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so my friend was tellin me about this dude that still got slapped w/ a dui even though he passed all the sobriety tests and blew only a 0.05. she's asking if the dui will stick in court and what they can do about it?
blew a 0.05, but still got dui in CA?
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nope. he's about my age.
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You can still be arrested for DUI if you are showing obvious signs of being overly intoxicated even though you blew below the limit. Its a judgement call based on how you did during the FST's. Are you sure he passed all the tests or he just feels he did? Because if you bomb out the FST's but blow below the legal limit..you're obviously too impared to be driving which is why you can then be arrested
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yeah, the arresting officer's partner said he would have let dude go.
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total judgement call
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A friend of mine recently had this happen. He blew a 0.06. He was arrested and charged; his last drink was 4 hours before driving, so it's unlikely he was significantly impaired.
However, today it seems like cops have a 'no-tolerance' policy (kind of like the 'no-tolerance' policy in schools where they suspend kids for having plastic forks) with DUI. IME, cops arrest and charge anyone that blows a over a 0.01 just to see if it will stick. This was the third time this happened to someone I know.
Ultimately, the judge threw out the case and had a few choice words for the officer for wasting his time (apparently, repeatedly) with these kinds of cases. Your friend should be ok unless there is a video or something of him stumbling around (appearing completely intoxicated) in front of the officer.
As far as officers are concerned... 0.08 is the limit for a reason; and it's a low limit. A majority of senior drivers react more slowly than an average person driving at 0.08, and they are still allowed to plow through farmer's markets. Arresting people that are under the limit comes off as simply harassment / intimidation.
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cops can and will do what they want around here, thankfully my oldest son is coached by my dad and two police officers, so if i have a problem they usually can take care of it as long as it's not wreckless driving. like my speeding ticket for doing 50 in a 45, that motherfucker.
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Bad ticket, only sticks if it's 7mph or over the speed limit.Contest it, Go to court and have them summon the speed census for the street you were on and the last record of radar and speedometer calibration for the car that pulled you over. They won't show, and with the lack of evidence, and the not 7mph over, you'll be god to go.
As for the OP issue, the sobriety tests are bullshit. All it is for is to check that you can do something while listening, since being intoxicated limits your motor functions and concentration to just driving (usually). The cop will use their judgement to see if you can basically multitask. The sobriety tests are all designed to check your multitasking abilities, that's why they talk to you while you do the tasks, to see if you're paying attention and understand what they're saying. Usually, the eye-chart will key off the test. They hold a card up to your eye and check with a flashlight your pupil size, then if they have determined you're drunk, they will give you the sobriety test. They already are going to put you off the street before they even do it, then you have a chance to redeem yourself. The thinking behind it is that just because you're BAC is .05, doesn't mean you can handle that. .08 is usually a good arrest, but that's the "limit" just as there's a speed limit, not really intended to drive that fast, just not go over it, and yet you can still get pulled over for going under the speed limit if the conditions aren't safe. Same idea. All about judgement calls.
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It will still stick under 7 over. Seen it happen.
F.S.T's serve more of a purpose then jsut following directions and listening. Granted that is one of the reasons for it but you are testing for gait, nystagmus, balance, and comprehension. All of the tests serve a purpose. As far as eye cards..They arnt very accurate. Some people, myself included, have very large pupils, where some have abnormally small pupils. Pupil size in and of itself is not pc to arrest.
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correction...The general public has a no tolerance policy for dui.
If the officer can articulate specifics and show cause for the arrest the case will stand up in court.
.08 is low, for some people. Some people are too impared to drive at an .04 or .06..where others are not really impared until they are a .10 or above...And you are right..senior drivers do react slowly and I totally agree with stricter testing of them as they age..but thats something for the legislature to change not the cops.
As far as calling it harassment/intimidation.>Every criminal feels harassed. If you got arrested..generally its for a good reason.
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We only have to go off 3 of the tests and I usually pick nastagmus and eye chart, or really it depends on the situation. I've only had to do blood twice. People still don't understand that they fucking signed a piece of paper saying we can and will get your blood if you don't adhere to the breathalyzer. Same for teenagers who don't understand that blowing a .01 is illegal for them... "but it's not over the limit!" Eye chart holds up here for everything, I know it's different in some states, but I only use it when I know they're drunk really. One person actually was having a diabetic seizure. Anyone who wonders why they ask you if your diabetic is because their seizures look a lot like being drunk. Never actually seen it before though, till that one time.
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