DUI Situation Spencer, Wi

[winnerman]

I posted this originally as a facebook message. So, please excuse the indirect nature of the question.

This happened in spencer wisconsin, by a young looking police officer whos name I did not get.

I was taking Tom home from the bars in my car, and Tom was a little intoxicated and told me not to pull into his driveway by mistake.. which is perfectly fine, so I turned around in a drive way and headed back to Toms... i was then pulled over by a police officer.

tom was instructed to get out of the car from the loud speaker.... FOR A LICENSE PLATE LIGHT NOT WORKING... Tom was instructed via loud speaker to exit the vehicle. So Tom explained that he recently moved into Spencer, we both live in separate college towns and were not familiar with where he lives and neither was I.

So he instructed me to exit the vehicle, i complied. He asked for my id and if i had been drinking. I informed him i had had 1 bud light at 1 bar, and another but light at a separate, over the course of about 2-3 hours. He then asked me to submit to a breath test. I asked if I was required to, he said that I was not but that i would have to complete a field sobriety test.

tomwill bare witness that i passed all tests flawlessly, including standing on 1 foot with the other held in front of me for over 30 full seconds without loosing my balance, He then said that if i did not take a Breathalyzer he would take me to jail for drunk driving... after passing all the tests...

He said that I had started one test without his instruction, which i had misunderstood as a test i could start at any time... this simple mis-communication gave him the right to force me to take a breathalyzer, irregardless of the fact that i passed every test perfectly,.... So i took it... no results. I took it again... no results.... i blew both times, as instructed until there was no air left in my lungs. SO, after 2 failed breathalyzers, he informed me that i was under arrest for Drunk Driving********************************************************************************************* *****************************************************************************************

Obviously, i wasn't going to be arrested for drunk driving for having 2 bud lights over 3 hours, and being sober as a bird, flawlessly passing the field sobriety, and submitting to 2 breathalyzers that i'm pretty sure he illegally made me take under false interpretation of my performance of the Tests..

So tom and I contested his conclusion that he was going to arrest me for drunk driving. He said that I HAD to stay at Tom's for the night, and that if my car left Tom's house he would come and arrest me.

So Tom's mom took me home... and he pulled her over too. For not wearing a seat belt... and im pretty sure you can't pull someone over for not wearing a seat belt, but you can fine them for not wearing one if you pull them over for something separate....

So, in conclusion... I feel Spencer police violated my rights, attempted to arrest me under false BS, attempted to arrest me with no evidence that i was intoxicated. Told me that if i left a certain home, even though not being drunk that he would arrest me, and then pulled Tom's mom over not 5 minutes later for not wearing a seat belt.

I can understand cops being tough on people, but when somone clearly demonstrates they are not breaking the law, and an officer threatens that they are under arrest for DUI which is INSANE.. would ruin my life. It isn't a joke anymore that this clown has the power to do that.

So I guess my questions are. How can an officer force me to submit to a breathalyzer after so many successfully completed tests. How can he say " you are under arrest for driving a vehicle while intoxicated" after me passing all tests, and submitting to two breathalyzers, and how can I basically say "no im not under arrest for drunk driving, because im not drunk" and for that to be the resolution??

Thank you for reading

[BigMistakeFl]

You've got it backwards..... you do not have to take the field sobriety tests, but under Implied Consent law, you are required to take the blood alcohol content test.

Your post was hard to follow. If you copied and pasted, it would help if you'd clean it up and condense it. Were you arrested then? Did the breathalyzer even get a reading? I've taken the breath test, and unless you suffer from something like COPD, it's not hard to blow properly into the machine and for it to work. It fails when you try to somehow beat it, and this can be considered a refusal. That can mean bigger trouble.

[winnerman]

My apologies for it being hard to follow...

No I was not arrested, he let me go, after I argued with him that i wasn't drunk, that i passed all the tests, and that his breathalyzer was broken.

In regards to the breathalyzer, I took 2 separate tubes, with 2 separate attempts. I inhaled fully and exhaled into the machine until my lungs were depleted. He didn't show me either one, and then sayed "you're under arrest for DUI" then my friend asked what I blew, and how i failed any of the tests, since i didn't fail any of the tests, or even stumble. i did everything perfect, because i was completely sober...

He said that his breathalyzer had failed to work, and I did fully attempt to do my best to make it work.. I wasn't like not breathing or anything, I fully exhaled into the machine.

So then we said, that I wasn't drunk, and he let me go.

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by winnerman

No I was not arrested, he let me go, after I argued with him that i wasn't drunk, that i passed all the tests, and that his breathalyzer was broken.

Okay .. so he did not arrest you. What, exactly, is your complaint?

An arrest requires only "probable cause" to believe a person is too impaired to drive as a result of drugs or alcohol. The FSTs include a number of things and not JUST the walking, balancing and other things that you might see and THINK is the sole part of the test. Whether you "passed" or not is something that the untrained person probably cannot evaluate adequately as a result of their lack of knowledge of the clues they are trained to observe.

Apparently the officer changed his mind and decided NOT to arrest you (odd that he did that, but okay), so what's your complaint? He cut you a break in that regard.

if you feel his actions were unprofessional, contact his agency and make a complaint.

- Carl