Spencer v State – clues do not equate to BAC with out a proper Harper foundation
In Spencer v. State, 302 Ga. 133 (805 SE2d 886) (2017), the Georgia Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari in Spencer to consider whether the Court of Appeals erred in holding that the trial court properly admitted a police officer’s testimony correlating the results of a horizontal gaze nystagmus (“HGN”) test with a numeric blood alcohol content […]
Read MoreSpencer v State- HGN-4 of 6 clues indicates over DUI legal limit
In Spencer v. State, A16A0118, June 9, 2016, the Georgia Court of Appeals concluded in a less safe DUI case that a DUI Police Officer’s testimony at trial that “four out of six clues generally indicates a blood alcohol level equal to or greater than .08.” The Court distinguished Bravo v. State, 304 Ga. App. 243, 247-248, […]
Read MoreThere is a Giant Hole in the accuracy of Standardized DUI Field Sobriety Evaluations
September 4, 2015. I was listening to an episode of Econ Talk on Econometrics and the thought occurred to me of whether anyone had done a regression analysis on Standardized Field Sobriety Evaluations field studies which is the first and most basic step in the Statistical analysis of any data to analyze patterns, causation, and other […]
Read MoreState v Barnes – Not not rescinded but rather fair and reasonable
State v. Barnes, A14A1915, Court of Appeals of Georgia, March 27, 2015. The State appealed the Fayette County State Court’s order suppressing a DUI alcohol breath test result because Barnes’ refusal to take the test was not rescinded. Barnes was pulled over and, after an investigation including a portable breath result, was arrested for DUI. She […]
Read MoreCalifornia Supreme Court – DUI Field Sobriety Tests do not predict impairment
DUI Law Appellate Quote of the day: Coffey v. Shiomoto, No. s213545, California Supreme Court (April 6, 2015);— P.3d —-, 2015 WL 1514610 (Cal.): “National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released the results of a study in 1998 that evaluated the accuracy of the standardized field sobriety test (SFST) battery at BACs below 0.10 percent. (Stuster […]
Read MoreSmith v State – DUI Field Evaluations are always admissible
State v. Smith, A14A1127, November 14, 2014. James Smith was charged with DUI less safe and failure to maintain lane. Following a hearing, the trial court suppressed two of the field evaluations performed by the Officer because they were not performed according to his National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) training. Judge Doyle writing for […]
Read MoreCop fails DUI field sobriety tests while on Duty
March 7th, 2014. USA Today reported that a Lieutenant of the Dallas Police Department was accused of working while impaired, sleeping on the job, and more failed field sobriety tests. Co-workers performed a field sobriety test on him, which was caught on camera, which he failed. The Lieutenant claimed that he was sleeping during his […]
Read MoreJohnson v. State – A13A0397 – Police video can be used against you but not the Police
JOHNSON, JR. v. THE STATE, A13A0397, Court of Appeals of Georgia, July 3, 2013. William Holland Johnson, Jr. was found guilty of DUI by a Forsyth County Jury in the State Court of Forsyth County in Cumming, Georgia. He appealed arguing that the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test should have been excluded, he was denied […]
Read MoreSeated Field Sobriety Tests May Expose Questions of Reliability in Standard FSTs
Local officers in Pell City, Alabama have been trained and certified to conduct sit-down field sobriety tests to help investigate boating under the influence (BUI) on the nearby Coosa River. Proponents claim these sit-down tests could be used in roadside investigations as well: “the seated tests are useful if during a traffic stop the person […]
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