You’re scared. You’re nervous. You have trouble understanding the cop’s directions. He barks them to you one time. The ground is sloped and there is gravel. You’re alone. Strobe lights from the police car bounce, and there is a man in front of you with a gun. You are doing the “Field Sobriety Tests” (FSTS), but which are better called Roadside Agility Tryouts (“RATS”). What’s the weather like? What time is it? How’s the lighting? Is there traffic? Do you feel safe on the side of the road late in the night as the 18-wheel trucks fly by? Vibrations and wind waves from those eighteen wheelers hit you while you tried to stand on one leg. That doesn’t make things easier. You’ve never done this before. You are being graded. If you lose, you go to jail. Oh, and the cop expects you to lose because why else would he have asked you to do the damned things? What’s worse is that he or she doesn’t know what he or she is doing anyway. Check out “The Cops Themselves Can’t Perform the Field Sobriety Tests,” by Justin McShane, the DUI lawyer in Pennsylvania.
The key to winning your DUI case in Savannah, Georgia begins on the road. Ever seen a road that was level? Ever seen a smooth road? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires a dry level location for the DUI police to do the field sobriety tests. So, the first thing we’ll need to do is go to the scene and take a look at that uneven road. The road is a dirty mess. Your only way out is to beat the RAT’s in court. If I find a short-cut then we’ll take it. The RAT’s depend on the officer properly performing them on you. I like to highlight the cop’s failure to do the tests according to procedures. I’ll show he’s shaky on the details of how to instruct, demonstrate, give and score these RAT’s. I’m trying to discredit him and weaken the State’s case. I challenge the accuracy of the principles behind the RAT’s, the credibility of the cop, and all the details of you taking them and the cop’s grading them. The devil is in the details. I could go on and on and on. But will save something for the ring. Hope this doesn’t sound over-confident. You have to have confidence to be a champion and that is the only thing I ever wished to be.
Don’t do the Field Sobriety Tests
In Savannah, Georgia, if you’re pulled over at night and the police officer asks you to get out of the car, he’s probably checking you out for DUI. The rest is downhill. These field sobriety tests are very difficult to pass. And the guy who decides if you pass or fail them is the same man who has put you in this position. Do you trust him? If you attempt these exercises, you will fail. And you are going to jail for DUI. You’ll fail because the field sobriety tests are unfair. You’ll fail because everything is in that cop’s subjective opinion. If the cop decides to arrest you, then you’re going to fail. Oh, and he decided to arrest you through the window before you got out of your car.
