Brandon DUI attorneys are often asked what they can expect once pulled over for a DUI. While they are many field sobriety exercises, this article will focus on the three most common and ways Tampa DUI cops will alleged you failed to properly complete the exercise.
The most common exercise is the Horizontal Gaze Nystagamus. This exercise involves an officer using a pen or other object and moving it slowly in front of someone’s face. They will then move it across the width of the face, while stopping it at the end each time. Nystagamus is essentially the uncontrolled, involuntary twitching and shaking of one’s eyes. Ultimately, the most common areas Brandon DUI attorneys hear that their clients performed poorly during these exercises are failing to hold their head still, swaying while standing still, failing to have their hands on their side while standing and nystagamus occurring. Ultimately, it is worth noting that nystagamus is naturally occurring in a small percentage of people. Unfortunately, this exercise is not videotaped by the majority of Tampa DUI officers, so we usually have to rely on the officer’s report. Officers will also do this vertically from the chin to above the forehead. Our Brandon DUI attorneys have significant experience excluding HGN tests, as they are often improperly completed, thus significantly strengthening our Client’s cases before juries.
The one leg stand is another common field sobriety exercise. It involves an individual being asked to stand on one leg with their other foot approximately six inches off the ground. The Tampa DUI officer will usually permit the individual to choose which leg they wish to stand on. The officer will then ask the individual to stand and count out loud to thirty seconds. They are also instructed to look down at their foot the entire time. While this exercise sounds incredibly easy, it is arguably the most difficult exercise people are asked to perform. The majority of individuals are reported to their Brandon DUI attorneys to have failed or performed poorly by starting too early, swaying while on one leg, failing to look their foot, putting their foot down and starting over and using their arm to balance. One of the most frustrating things for a Tampa driving under the influence attorney to see is their client start too early because they are anxious to begin and that being used against them as being unable to follow instructions. As you can imagine, the majority of folks are very anxious to begin the exercise, so they begin once the officer stops speaking rather than when the DUI officer says “start” or “begin”. Our Brandon DUI attorneys will assist in ensuring your rights are protected and aggressively defend you in your DUI case.
Lastly, the most famous of the field sobriety exercises is likely the “walk and turn”. This exercise involves and individual being advised by a Tampa DUI officer to walk on a straight line with heel touching toe to the end of the line. At the end of the line, they are advised to slowly turn, while keeping one foot on the line and head back down the line towards where they gun. Brandon DUI attorneys are most often advised their client did poorly by beginning too early, losing balance while walking the line, failed to properly complete the turn and using their arms to balance while walking. Again, it is incredibly frustrating for Brandon DUI attorneys, when their clients only began too early because they wanted to show how well they could do. As you can imagine, there are many ways to challenge this allegation and other alleged indicators of impairment at trial by an experienced Brandon DUI lawyer before a jury.
It is worth noting the media seemingly indicates every driving under the influence investigation involves someone being forced to say the alphabet backwards. Fortunately, that does not really occur very often. More often than not, if someone reports some sort of physical impairment, the Tampa driving under the influence officer may ask the individual to recite a series of specific letters without rhyming them. This exercise is generally reserved for individuals with some sort of physical ailment.
In other areas of our Brandon DUI attorney blog, we have discussed Drug Recognition Experts (“DREs”). Many times, if they believe central nervous system depressants are involved they will have the individual stick their tongue out and look for a white paste on the tongue. Tampa DUI lawyers will often argue this is also involved by nerves, dehydration or cigarette smoking.
If you or someone you know has questions concerning field sobriety exercises or driving under the influence charges, contact the Brandon DUI attorneys of Hackworth Law for a free case consultation. If you would like to contact one of our Brandon driving under the influence lawyers immediately, please use the “contact us now” tab in the upper right hand corner of our website. We appreciate you checking out our Brandon DUI attorneys blog.