Lubbock DWI Field Sobriety tests are a FRAUD
Pretty aggressive statement right? The truth is that the field sobriety tests used to arrest folks in Lubbock and all over Texas for driving while intoxicated have major flaws. Many articles have been written to show all or lots of the problems with the balancing tests. One area of major concern with the balance exercises is that there were NO pier review studies done of the standardized field sobriety tests before they were used widespread. Now pier review articles reviewing the "standardized field sobriety tests" are being conducted and the results should scare everybody.
Much of the new research shows the lack of validity in the Walk and Turn, One Leg Stand and Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus.
A scientific study (144(3) Science and Justice 133-139) has investigated the scientific validity of the nystagmus test: The Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test was conceived, developed and promulgated as a simple procedure for the determination of the blood alcohol concentration of drivers suspected of driving while intoxicated (DWI). Bypassing the usual scientific review process and
touted through the good offices of the federal agency responsible for traffic safety, it was rushed into use as a law enforcement procedure, and was soon adopted and protected from scientific criticism by courts throughout the United States. In fact, research findings, training manuals and other relevant documents were often held as secrets by the state. Still, the protective certification of its practitioners and the immunity afforded by judicial notice failed to silence all the critics of this deeply flawed procedure….
In 1998 the integrity of the statistical evaluation of the original research upon which the validity of the tests rested was unfavorably reviewed [5]. In 2001 new research indicated that the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN), the cornerstone of the test battery was fundamentally flawed and that the HGN test was improperly conducted by more than 95% of the police officers who used it to examine drivers suspected of driving while intoxicated (DWI) [6]. This summary critique demonstrates that it is scientifically meretricious and that the United States Department of Transportation indulged in deliberate fraud in order to mislead the law enforcement and legal communities into believing the test was scientifically meritorious and overvaluing its worth in the context of criminal evidence….
As Lawrence Taylor, a DUI attorney in California puts it, "Deliberate fraud. Pretty strong language for a scientific journal. After reviewing the flawed and deceptive justifications for using nystagmus in DUI investigations, the researchers concluded that the test was essentially without scientific validity."
Every DWI trial I have, I try my best to explain to the jury that the fact that a person can't balance perfectly does not mean that my client is intoxicated.
These tests are a fraud. How can you compare a person's ability to drive with a persons's ability to stand on one leg or walk a line. How can you say a person cannot drive a car when their eyeballs are bouncing, when most have bouncing eyeballs regardless of consumption of alcohol. I wrote an article about this subject on my blog www.utahduilawblog.com where a study conducted showed that innocent people have bouncing eyeballs. Good post Stephen. Too bad the legal system doesn't see these tests for what they are, a fraud.