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Ziggurat@jlai.lu 3 days agoI still don’t get why the US sobriety tests are admissible by a judge. cops can just run a breathalyser test (or even a drug test), it’s faster than all these weird test and more reliable.
If your going to arrest someone anyway , you can even get a blood/urine sample for a lab-grade drug search.
burntbacon@discuss.tchncs.de 3 days ago
The blood/urine/breath samples come AFTER the arrest. At least where I live, blood needs a warrant, which they aren’t getting without enough ‘evidence’ to convince a judge. Hence the roadside sobriety tests. They can take a breath sample because the law requires that you give one if you have a driver’s license (it’s part of all the legal paperwork you sign when you get one), but you can’t really force someone to give a breath sample because it’s not a simple thing.
The breathalyzer and blood are definitive tests, but they aren’t needed for the arrest or the conviction. A cop that I know said the best cases were the ones where he stood a driver in front of his car’s camera for about five seconds and you can see them visibly fall over or stumble while just trying to stand there. Criminal cases are always about convincing a jury, and that means that ‘evidence’ like a car swerving on the highway, the smell of alcoholic beverages, the field sobriety tests, the general appearance or manner of the driver, the statements made, etc., all matter.
Corporal_Punishment@feddit.uk 3 days ago
In the UK refusal to submit to a breathalyser is grounds for arrest, as is the case in most of Europe.
A sobriety test will never be as accurate or as quick. Its also influenced by the officer’s own prejudices, regardless of how good at judging them the cop thinks they are
Semester3383@lemmy.world 2 days ago
It depends on the state; you aren’t required to take a breathalyzer in all states, nor are your required to submit to field sobriety tests in all states, although refusal can have different results depending on the state. It would be best to check the laws in your state. source
yoevli@lemmy.world 2 days ago
According to the link you provided, every US state has implied consent laws which trigger an automatic DL suspension if you refuse a breathalyzer.