Paulding County Criminal Defense | Hiram Criminal Defense Lawyer
|
By
Howard and Arca Attorneys at Law
In the 1980s a 3 test battery for field sobriety testing was devised by the national Highway traffic safety administration, which published a training manual for police. Subsequent studies of the results of the battery of tests showed a 33% error rate and revealed such flaws in failure to include subjects who are alcohol free when tested, and lack of correlation between performance on the tests, and failure to measure impairment. As one commentator noted, if the 3 test battery is to be validated for the determination of impaired driving ability, then properly designed experiments must be carried out to establish this connection. An experiment with police officers in upstate South Carolina and at Clemson University revealed that in fully 46% of analyzed cases in which field sobriety tests were used, completely sober drivers were characterized as too intoxicated to drive. The horizontal gaze nystagmus test is one procedure commonly used in field sobriety tests of sobriety. Nystagmus is defined as oscillating movement of the eyeball may be horizontal, vertical, rotatory, or mixed. It may be congenital or acquired, pendular or jerky. The officer measures HTN by looking for involuntary jerking of the eyeball as a driver's eyes follows the officers pen light from a normal gaze to the extreme lateral position. The officer will conclude that the driver is under the influence if the angle of onset of the jerking occurs prior to 45° from Center. The possible causes of nystagmus other than alcohol include multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, Parkinson's disease, hypertension, inner ear problems, and brain tumors. Some of the substances other than alcohol backing caused by statements include barbiturates, anti-histamine, depressants, aspirin, nicotine, and caffeine. The procedures used in field sobriety testing were initially used by doctors and other medical personnel as diagnostic aids. When so used, these procedures were administered by a highly trained professionals, in a clinical setting, under the most favorable environmental conditions, to determine if the patient could perform a specific type of physical maneuver. Should a patient be unable to perform the procedure, the doctor would suspect that there might be a problem. Although the doctor would recognize that certain individuals, especially grossly overweight or older persons, might simply be unable to perform certain dexterity tests, Dr. might also suspect that some type of physical problem or ailment was the cause. The reason for the inability to perform a procedure might range from a disease or injury to being under the influence of some kind of substance, including alcohol or other drugs. Contact a Paulding county criminal defense lawyer today to have any defenses explained to you. Defenses are often born in the hearts and minds of criminal defense attorneys who refuse to accept defeat. Approaching every case as though it is potentially winnable, these fine Paulding county defense attorneys always operate within the bounds of professional ethics, approach each unique set of facts with the expectation of justifying the client conduct.
