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Are field sobriety evaluations still voluntary if they can use them against you? |
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Thursday, 20 September 2007 |
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Massa v. State
A07A1019 (criminal case)
September 11, 2007
Johnson, Presiding Judge.
07 FCDR 2871 (09/28/07)
In this DeKalb DUI arrest, the Defendant was parked off the side
of the road and refused both field test and breath test. The Georgia
Court of Appeals held that a defendant’s refusal to submit to field
sobriety tests is admissible
as circumstantial evidence of intoxication and together with other
evidence would support an inference that he was impaired drive.
How are field tests voluntary if they can use them against you?
The answer of course is that they are not. What is an innocent
person supposed to do? Never take the HGN. If you are
capable of performing field evaluation like standing on one leg and/or
walking a line, it might be worth trying. Juries typically will
not convict a person that can stand on one leg for thirty
seconds. Field Evaluations are divided attention tests and
measure your ability to follow instructions and perform physical
dexterity exercises.
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