eball Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 (edited) Moral of the story: if you get caught DUI, do not take the breathalyzer. Depends upon the jurisdiction. In some places refusal to blow (besides ending a date) will get you an automatic one-year suspension of your license. What you're really supposed to refuse is performing the dog and pony show on the side of the road. Edited June 9, 2017 by eball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted June 9, 2017 Author Share Posted June 9, 2017 Depends upon the jurisdiction. In some places refusal to blow (besides ending a date) will get you an automatic one-year suspension of your license. What you're really supposed to refuse is performing the dog and pony show on the side of the road. Tiger Woods missed that day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFunPolice Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 I think Roger hits you with a game for a not guilty verdict just out of spite. Roger's logic? Where there's smoke, there's fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted June 9, 2017 Author Share Posted June 9, 2017 I think Roger hits you with a game for a not guilty verdict just out of spite. Roger's logic? Where there's smoke, there's fire. tbh that's how it should be. He clearly was drunk in the video. He should have consequences regardless of whether the law can convict him. What he did was awful. He should be suspended for a game under personal conduct policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick the Greek Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 I can't believe he didn't just take a plea deal and it went all the way to court. Wouldn't the sentence be much harsher if he lost in court? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 Lack of physical evidence of intoxication. Turning down the breathalyzer was the only good decision he made that night. Heh. Was it a jury trial? In that case, I suspect he was found "guilty" of "driving while Razorback" in Fayetteville, AR and what the prosecutors failed to prove is that they could find 12 Fayetteville jurors who weren't Razorback fans. In Missouri, if you refuse to take a breathalyzer, blood, or urine test, they suspend your license for 1 year on the first offense. You can refuse a breathalyzer and request a blood test, you can ask for 20 minutes grace to contact your lawyer, but after that BOOM. I can't believe he didn't just take a plea deal and it went all the way to court. Wouldn't the sentence be much harsher if he lost in court? He was a star for the Razorbacks. He was arrested in Fayetteville. You do the math. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blokestradamus Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 tbh that's how it should be. He clearly was drunk in the video. He should have consequences regardless of whether the law can convict him. What he did was awful. He should be suspended for a game under personal conduct policy. League discipline under Goodell has typically been as much about perception than anything else. He pretty clearly couldn't get through the field sobriety test. Keep him in Buffalo once Uber is up and running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wiz Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 Depends upon the jurisdiction. In some places refusal to blow (besides ending a date) will get you an automatic one-year suspension of your license. What you're really supposed to refuse is performing the dog and pony show on the side of the road. Don't some places say it's a fail breathalyzer if you refuse the test? I think that happened to my cousin but can't remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 Depends upon the jurisdiction. In some places refusal to blow (besides ending a date) will get you an automatic one-year suspension of your license. What you're really supposed to refuse is performing the dog and pony show on the side of the road. I looked it up. In Arkansas, it's a 6 month revocation of your license. http://dui.drivinglaws.org/resources/dui-refusal-blood-breath-urine-test/arkansas.htm I expect his lawyer advised him it was better to pay someone to drive him around for 6 months than to provide the state with chemical evidence of his intoxication. Or, he may still have had a Texas drivers license and his lawyer figured he could get him a hardship license ("restricted occupational license") so he could get to practices and etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 Tiger Woods missed that day Yup. People seem to think they'll "prove" their sobriety by performing these field tests, when in reality they can do nothing but hurt you and the smart thing is to politely refuse (which is perfectly legal and not considered failure to obey law enforcement). I think "textbook" DUI arrest protocol is to be polite, say as little as possible, refuse field sobriety tests, and request a blood test rather than a breathalyzer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldTimeAFLGuy Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 (edited) tbh that's how it should be. He clearly was drunk in the video. He should have consequences regardless of whether the law can convict him. What he did was awful. He should be suspended for a game under personal conduct policy. ...last time I checked, MEMBERSHIP in the NFL was a privilege and not a right......and they make the rules of membership......play by their rules and mega millions are on the table....1,696 MEMBERS privileged each year.... pretty hard concept to grasp......are their far reaching off seasons controls going too far?....it's their fraternity and they make the rules....are you in or out?.... Edited June 9, 2017 by OldTimeAFLGuy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capco Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 Interesting. I was driving home from a buddies house one night. Spent 3 hours there and drank 4 12-oz beers. I was pulled over about halfway home. I was asked if I had been drinking that night and I told him the truth. He asked me to get out of the car, asked a few more questions to make sure I was mentally coherent, then gave me a roadside test. He asked me to stand in front of the car and look at the tip of the pen he was holding as he waved it back and forth in front of my face. I could only track the pen with my eyes and had to keep my head facing forward. Before the test even began I stumbled because of the drop at the shoulder of the road. Cop noticed it right away and asked me to move more towards the center of the road so it wouldn't interfere with the test. He waved his pen about 10 times across my face in slow, methodical movements. Towards the end he reassured me saying "just a couple more passes, we're almost done here" because he could see I was a bit nervous. After the test he thanked me for being honest, let me go on my way, and followed me the rest of the way home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 Interesting. I was driving home from a buddies house one night. Spent 3 hours there and drank 4 12-oz beers. I was pulled over about halfway home. I was asked if I had been drinking that night and I told him the truth. He asked me to get out of the car, asked a few more questions to make sure I was mentally coherent, then gave me a roadside test. He asked me to stand in front of the car and look at the tip of the pen he was holding as he waved it back and forth in front of my face. I could only track the pen with my eyes and had to keep my head facing forward. Before the test even began I stumbled because of the drop at the shoulder of the road. Cop noticed it right away and asked me to move more towards the center of the road so it wouldn't interfere with the test. He waved his pen about 10 times across my face in slow, methodical movements. Towards the end he reassured me saying "just a couple more passes, we're almost done here" because he could see I was a bit nervous. After the test he thanked me for being honest, let me go on my way, and followed me the rest of the way home. Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test. Google it. You must have passed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 Depends upon the jurisdiction. In some places refusal to blow (besides ending a date) will get you an automatic one-year suspension of your license. What you're really supposed to refuse is performing the dog and pony show on the side of the road. Because of the recording the sobriety check is a compelling piece of evidence. Not too long ago these tests were not filmed but mostly just documented on a police form. That's not so much the case now with ubiquitous police cameras. Juries seeing the action rather than hearing the evidence is much more convincing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maynard Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 Depends upon the jurisdiction. In some places refusal to blow (besides ending a date) will get you an automatic one-year suspension of your license. What you're really supposed to refuse is performing the dog and pony show on the side of the road. But you skip the physical test and fail the chemical? How's that better? Curious....pretty sure you're screwed, besides avoiding the embarrassment of walking like a chicken with its head cut off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 But you skip the physical test and fail the chemical? How's that better? Curious....pretty sure you're screwed, besides avoiding the embarrassment of walking like a chicken with its head cut off. I think you're missing the point that the presumption is you're over the limit. These "tips" are only intended to give you the best opportunity at beating the charge. If you're sober, you're sober. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 Did the officers pull him over because he was driving erratically? Was he issued tickets? Let's put this incidence in context from a justice standpoint. Because he didn't take the breath test his license was suspended for a period of time. If he was given tickets then that was a penalty for his driving. You do not issue tickets to a drunk driver. You arrest him. All summonses (other than parking tickets) are in lieu of arrest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All_Pro_Bills Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 (edited) Interesting. I was driving home from a buddies house one night. Spent 3 hours there and drank 4 12-oz beers. I was pulled over about halfway home. I was asked if I had been drinking that night and I told him the truth. He asked me to get out of the car, asked a few more questions to make sure I was mentally coherent, then gave me a roadside test. He asked me to stand in front of the car and look at the tip of the pen he was holding as he waved it back and forth in front of my face. I could only track the pen with my eyes and had to keep my head facing forward. Before the test even began I stumbled because of the drop at the shoulder of the road. Cop noticed it right away and asked me to move more towards the center of the road so it wouldn't interfere with the test. He waved his pen about 10 times across my face in slow, methodical movements. Towards the end he reassured me saying "just a couple more passes, we're almost done here" because he could see I was a bit nervous. After the test he thanked me for being honest, let me go on my way, and followed me the rest of the way home. Whether by design or not you did the right thing by letting some time pass for the alcohol to leave your system. A beer is about .02 for blood alcohol so 4 beers in an hour would put you at .08 which is the legal limit in most states. To be safe you'd need to let 4 hours pass, 1 hour per drink, to be pretty certain the alcohol has left your system. As a matter of practice the smartest thing to do is don't drink and drive. And if you do have a drink or two at a friends house, a bar after work, or at an outdoor barbeque is might make sense to invest about $75 in a pocket sized breathalyzer test that you can get online or at pharmacies like CVS. While its not totally accurate it will give you a heads up not to drive. A few dollars spent now can avoid the potential of shelling out thousands later and will make sure you do the right thing and not endanger yourself or others. As tailgating season approaches its a good reminder to make sure if your attending a game that the designated driver is sober. As for me, I don't want to climb into a car with somebody that's intoxicated and over the legal limit and I'm not going to drive if I've been drinking. In your case the officer must have decided you were sober or wouldn't have blown a reading anywhere near the legal limit once he got you to the station and went through all the protocols for performing the breathalyzer test. Or he wasn't comfortable in how he'd argue probable cause for a traffic stop. The other factor at play here is these cases are big-time money makers for cities and towns. Big revenue generators. If you get busted and convicted you'll end up spending about $2K for a decent lawyer, 1K in fines and court costs, about $3K of insurance surcharges payable to the state, and maybe have to take 'classes' which might run you another $1K. Viewed from the municipalities perspective your a living ATM machine. Don't put yourself in that position to really screw up your finances. The other thing is breathalyzer machines do not directly measure your blood alcohol level. The machine derives an estimate of your level from a sample of your breath run through a series of mathematical algorithms hardcoded for a person of 'average' physiology. I'd say it with 100% certainty a professional athlete is not physiologically average. Things like the volume of red blood cells in your bloodstream can impact the real reading. That's why the blood test is much more accurate. The laws very from state to state and as I said at the top the best thing to do is avoid the situation altogether. But it wouldn't hurt to understand the details of the specific laws in your state before you get caught up in one of these situations guilty or innocent. Even if you didn't do anything it can be a major hassle. For example, you're at a bar happy hour after work and had a few drinks. You have one of those pocket testers and find out your over the legal limit at .10. So you decide to wait it out in your car for a couple hours to do the right thing or call a car service or somebody for a ride home. If a cop approaches you and checks you for signs of intoxication (probable cause some 'suspicious person' seen sitting in the parking lot for a long time) even though you didn't drive you can still be busted for DUI if your keys are in the ignition or in the vehicle. To avoid this you need to take the keys and throw them under the car. 99 times out of 100 you won't learn that until its too late. Edited June 11, 2017 by All_Pro_Bills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 Don't some places say it's a fail breathalyzer if you refuse the test? I think that happened to my cousin but can't remember. No. You can't fail a test that you don't take. However, there is a penalty (suspension of license) for not doing so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sig1Hunter Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 Depends upon the jurisdiction. In some places refusal to blow (besides ending a date) will get you an automatic one-year suspension of your license. What you're really supposed to refuse is performing the dog and pony show on the side of the road. The moral of the story is don't drink and drive. However, a truly good DUI defense attorney will tell you exactly what eball just said. While it isn't a dog and point show (it understandably looks like one to an untrained observer), that is the BEST defense. You are likely going to go to jail, but it severely limits the states evidence. Regardless, you will be out several thousand dollars. Not to mention the fact that you could have seriously injured or killed yourself or someone else. So, again, the moral of the story is don't drink and drive. Uber is a wonderful thing. Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test. Google it. You must have passed. Eball knows his stuff! "The eyes don't lie" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts