over but the charge was thrown out after the dash cam of the cruiser did not show he violated any traffic laws so the stop did not have probable cause. Good luck to your friend.

[Guest082513-02]

How does he know he passed the test? Did LE tell him? Most of the tests are done with people thinking its all about IF you can do the actual task... in which it has nothing to do with the task... like folllowing a penlight with ur eyes... NOTHING to do with IF you can do it... they are checking ur pupils for nonvoluntary movement.

[werdster77]

Refusing to blow won't hold up as the reason for a DWI. He may have failed the field sobriety tests. He should have refused those too.

[Holysheepshit]

Here in Texas, you are fucked if you refuse the breathalyzer test (you're fucked if you blow too)! How do I know? Because it happened to me! Did well on the field sobriety test, but I refused the breathalyzer because I felt I might blow close to a 0.08. Refused the blood test too. My license got automatically suspended for 6 months. State trooper didn't show to my ALR hearing, so I got my license back. Went to court and didn't like my offer from the prosecution. Took it to trial by jury. 11 fucking hours in court! The prosecutor played my video for 8 hours measuring how much I swayed and how much my hands extended out from my sides. The state trooper lied twice on the witness stand about my eye nystagmus test and his camera placement. He was swaying way harder than I ever was. Jury deliberated for 26 minutes and unanimously found me guilty!

Who's the jury gonna trust, me a drunk driver or a decorated state trooper......

After paying my attorney, court fines, occupational license, fucking Texas surcharges, SR22 insurance, license reistatement fees, and lost wages all add up to around $15,000!!! That's a shit load of pussy I missed out on...........

Atleast I didn't get probation or community service....

Fuck the police for profits!!!

Next time. Refuse everything! Tell the officer that you will not perform a sobriety test. Don't say anything to the police........

[badhusband]

Yep, I agree with sheepshit. In Illinois, if you refuse the breathalizer, it's an automatic 3 mo suspension. If you blow and fail, it's an automatic 6mo suspension. So you might as well take the automatic 3mo if you think you're gonna blow more than 08. If the officer suspects that you're too impaired to drive and asks you to step out to subject yourself to a sobriety test, you can respectfully decline. When that happens. the officer then has to decide if he's going to arrest you for suspicion of DUI, or just write you a ticket for the original offense that he stopped you for. If you get arrested, I think there's a better chance of beating it in court w/o the evidence of a failed breathalizer or failed sobriety test. The bottom line is, don't give them the evidence to hang you in court. Unfortunately, the cops will always lie and twist their opinions, like "I smelled a 'strong' odor of alcohol on the subjects breath", "Car was swerving in the lane" etc. but I think you'll have a better case w/o a failed test of any kind. The less damning evidence, the better. Don't forget, in the end, it's all about revenue!

[aznlvr11]

I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV. Holysheepshit is right. You are fucked either way. Refusing to blow is a guaranteed trip to jail and I believe a loss of license for a while. They may get a warrant for a blood draw. If they don't have either of those, they don't have any other proof except the officers report and the video. Get a good DUI lawyer. It will cost him a lot of $$$$ guilty or not. The prosecution will try to get him to agree to guilty plea deal. If he knows he is not guilty, take it to trial. He could get lucky and off. Just my opinion.

[Powerdrive]

Yeah he has a bad ass lawyer. First 6 hours out of jail cost him $11900. The video was quite funny. Lawyer said the field sobriety test will be inadmissable because they weren't standardized. Plus, he went to law school with the Brazoria county DA.

[ck1942]

imho - don't drink & drive.

Always have a "designated driver" on board.

Taxis are relatively cheap. Even if you take them both ways.

Drink at home or at a buddy's place so you can avoid the bar stakeouts that always seem to happen toward the end of the month when the po-po may need to make their quota.

Definitely avoid drinking and driving on the weekend and especially the holiday weekends.

[Jed Clampett]

A friend of mine declined some of the field sobriety tests because he has a bad knee.....he is scheduled for knee replacement. Cop arrested him for suspicion of DUI. My friend took the breath test because he had not been drinking. He blew 00.000..........no alcohol in his system. He was not released. He was still arrested for suspision of driving under the influence of "something".

[Powerdrive]

Thats just wrong man, shit like that shouldn't be legal at all.

Originally Posted by Jed Clampett

A friend of mine declined some of the field sobriety tests because he has a bad knee.....he is scheduled for knee replacement. Cop arrested him for suspicion of DUI. My friend took the breath test because he had not been drinking. He blew 00.000..........no alcohol in his system. He was not released. He was still arrested for suspision of driving under the influence of "something".

[Anita Lay]

You are guilty by not allowing the proof of being innocent, the machine is used for determination of that. Interferring with the duties of an officer could have been added to the charge.
If you have nothing to hide then take the damn test. Your lawyer gets a copy of the results plus they have a video tape rolling the whole time. Yes, your lawyer and you get all copies.
They can't tamper with anything due to the video tapes.
You can also request going to the hospital and getting test done there but some don't think to do that at the moment in time.
I only speak of this because of doing bailsbond work.
The main thing that comes up, if you was innocent then why not take the test?
There is no way on earth the officer can alter the reading.

[sky_wire]

In short, it depends what the jury says. Your friend says he passed the field sobriety tests. How does he know this? It’s unlikely that the cop is heard on the dash cam video saying, “You just passed all the field sobriety tests, now I’m asking you to submit to a breath test.” However, if your friend truly passed, he’s got a good case.

He needs to hire a DWI lawyer, and set it for trial. Expect to spend $5-10K.

[budman33]

I was part of an alcohol study in college.. go college!.. fake bar, hot bartender, a vodka soaked wrag to rim the the top of the glass. I was the 'cop' kinda. I would run them through the breathylizer and field tests before, every 20 minutes and at the end.

At the end of the day, whether they thought they got alcohol or not. and some did. 99% failed the field sobriety tests sober or impaired. Its just a matter of fact and those arent HD cameras in the car so unless you fall over and absolutely fail, your still going to fail...if the cop says you do.

an aside: the breathalizer cannot be beaten but it can be altered quite easily. (I had to write a paper) you have two types of lung breath, tidal and deep lung. Tidal is normal breathing, deep lung is everything in everything out like after a hard run.. or fuck.

tendency when confronted with the law is not to let him smell, because he's trying to smell. For my 'paper' I would get myself to precisely .08 bac by my weight. then test.

Hold my breath enough to not pass out but still holding. I could blow a .25 (fucked up drunk in cop's eyes)

Go all in and all out deep breaths before the test and I could blow a .03 ( well below legal)

ever wonder why it takes the breahalyzer about 3 seconds to get a reading but the cop asks you to blow till your about ready to fall over from lack of air? They want that deep lung sample.

But remember, no one passes the field tests even if they think they do, or havent had as much as a tic tac.

ps. pennies in mouth, binaca, mouthwash -- they dont work ... Ahh science, easiest 3 credits I ever made

ps.s dont refuse, as blood tests dont lie. But if your on the edge of the limit. deep breaths my friend, deep breaths. make your deep lung the same reading as tidal and you will do yourself a favor. Then call a taxi.

[aznlvr11]

Originally Posted by budman33

99% failed the field sobriety tests sober or impaired.

Field sobriety tests are designed for failure. Very few can do all of the circus tricks they ask you to perform. When was the last time any of you said your ABC's backwards? Or put your heels and toes together (which is not a natural stance), tilted your head back with your eyes closed, and touched your nose, all without wobbling? Or walked a straight line, heel to toe, without letting your arms come up for balance (again, not natural)? Try it, you'll be amused, but they won't.