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Trooper arrest illuminates problems with modern DUI enforcement |
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Saturday, 03 November 2007 |
An Illinois State Police trooper, Jasen Woo of Chicago, was
arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after crashing his squad car
in August into a utility pole. He had an odor of alcohol about
his person and red and glassy eyes. Of course, knowing that
voluntary field sobriety evaluations like the HGN, Walk and Turn and
One Leg Stand are the rough equivalent of tossing a coin he
refused. Suprising, not really most cops know better than to take
field evaluations even when they know they are sober. He refused
the breath test. Suprising, not really, it does have a 25% margin
of error on an .08 legal limit. Whoops, he was driving a state
vehicile. DOT regulations require a chemical test. He takes
the test and registers a .04 or the rough equivalent of a beer or a
beer and a half. This is easily less than half of the legal
limit. The reality of the currentl state of DUI law enforcement
is that an odor of alcohol is a presumption of DUI impairment.
People have the right to refuse an inaccurate breath or blood tests,
but it is becoming more apparent that with an odor of alcohol you must
prove your innocence. If the police can't tell if you are
impaired without a test, you should be released -bottom line.
Steve Weinhoeft, first state's attorney, called the case ironic.
"Had he taken the breath test on the front end, he never would
have gotten a DUI (charge) to begin with," Weinhoeft said. "He wouldn't
have gotten the summary (license) suspension, we would have all gone on
our way and he would have saved himself some attorney's
fees." What
if the inaccurate test indicated he was impaired and a subsequent test
that he was sober. Simply stated the current state of DUI
enforcement could be titled "the death of common sense?" Atlanta
DUI Police and Georgia State Patrol Dui police patrolling Buckhead in
Atlanta a DUI hotspot. Regularly, arrest people for DUI they classify
with normal speech, moderate odor of alcohol and no unsteadiness or
swaying. Let the citizen beware.
Person arrested with DUI with 0.00 test for alcohol and no drugs present. In
Corvallis, Ore., the local police department have placed an Officer Cox
on administrative leave while they look into his arrests as Cox arrested a person for DUI, even
though he tested 0.00 for alcohol and negative for druges. The arrested
driver had watery eyes as a result of a cold. Arrests like this
are a probelm because, even if the suspect is
never charged or convicted, the arrest still shows up on their criminal
record as an arrest. When will the madness end. We had a
client arrested several years ago in Forsyth County for DUI and the
blood test came back 0.00 for alcohol for and negative for drugs.
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