The Fallacy of the Pennsylvania Sobirety Tests You Took
Introduction
Although this is intended to be a very cursory summary of field sobriety tests
relating to your Pennsylvania DUI, Mr. Margiotti & Mittman can explain to you
in more detail the history of the field sobriety tests, the administrative
procedures, the instructions, the standardized clues, and the scoring system
when you meet with them.
Even more importantly, as you read this explanation you'll also learn the many
ways these tests can be unreliable. You see, they assume that the conditions
under which you took them were perfect. If conditions weren't perfect you
were doomed to fail them before you even started.
We'll tell you more about this and how it could dramatically help in the defense
of your Pennsylvania DUI case--when you call for your free consultation.
History
Field sobriety tests have been around as long as the enforcement of DUI laws.
For years, field sobriety tests varied among officers within the same law
enforcement agency as well as from one agency to another. Field sobriety
tests were limited only by the officers' collective imaginations.
But this changed in the late 1970's when the United States Department of
Transportation, National Highway Transportation Safety Administration
(hereinafter referred to as NHTSA), funded research to evaluate currently used
physical coordination tests which were used to determine the relationship
between intoxication and driving impairment, to develop more sensitive tests
which would provide more reliable evidence of impairment, and to standardize
the tests.
The researchers finally concluded that the three test battery, which included
the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, Walk-and-Turn, and One-Leg Stand, offered a
reliable field sobriety testing procedure. The next step was to standardize these
tests.
Additional research was therefore conducted to complete the development and
validation of this sobriety test battery and to assess the battery's feasibility in
the field , as well as its effectiveness for estimating the blood alcohol content of
subjects and facilitating the identification of persons with a blood alcohol
content above the legal limit.
Types of Field Sobriety Tests
Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus
Nystagmus is the involuntary jerking of the eye. It can be an indication of
intoxication. However . . . and this is significant . . . the occurrence of nystagmus
is not dependent upon the presence of an intoxicant in the body. Substances that
would not interfere with driving ability can produce nystagmus, and nystagmus
may be congenital or caused by structural neurologic disease.
Examples of possible indications of alcohol impairment emerging during
nystagmus test include the inability to keep the head still; noticeable swaying,
and the utterance of incriminating statements. Points are not deducted,
however, for any of these behaviors.
But here are examples of conditions that may interfere with suspect's
performance of the nystagmus test include a suspect having an artificial eye;
having damaged or very weak vision in one eye; eye irritants such as wind,
dust, and rain; and visual and other distractions which impede the test, such as
traffic, blinking lights, rain, etc. Some persons who are not under the influence
may exhibit nystagmus.
Nystagmus may also be caused by certain pathological disorders such as brain
tumors, brain damage and some diseases of the inner ear.
Walk and Turn
In this test, the subject assumes a heel-to-toe stance with the subject's arms
down at her side. The subject is to maintain this position until the officer tells
her to begin walking.
At that time, pursuant to the instructions given by the officer during the
instruction phase, the subject is to take 9 heel-to-toe steps down a real or
imaginary, turn around and take 9 heel-to-toe steps back up the line. The turn
is not a pivot, but instead is made by taking a series of small steps with one
foot, keeping the front foot on the line.
While walking, the subject is to keep her arms at her side, watch her feet at all
times, and count her steps out loud.
Here again there are examples of conditions that may interfere with suspect's
performance of the walk and turn test. These include wind and weather
conditions; the suspect being over the age of sixty; the suspect being fifty
pounds or more overweight; the footwear of the suspect; and highway traffic.
One Leg Stand
The instructions for this test are given to the subject while the subject stands
with his feet together, and arms down at his side until told to start.
The instructions which are supposed to be given to the subject (with
accompanying demonstration) are for the subject to stand on one leg (either
leg), holding out the other foot approximately 6 inches off the ground, foot
pointed forward so the raised foot is approximately parallel to the ground.
While standing, the subject may be instructed to maintain this position while
the officer estimates thirty seconds or the subject may be told to count out
loud (one thousand and one, one thousand and two, and so on).
Either way, the subject is to keep his arms at his sides at all times and watch
the raised foot. Examples of conditions which may impede a suspect's ability to
perform this test include a test surface which is not dry and level; the suspect
being over the age of sixty; the suspect being at least fifty pounds overweight;
footwear which impedes the performance of the test, such as heels; and certain
medical problems and disabilities.
Non Standardized Field Sobriety Tests
There are other, non-standardized field sobriety tests which have been
approved for use by such organizations as International Association of Chiefs of
Police ("I.A.C.P.") in their "Improved Sobriety Testing for Boating/Alcohol
Enforcement" Student Manual and the U.S. National Park Service.
These tests include, but are not limited to, the finger to nose test, the finger
count test, the hand pat test, the alphabet test, the reverse counting test, and
the coin pickup test.
The above was taken from the U.S. Department of Transportation, National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DWI Detection and Standardized Field
Sobriety Testing, Student Manual, VIII-5 (2000).
The policeman or policewoman who arrested you has practiced these tests up
to two dozen times under ideal conditions before he or she got right. But
you're expected to do it perfectly on the first try.
Do you think that's fair? I don't.
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593 Bethlehem Pike
Montgomeryville, PA 18936-9709, US
E-mail:margiottilaw@verizon.net
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