San Diego DUI Lawyer: DUI Cops Lack Expertise

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- A San Diego DUI attorney claims that the ability of most police officers to determine intoxication is little if any better than that of lay citizens -- and cites studies to prove it.
San Diego DUI lawyer Lawrence Taylor, author of the legal textbook Drunk Driving Defense, points out that the validity of DUI arrests depends heavily upon the subjective opinions of the arresting officer. His ability to correctly assess DUI symptoms of intoxication -- driving, appearance, behavior, answers to questions, performance on field sobriety tests -- will largely determine what, if any, criminal charges will be filed by the prosecutor. And his testimony at the DUI trial will largely decide the guilt or innocence of the person he arrests.
To determine how accurate the police are, the San Diego DUI attorney says, researchers at Rutgers University's Alcohol Behavior Research Laboratory conducted a series of experiments.
For purposes of comparison with officers, 49 non-police witnesses were first tested. The lay social drinkers sat in a room as various DUI "suspects" were brought in one at a time for observation and questioning. Each suspect had either consumed varying amounts of alcohol or had consumed nothing; each had been tested for blood-alcohol levels. Each of the 49 witnesses was then asked to judge each suspect's state of sobriety or intoxication.
Taylor says that a second group of 12 bartenders was similarly tested.
The researchers then turned to 30 experienced DUI officers. Separated into two groups, the first group of 15 officers was tested under laboratory conditions similar to those used with the lay social drinkers. The second group of 15 officers was tested under circumstances commonly encountered in a drunk driving traffic stop at night, with the subject behind the wheel of a car who was then asked to step out and conduct a series of DUI field sobriety tests.
The scientists' findings, the San Diego DUI lawyer says, were disturbing:
"When police observers in the laboratory conditions were compared to social drinkers who had experienced an identical procedure, no difference in rating accuracy was found. Officers in the arrest scenario were somewhat more accurate than their colleagues in the laboratory condition but not significantly so."
According to the San Diego DUI attorney, the scientists concluded that "the results of the three experiments described here are not reassuring. All three of the subject groups studied -- social drinkers, bartenders and police officers -- correctly judged targets' levels of intoxication only 25 percent of the time." Langenbrucher and Nathan, "Psychology, Public Policy and the Evidence for Alcohol Intoxication", American Psychologist 1070.


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John Kerry’s Daughter Arrested for DUI

Saturday, November 21, 2009 – Senator John Kerry’s oldest daughter was arrested after she was pulled over for a DUI.

Alexandra Kerry was reported to be stopped for an expired automobile registration and then refused to take a preliminary alcohol screening at the scene so the police arrested her and went to the Police Station and she took the test there and was then released because the breathalyzer showed her to be below the legal limit.
Police have the option to arrest someone if there is suspicion of drunken driving under the policeman’s opinion of impairment of the motorist.
A spokesman for the Police Gus Villanueva stated “It depends on the expertise and opinions of the officers at the time.”

Alexandra’s case is turned over to prosecutors who will make the decision of formally charging her or just dismiss the case. A Los Angeles City Attorneys Office spokesman stated that the case was under review.

It has been rumored that the 36 year old film maker is in pre-production as a director and co-writer of a new film based on a Jessica Shattuck novel called “The Hazards of Good Breeding.”


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Shayne Lamas gets California DUI plea bargain

Shayne Lamas, daughter of Lorenzo Lamas and star of E!'s Leave it to Lamas, accepted a plea bargain for the charge of "wet reckless driving" in lieu of fighting her DUI arrest last month.

The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office spokesman, Frank Matejian, confirmed the report with E! News. Lamas accepted 3-years of probation as a result of the guilty plea. She will also have to complete an alcohol awareness court within a limited amount of time.

Lamas was pulled over in the Venice area of Los Angeles on November 15. She claims she had consumed only one drink, but her breath test put her over the legal limit. The 24-year-old told Usmagazine.com she was traumatized by the event. She admits never taking drinking and driving that seriously until she saw that what she calls "just one drink" can lead to an arrest.

In fact, though it would be uncommon for one drink to put an adult over the legal limit, it is not entirely unheard of. Depending on a host of factors, Lamas, a small woman, could have been over the limit after consuming a single alcoholic beverage.

Women notably process alcohol slower than men, leading to a higher average BAC per alcoholic beverage. Young people have also developed less tolerance for the drug in their blood stream. It is for these reasons drivers must be careful to exercise extreme caution, particularly in the coming months of vigilant police activity, to remain safe.


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