DUI Arrest: But I Passed The Field Sobriety Tests

As a DUI defense Lawyer with many years of handling DUI cases in the Orange County courts, I’ve talked to
thousands of people about their DUI arrest. One belief that the majority of
people arrested for DUI have in common is that they passed their field
sobriety tests—usually
with flying colors. In fact, they are often upset at the fact that the officer
arrested them for DUI after they performed SO WELL on the field sobriety tests.

But what
people don’t understand and most Orange County DUI Attorney’S know, is that they are being graded on specific
behavior (cues) that they are not aware of. For example, when a police officer
has a driver perform the “walk and turn” field sobriety test, the driver is
asked to walk nine steps heel-to-toe, turn around, and walk nine steps back.
But what the driver isn’t told is that the officer is looking for “indications
of intoxication” or “”cues” such as whether there is a gap between the driver’s
toe and heel on any step of this “heel-to-toe” walk. If the driver raises
their hands AT ALL while walking the line, this too, is a cue. If the driver
“steps off” the line, which is often an imaginary line, then this too is a cue
to impairment. And if the driver doesn’t look continuously at their feet while
walking and turning, then this is also a failing grade on this field sobriety
test. 

All of the
field sobriety tests that a DUI officer asks you to perform will have a set of
cues that the officer is looking for. The one-legged stand, the Rhomberg test
(head tilt), nose touch, and even the horizontal gaze nystagmus test (follow
pen with eyes) have a list of cues. Since most of the driver’s who take field
sobriety tests weren’t even aware that they were being graded on these cues
they believe they passed the tests. But when their Orange County DUI defense Lawyer gets the police report it inevitably
shows “poor” performance on the field sobriety tests—usually exhibiting two or
more cues of failure.

But even
doing very well on the field sobriety tests doesn’t mean you wont be arrested.
Field sobriety test evidence is NOT necessary to convict a driver of DUI. You
see, there are actually two ways for the DA to convict you of a DUI. One way is
to prove that a driver is too impaired by alcohol, drugs, or a combination of
alcohol and drugs, that the driver wasn’t able to drive a motor vehicle as well
as a sober person. To convict a person of DUI using this theory, the DA usually
relies heavily on the field sobriety tests as evidence of “impairment”.
However, the other way for the DA to convict you of DUI is to prove that you
had a blood-alcohol level of 0.08% or more while driving. This is typically how
most people are convicted. So the field sobriety evidence is usually not
important if the DA has a strong case that you are over a 0.08%.

If you’ve
been arrested for a DUI call The Law Offices of EJ Stopyro today at (949)
559-5500 for a free telephonic consultation with an experienced Orange County DUI Defense Attorney. You can also visit our website at www.ejesquire.com. We have offices at 32072 Camino
Capistrano, 2^nd floor, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 and at 1901
Newport Blvd., Suite 350, Costa Mesa, CA 92627.