DUI Blog Review - 2006 - Week 52

The Austin DWI Lawyer featured an article by Attorney Jamie Spenser entitled Watch The Witness, which described how officers use cheat sheets to answer defense lawyer's testimony in the courtroom.

The Underdog Blog featured an article by Attorney Jon Katz discussed the many reasons unrelated to alcohol which can affect a suspect's performance on field sobriety tests.  He discusses the junk science used to support the Field Sobriety Tests (FST's) and the fact that the tests only show the presence of alcohol in one's body and not the level of alcohol present. He further discusses that too many judges rely on the FST's to find probable cause to arrest a suspect, request a breath or blood alcohol test, and to enter a guilty verdict for driving while impaired or driving under the influence of alcohol.

Washington State DUI Blog posted an article about how police in Washington conduct the Finger to Nose field sobriety test. The post notes that most sober individuals cannot perform this test, so it is not a valid indicator of sobriety.  Note, in Kentucky, Field sobriety tests are voluntary.  They are primarily used to gather evidence of impairment.

Guy Sharpe reported on the Georgia DUI Blog a Canadian study which suggests that birth control pills produce an enzyme that most Breathalyzer test machines will interpret as blood alcohol content, leading to the overestimation of true breath alcohol and erroneous test results.

Post by Nicholasville Kentucky, Personal Injury, Criminal Defense, and DUI Attorney, Stephen J. Isaacs.