Badger Blog Alliance

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Re: Janesville's DUI policy

The Janesville PD is claiming that the officer had no probable cause to make a DUI arrest:

Stacy passed three field sobriety tests of balance and coordination and then willingly submitted to the breath test, Davis said.

"Officer DeWitt reports that he saw no signs of physical impairment - no bloodshot eyes, no odor, no slurred speech," Davis said. "When he asked Mr. Stacy to get out of the car, there was no evidence of poor balance."

I'm no police officer, and I'm no lawyer, but that comes across as pretty damn weak. Believe me, when they pick up a driver for a .08, there is also no bloodshot eyes, no slurred speech, no balance problems, and probably no odor, but they can still get the conviction. Additionally, if the officer had no probable cause (*cough* the guy wandered out of his lane and was speeding), then why did the officer administer the field sobriety tests to begin with?