Birmingham DUI & Criminal Defense Lawyer & Attorney : Eversole Law Firm : Criminal and DUI Defense : Serving Birmingham, Montgomery, Alabama

Alabama's "war on drivers," over the past week netted 170 people charged with a DUI, and 2,214 people charged with seat belt/child restraint infractions, just to name a few.  Hazardous driving is up as well:  That includes DUI, speeding, following too closely, improper lane change and seat belt/child restraint violations.  Last year, 5,384 people were arrested for hazardous driving behavior.  This year, that number was 11,564. 

The Department of Public Safety and your elected officials sell this kind of manure to the public based upon a simple misleading idea.  They tell you that this kind of enforcement will lower the number of traffic deaths.  Well....is there proof in the pudding?  Unfortunately no, traffic deaths were up this year compared to last years numbers.  This year's "take back the highway's campaign," with it's increased numbers of DUI's, speeding tickets, and seat belt infractions did not lower the number of people killed on Alabama highways.  In fact, the number of people killed on Alabama highways increased from 17 to 21, even with the increased ticketing, DUI checkpoints, arrests and police patrols. 

The way I see it is simple:  It's all about the money.  The municipalities, and indeed the State of Alabama itself, need the revenue generated by these "crackdowns" on mostly good, honest, and hardworking Alabama citizens.   

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Field sobriety tests are very inaccurate.  The tests are completely subjective and should not be used as proof of guilt in any court proceeding.  Has anyone ever passed a field sobriety test in Alabama?  I doubt it.  If the cop wants to arrest you, you can bet the night in jail that your performance on a field sobriety test will make little difference.  Apparently, cops are like superman, they have laser vision.  They are able to discern an inch difference in the placement of your feet on a dark highway with little to no light,  and are able to stand on one foot while counting for 30 seconds at a time, without ever moving a muscle or slightly adjusting their leg.  I don't know about you, but standing on one foot for thirty seconds is hard to do at all, sober or not.  Don't believe me, try it.  Make sure your foot does not touch your leg or almost touch the ground, and make sure you don't sway too much while doing so either.  I have heard all these grounds used as a cops reasoning to arrest someone for DUI.  As I have said on this blog several times, do not take a field sobriety test. 

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Jeremy Stevens, the Tampa Bay Buccaneer's tight-end, was found guilty of DUI today.  The officer that testified against Stevens, said "he smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech."  I find this interesting because this seems to be the standard refrain from police officers in DUI cases.  It's like they are issued manuals pieced together from old DUI case law.  Those three descriptions are testified to with such repetition, you would think everyone who ever drove a car after drinking, must poor kegs of beer over their heads, smoke a pound of hash, and get so stumbling drunk they talk like Otis from the Andy Griffith show.  

What is so shocking about this kind of testimony is its subjectivity.  Lets say the cop had a bad day, or you just pissed him off because you didn't kiss his bloody bum.  It becomes really easy for him to say, "You smell like alcohol, step out of the car."  It is also really easy to make up on the stand when pressured by defense counsel.  I know most cops would not do these things. But in my experience, I have seen it occur to often to believe it doesn't happen with some regularity. 

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Ha Ha Ha!  Fellow blogger, and the "Go to guy for DUI"(in California that is),  Hunter Biederman nails Judge Smails...umm...I mean William Kortemier for refusing to take a breath test.  See Hunter expose the fat cats for what they are.  Biederman illuminates the hypocrisy many in power dish out on a daily basis.  Now I am a big believer of the idea that you are not guilty, and innocent until proven guilty, in court, by a jury of your peers, and beyond a reasonable doubt.  However, I bet he is a kind of guy who deals harshly with alcohol offenders, and who will take advantage of every legal trick in the book to get out of his DUI, then look down his nose at us mere mortals.  The moral of this story ladies and gents, please, for the love of God, Allah, Buddha, Vishnu, Zeus, or Odin, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE(UNLESS YOU HAVE NEVER HAD A SIP OF ALCOHOL IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE-(AND YOU STILL PROBABLY SHOULDN'T) take a breath test, by the road or at the police station;  or take a field sobriety test(AT LEAST WITHOUT YOUR ATTORNEY PRESENT-AND YOU STILL PROBABLY SHOULDN'T)!

Be like the fat cats. They have the inside knowledge and power. They don't take DUI field sobriety tests. They don't take DUI breath tests. The reason the fat cats don't take DUI field sobriety tests or DUI breathalyzers is simple. They know it is much more difficult to prove driving under the influence of alcohol when you don't have physical evidence.  When you take a breath test or field sobriety test, you are literally just handing over evidence to help convict yourself.  You might as well drive your car through the police station window, while puking, with bottles of Jack Daniels rolling across the dash, stumble up to the first police officer you see, and slurringly say, "I'll have a double my good man."

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