From the DWI Files

Warty | November 12, 2007, 11:39am | #

Hey Radley, do you have any data on the accuracy/precision of breathalyzers vs. blood tests? I've always been told that it's a good idea to request a blood test in lieu of a breath test (which supposedly is an option in Ohio).

Warren | November 12, 2007, 11:46am | #

Not enough to start the week off with the parking ticket shakedown eh Radley. DAMN now I wish I never got out of bed.

The Wine Commonsewer | November 12, 2007, 11:48am | #

Radley, you just are spoiling my morning. :-)

Hot Tip: Always Say NO! Never stand up for what you believe in if you are stopped by a cop and you have been drinking, have a bag of dope in the trunk, or a loaded .357.

Last time I got stopped at one of those unconstitutional police DUI roadblocks it went like this:

Cop: Good Evening Sir. Have you been drinking?

TWC: No.

TWC (on the inside): Fargin’ A right, I just had a bottle of great wine with Mrs TWC here, don’t she look hot tonight?

Cop: Fine sir, can we just have a look at your license?

TWC: Yes, it’s right over there in my wallet [points to the console]. May I have permission to get it?

Cop: Yes, go ahead.

TWC: [hands the license to the cop]

Cop: Thank you sir, you can go now. Have a good evening

TWC: Thanks, you too.

TWC (on the inside): Where’s the probable cause? WTF, you got no crime here in Murrieta? Waste all these police resources……….yada, yada, ad infinitum.

Lamar | November 12, 2007, 11:55am | #

When did MADD become Benedict Arnolds Against Drinking (BAAD)?

J sub D | November 12, 2007, 11:58am | #

Like good mothers, MADD said thank you for my comment. Of course they haven't read it yet.

J sub D | November 12, 2007, 12:05pm | #

Oh no! Cops rarely perjure themselve on the stand. Those are "isolated incidents" It's after 12:00, go ahead.

J sub D | November 12, 2007, 12:08pm | #

Shit!

The templates come already completed with boilerplate language like, "As I spoke with the driver I smelled the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his/her breath. I noticed that the driver had red watery eyes, as well as slow and slurred speech," and "eyes showed lack of smooth pursuit, distinct nystagmus at the extremes and an onset prior to 45 degrees."

Oh no! Cops rarely perjure themselve on the stand. Those are "isolated incidents" It's after 12:00, go ahead.

J sub D | November 12, 2007, 12:11pm | #

J Sub, I was taught that there were only two kinda squids. One kind was Corpsmen, who were held to be sort of honorary Marines. The other kind, well, we don't talk like that anymore. :-)

TWC, I was a fire controlman. Does NGFS (Naval Gunfire Support) ring a bell? Semper Fi.

Pig Mannix | November 12, 2007, 12:20pm | #

Is there a MAMADD?
If the two groups met, would there be a matter vs. antimatter cataclysm?

I don't know about a MAMADD - but there used to be a DAMM - Drunks Against MADD Mothers...

The Wine Commonsewer | November 12, 2007, 12:29pm | #

J Sub LOL. Yessir.

Off Topic, it always amazed me to see those old films of things like the assault on Iwo where the Navy ships would fire the guns and the recoil was so huge that the ships would rock up out of the water and you could see the bottom of the hull. Always wondered why they didn't tip over.

More Off Topic, an old, old friend of mine used to do the same job and then somehow eventually ended up managing San Clemente Island (bombing range). Now he does roughly the same thing, only as a civilian.

On Topic, thanks for the link to MADD, I sent them a note, no profanity, in essence saying I was MADD at them (subject line: MADD v USMC) and that anybody who manhandled an M-60 in Iraq had very much earned the right to enjoy a cold beer. Also mentioned that 18 = adulthood for everything else.

J sub D | November 12, 2007, 12:53pm | #

TWC, Off topic #1 - I got to see the Missouri fire broadsides up close. Impressive as hell.

Off topic #2 -I was on a tin can (USS Waddell) headed to the yards for an overhaul. The captain, figuring it's easier to unload 5 inch rounds throught he barrel, got with the Corps and we stood off San Clemente for two days "training Marine spotters". Much fun was had by all. ;-) It IS the best way to clear out a magazine.

Hmmm | November 12, 2007, 1:10pm | #

I can see no reason why the Marines should be allowed to break the law.

IF they want Marines under 21 to be able to drink, they need to change the law across the board. Nothing less is acceptable.

J sub D | November 12, 2007, 1:16pm | #

...they need to change the law across the board. Nothing less is acceptable.

Hmmm, First you get a small concession, then you get another. Repeat. That's right out out of the nanny stater playbook. It works. Learn from your enemies.

Dave Woycechowsky | November 12, 2007, 1:26pm | #

This weekend at Cop Talk one of the macho po po's was hoping his state's courts would give him forcible blood draw. I didn't know what he was talking about. I didn't know any states did that. Now I know, I guess.

brotherben | November 12, 2007, 1:36pm | #

Dothan Eagle Nov. 9, 2007
OZARK - A driver apparently suffering from a diabetic episode, which was mistaken for intoxication, had some of the charges against him dropped, but none of them were the legal ones.


Ozark Deputy Police Chief Myron Williams said it was the towing charges on 54-year-old James Bludsworth’s Nissan truck that were dropped on Tuesday after Bludsworth was booked into the Dale County Jail, not the charges of driving under the influence and resisting arrest.


Williams said his initial interview with officers led him to believe the DUI and resisting arrest charges were those that were dropped, but that the charges will not be dismissed until after the arresting officer recommends such to the court system during Bludsworth’s court date in December.


Bludsworth was released from jail on Tuesday after posting a $1,000 signature bond and blowing a .00 on a breathalyzer.


Bludsworth had been arrested and a Taser was used on him by Ozark police officers for non-compliance after Bludsworth refused to get out of his vehicle around 4 p.m. Tuesday. Bludsworth had been reported slumped over the steering wheel of his vehicle at the side of the Highway 231 and Marley Mill Road intersection.


Williams said at least three officers responded to the scene. He defended the department’s decision not to discipline any of the officers involved based on video and audio evidence of the incident.


“The officers were looking for a medical alert bracelet that would signify some medical condition, and he didn’t have one... The officer asked (Bludsworth) how much had he been drinking and he said ‘a whole lot,’” Williams said.


“The officer also asked him did he need an ambulance and he said ‘no.’”

Paul | November 12, 2007, 1:44pm | #

Radley, I read your blog post. It needs some reworking.

Give MADD its due credit. They've managed to shred the Bill of Rights almost single-handedly, with little more than a brilliant, two-decade public relations campaign. Even the drug warriors have to be envious.

I agree with the above except one thing. You suggest that the drug war (drug warriors) and MADD are of two unique animals, so to speak.

They're not. They're one in the same. MADD and drug warriors share 100% of their DNA.

Paul | November 12, 2007, 1:46pm | #

He defended the department’s decision not to discipline any of the officers involved based on video and audio evidence of the incident.

Can we see this video and audio?

| November 12, 2007, 2:00pm | #

I think I recall that several websites (NRA?, Packing.org, etc) have lists of various state laws regarding gun rights. Does anyone have a list of state laws (and practices) regarding blood draws and blockades?

I'm wondering which states to avoid when traveling by car...

brotherben | November 12, 2007, 2:13pm | #

5) Under the influence of any substance which impairs the mental or physical faculties of such person to a degree which renders him or her incapable of safely driving.

This is Alabama law on DUI. Is there person present that can say if they can make this applicable to a diabetic episode?

brotherben | November 12, 2007, 2:34pm | #

I like the D.A. here but it will be interesting how he does in a situation where the local P.D. needs to cover their asses. This is the old south still, and there is a lot at stake.

R C Dean | November 12, 2007, 3:11pm | #

Dude, what's with Tasing people that are asleep or passed out.

It's fun. There they are, all sleeping and shit, and then WHAM! the voltage hits 'em. Talk about rolling on the floor laughing your ass off.

Dave Woycechowsky | November 12, 2007, 3:32pm | #

Dude, what's with Tasing people that are asleep or passed out. since they're incapacitated, what need is there to further incapacitate them?

Pain compliance. Choke holds, arm twisting and all that has long been a matter of uncertain Constitutional status. I think police sometimes shy away from these traditional pain compliance techniques because these were a matter of dispute pre-9/11 and, in those times, there was some idea that the public was not totally comfortable with pain compliance. Still, th Supreme Court has never really made clear what is allowed on pain compliance and what is not.

The new wrinkle is that Tasers did not come into widespread use until after 9/11. Now the public views the police differently and wants them to have power. So the police are starting to go crazy with the Tasers and seeing how far they can push it.

I think that the public is getting over 9/11, and there is going to be a pushback on the Taser thing soon, but that might be too optimistic.

J sub D | November 12, 2007, 4:34pm | #

It's fun. There they are, all sleeping and shit, and then WHAM! the voltage hits 'em. Talk about rolling on the floor laughing your ass off.

That is a really fucked up statement. You're saying the law enforcement officers would engage in maltreatment and torture for amusement. The fucked up part is that you're absolutely correct.

Cop defenders, don't even get started. As a community, LEOs have lost every smidgen of credibility and are no longer deserving of my respect for being a cop. There may be a few I would respect, but that would be in spite of their profession.

Brian Courts | November 12, 2007, 4:55pm | #

Here's another arrest of a sober (0.0) driver who will, apparently forever, have a DUI arrest on his record despite charges being dropped.

Some relevant passages:

The ongoing investigation into Corvallis Police Officer Dave Cox at least in part concerns the DUII arrest earlier this year of a Corvallis man who was completely sober.

Cox has been on administrative leave since Sept.14 while the department investigates potential policy violations, according to Lt. Dave Henslee. The department has remained silent about the specific reasons for the investigation, but Henslee confirmed that one factor was Cox’s arrest of a man whose blood alcohol level proved to be 0.00 percent and who also tested negative for drugs.

. . .

Cox has been widely recognized for the number of DUII arrests he has made. Of the 35 DUII arrests made by Corvallis police in the month of May this year, 27 were made by Cox.

However, six of the 27 people arrested by Cox that month had blood alcohol levels under the legal limit and were not found to have been using drugs. And about one-quarter of the people he arrested were either not prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Office, or had charges dismissed by the court.

But all of those people still have the DUII arrests on their records. State law says arrests for motor vehicle violations cannot be removed from a driver’s record — even if the individual was never actually charged or convicted.

. . .

Even though the man was not intoxicated, Cox described the man’s eyes as “extremely watery, bloodshot and glassy” and said he was moving and talking slowly and was slurring his words and that he had a dazed look on his face.

Twenty-two of the 27 DUII arrest reports filed in May by Cox repeated the same observations, almost word for word. In four others the only difference in the description by Cox was the drivers were “moving and talking quickly,” and were arrested for DUII drugs.

Hmmm word-for-word huh? I guess California isn't the only place they use templates for DUI arrests.

The good news in this, I suppose, is that his behavior actually prompted a suspension and investigation. And a bit more good news is that the investigation has since prompted the officer in question to resign. Not much consolation, however, for those with unjustified DUI's on their records because of this guy.

R C Dean | November 12, 2007, 5:32pm | #

I can see no reason why the Marines should be allowed to break the law.

I'm not sure of the extent to which civil law applies on military reservations. Meaning, I'm not sure serving a beer to an 18 year old Marine on base is actually breaking the law.

Dave Woycechowsky | November 12, 2007, 6:14pm | #

The good news in this, I suppose, is that his behavior actually prompted a suspension and investigation. And a bit more good news is that the investigation has since prompted the officer in question to resign.

Not quite. A civil lawsuit prompted the investigation and the resignation.

Hug a lawyer today.

zig zag man | November 12, 2007, 7:48pm | #

Interesting hypothesis to test;

I have never seen any DWI enforcement in the vicinity of professional sports events. Does anyone have any knowlegde of any enforcement of DWI rules after people leave the event.

dl | November 13, 2007, 10:58am | #

Tym | November 12, 2007, 12:27pm | #

Fvck MADD. I am not a Marine, but I have respect for them, anyone who can handle fully automatic weapons responsibly can handle a beer, give me a break.


Sorry TYM - been there and done that! The analogy is fine until you see a bar full of young drunken sailors

TrickyVic | November 13, 2007, 3:29pm | #

If you're old enough to die for your country, you're old enough for beer.