DUI Field Sobriety Tests: Divided Attention

Orange County DUI Attorneys

If you are pulled over by the CHP, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, or a local police agency in Orange County and the officer finds reason to believe that you have been drinking alcohol or taking drugs, whether prescribed or not, you will most likely become the subject of a DUI investigation. Unfortunately, you will not have your DUI Lawyer in Orange County by your side. If you fail the DUI investigation, then you will be arrested for DUI, DUI drugs, or DUI with injury depending on the circumstances.
The DUI investigation includes a series of questions, including queries about what you drank, when you drank, how much you drank, etc. Although you are NOT required to answer these questions, and usually you shouldn’t answer them without your Orange County DUI lawyer present, most people do answer them. The officer will then have you perform a series of field sobriety tests. These tests are also VOLUNTARY and you are under no legal obligation to perform the tests—although the officer will almost never tell you that. The final field sobriety test usually consists of a “voluntary” breath test.

The field sobriety tests are designed to test your physical and mental abilities but most importantly they are used as a way to gather evidence against you. In order to convict you of violation Section 23152(a) [DUI] in court proceedings, the prosecutor must prove that you were too impaired to drive a vehicle safely. The field sobriety tests are often the most compelling evidence that the DA can produce to show impairment.

DUI Lawyer in Orange County know that most field sobriety tests are designed to test your “divided attention”. This means that your attention during the test is divided between a physical component and a mental component. For example, on the walk-and-turn test, the subject must understand a complex set of instructions and execute these instructions while at the same time exercising balance and physical coordination. In fact, during the first part of this test, the officer will have the subject stand heel to toe on a line WHILE the officer gives the instructions. Thus, the subject literally must maintain their balance while listening to and processing the instructions.

The idea is that driving requires divided attention skills—a driver must use physical coordination while executing turns and other driving maneuvers while at the same time continuously processing data. Thus, poor performance on field sobriety tests is arguably an indication that the driver’s divided attention skills are too impaired to allow the driver to drive with the same care and caution customary of a sober person. Of course, a skilled Orange County DUI Attorney can usually cast doubt on the meaning of the “results” of these tests.

If you have been arrested for drunk driving and would like to consult with an experienced DUI Attorney, call The Law Offices of EJ Stopyro at (949) 559-5500 for a free and confidential telephonic consultation.

DUI Field Sobriety Tests: The Walk-And-Turn

DUI Lawyers  in Orange County

If you are pulled over by the California Highway Patrol, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, or a local police agency in Orange County, the officer will most likely conduct a DUI investigation if there is any indication that you have been consuming alcohol or drugs. Typically, it is the odor of an alcoholic beverage on the driver’s breath or coming from inside the car that prompts the officer to start a DUI investigation, complete with voluntary field sobriety tests. You don’t have the right to have your Orange County DUI Attorney present during the investigation, but you DO have the right to decline the field sobriety tests and to decline to answer any questions about what you ate or drank.

A favorite field sobriety test of most law enforcement agencies in Orange County is the walk-and-turn test. Orange County DUI Attorneys know that this test has two parts; the instructional phase and the walking phase. The driver is instructed to place a foot on a line, either real or imaginary, and to then put the other foot on the line in front of the first foot. The driver being investigated for DUI  is told to remain in this position, with their arms at their sides, until the instructions are complete. The driver is then told to take nine heel-to-toe steps along the line, while looking down at their feet, keeping their arms at their sides, and counting as they walk. They are told to walk continuously without stopping on the way. After nine steps, the driver is to execute a turn and to walk another nine steps along the line back to the beginning.

There are eight “clues” in this field sobriety test that the officer conducting the DUI investigation looks for. The more clues the driver demonstrates, the greater the likelihood that the driver is too impaired by alcohol or drugs to drive safely—DUI.  DUI Attorneys in Orange County know the eight clues are: 1) Balance during the instructional phase; 2) Starts the test too soon; 3) Stops while walking; 4) Misses heel-to-toe; 5) Uses arms to balance; 6) Steps off the line; 7) Improper turn; and 8) Takes wrong number of steps. The more clues the officer sees the greater the chances of convicting you of DUI.

A DUI officer usually has the driver do at least three field sobriety tests—usually including this one. After the field sobriety tests, the office will usually ask the driver to take a “voluntary” breath test as an additional field-sobriety tests. Even thought its voluntary, you still don’t have the right to consult with a  DUI Attorney in Orange County before making your decision. The officer is instructed to consider the driver’s performance on all of the field sobriety tests when deciding whether to arrest the driver for DUI or  DUI drugs, book them into the Orange County jail and serve them with an order of license suspension.

If you have been arrested for DUI and would like to consult with an experienced Orange County DUI Lawyer, call The Law Offices of EJ Stopyro today at (949) 559-5500 for a free and confidential consultation.