Field Sobriety Tests

Challenging the Results of DWI Roadside Breathalyzer Tests

Don't Let the Prosecution Rely on a Drunk Driving "Sobriety"  Breath Tests

Field sobriety tests are commonly utilized by law enforcement in DWI cases. The officer who pulls you over uses them to establish a basis for your arrest and for further testing at the police station. However, these "scientific" tests are not as credible as most people think. In fact, an experienced drunk driving defense attorney can often demonstrate that the arresting officer drew faulty conclusions from these notoriously unreliable tests.

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The Law Office of Eric L. Mayer in Indianapolis has a record of success in refuting the results of roadside breath tests and field sobriety tests. Our skilled trial lawyer, Eric L. Mayer, offers knowledgeable, aggressive representation for your DWI//DUI arrest in Central Indiana or statewide.

About Field Sobriety Tests (FST)

Field sobriety tests (breathalyzer tests) are designed for you to fail, as it is abnormal and unnatural to expect someone to perform these "tricks" at 3 a.m. on a dark street with an officer's flashlight or headlights shining in their face. In fact, a completely sober person might have trouble standing on one leg or reciting the alphabet backward. An FST does not take into account the vast individual differences which may affect performance of these otherwise awkward tasks.

The most common and flawed tests used in Indiana to determine intoxication are:

• The Walk and Turn: Walk several steps, turn on your heels and walk back. If you wobble or misstep does this prove that you are intoxicated? Since the arresting officer never saw you before you were arrested, they have no idea what your ordinary level of coordination is.
  
  
• The One-Leg Stand: If you saw someone standing on a street corner with one leg in the air, would you think this was a normal way to stand? Consider also that some people are generally more coordinated than others. For example, athletes tend to have better coordination than the general population.
  
  
• The Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus ("pen test"): Under this test, the officer waves a pen in front of your face and asks you follow it with your eyes. Nystagmus is a jerking of the eye that law enforcement associates with inebriation. However, nystagmus can be caused by a number of factors other than intoxication.

Field sobriety tests don't determine whether or not a person is drunk, rather they provide information from which deductions can be made. In essence, they constitute nothing more than circumstantial evidence. Although designed to assist prosecutors in making their case, Eric L. Mayer frequently finds grounds to use the results of an FST against the state. He will often acquire videotape evidence from the squad car camera to contradict the officer's FST conclusions.

If the field sobriety test is an important part of the prosecution's case, there is ample reason to challenge it in court. If faulty conclusions from an FST were a primary basis for later obtaining a BAC sample (blood-alcohol content), that evidence may also be inadmissible.

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Contact the Law Office of Eric L. Mayer to arrange a FREE, PRIVATE consultation about your DUI arrest. Mr. Mayer has 27 years of experience and the investigation, negotiation and litigation skills to help achieve the best possible resolution under the facts and the law.