Cop Admits: Half of DUI Arrests Are Not Intoxicated

Piercing the veil of reliability in DUI investigations…..

Evidence Suppressed in Lawmaker’s DUI

Philadelphia, PA.  Nov. 2 – A state prosecutor is criticizing a Philadelphia judge’s decision to suppress evidence in the arrest of a Philadelphia lawmaker on suspicion of drunken driving.

The Philadelphia Daily News reports that the DUI charge against Rep. Cherelle Parker will be dropped if Judge Charles Hayden’s decision Tuesday isn’t appealed.

The state attorney general’s office handled the case at the request of Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams.  Deputy Attorney General Marc Costanzo says he’s surprised a judge found two police officers less credible than someone who failed a breath-alcohol test. He said his office will decide whether to appeal within 30 days.

Hayden says he’s troubled that one officer changed her testimony, while another testified that only about half the people he’s arrested for DUI were found to be intoxicated.

The only thing I find surprising about this is that the cop admitted it. 

This entry was posted on Friday, November 4th, 2011 at 10:04 am and is filed under Duiblog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Pennsylvania Police Officer Admits to Lying in DUI Cases

We all want to trust the police and see them as upright protectors of justice. While many police officers are very professional and take their responsibility very seriously, there are others who are corrupt and use unscrupulous tactics that harm the common citizen.

Bad cops exist everywhere and there is no shortage of them in Pennsylvania. Some of them will even go as far as to lie under oath:

Pennsylvania Police Officer Admits to Lying Under Oath in DUI Case

HERMITAGE — As a citizen, Raymond Bogaty wants to believe the police.

“We all want to believe the police,” he said.

But, as Mercer County Public Defender, Bogaty has occasionally suspected that a story told by a policeman has not been the whole truth.

“I’ve been doing this for 37 years,” he said. “You always have concerns about truthfulness. You, at times, suspect the truth is not being told.”

Still, it’s rare to catch a policeman in a lie, or to get an admission that someone has lied, he said.

That unusual event occurred Tuesday when Mercer County District Attorney Robert G. Kochems and Hermitage Police Chief Patrick B. McElhinny released statements saying that Hermitage patrolman Dennis Best had admitted lying under oath in a 2008 case.

Criminal justice is intrinsically a human endeavor and due to the lack of transparency and oversight when it comes to the police, the situation is ripe for honest mistakes, purposeful and conscious misleading actions (lies) and even corruption.  This can lead to false conviction if we do not successfully expose the lies and mistakes in the police officer’s account.  This is why it is important to have an attorney who had trial experience in DUI cases and who has the guts to cross-examine the police.

If you feel the police have violated your rights call The McShane Firm to protect your freedom and liberty. Call 1-866-MCSHANE.

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DUI Task Force Cop Admits Falsifying Breath Test Readings

The latest news fresh from the front lines of MADD’s "War on Drunk Driving":

DUI Cases in Jeopardy After Richmond County Deputy Admits Falsifying Readings

Richmond County, GA. Nov. 19 – The forced resignation of a deputy assigned to the DUI task force could affect the prosecution of hundreds of cases, according to those in the legal community.

Erik Norman faced mandatory resignation from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 19 after a prosecutor reported that Norman told her he had falsified readings from a hand-held alcohol-testing device.

Norman told the department’s internal affairs division that he had done it only “once or twice” but couldn’t recall exactly which cases were involved. Norman’s credibility is gone now, no matter how many times he falsified readings, said Augusta attorney Robert “Bo” Hunter, who prosecuted drunken driving cases as the Richmond County State Court solicitor from 1988 to 1996… Even worse, Hunter said, is that there probably were people charged with driving under the influence who shouldn’t have been.

Norman, hired as a jailer in July 2002, was transferred to the DUI task force in March 2009. An accurate count of his DUI convictions cannot be made through court records, but during his time on the task force, he arrested an estimated 250 to 400 people.

State Court Solicitor Charles Evans said his office has 62 pending DUI cases in which Norman was the arresting officer. Each will have to be judged on its merits to determine whether to continue prosecuting them as DUIs. If necessary, the office will bring in Norman as a trial witness, Evans said.

The Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Coun­cil is investigating to determine whether Norman can keep his certification, said Ryan Powell, its director of operations. Unless he is arrested on felony charges or his certification is suspended, Norman is free to work as an officer, Powell said.

Falsifying evidence is a felony – making false statements – but prosecuting Norman for it would be difficult, District Attorney Ashley Wright said. A prosecutor would have to prove in which case Norman falsified the results, and there is no way to uncover those cases without Norman’s admission. He claimed he didn’t know which cases were falsified…

Do you really think this Georgia deputy is the only cop out there falsifying breathalyzer readings to justify his DUI arrest? And by the way, notice Deputy Norman’s sterling qualifications to investigate and arrest citizens for drunk driving:  He was hired in 2002 to be a jailor — and after seven years of guarding jail cells, he was transferred directly to the DUI task force.  Do you still think DUI cops are highly trained and qualified?

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 20th, 2011 at 9:37 am and is filed under Duiblog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Massachusetts Drunk Driver Admits Guilt But Is Not Responsible For Vehicular Accident- Attorney Sam’s Take

It would appear that this Massachusetts driver thought ahead. Realizing that the coming storm would make it difficult to go out and drink, Ms. Tara Tobin (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) got in one last trip just before the snow. The result was not too pretty.

The Yarmouth police say that the Defendant admitted that she had drunk six or seven beers in Dennis before driving.

What happened? The crash took place Tuesday night around 9 p.m..

The unusual part? According to the police, the Defendant, whatever condition she was in, did not cause the accident.

Apparently, a 47-year-old emotionally disturbed man jumped into the path of a Dodge Dakota pickup truck. The truck's driver swerved to avoid the man and was then rear-ended by the Defendant’s car..

The man suffered serious, but non-life-threatening, injuries and was taken to Cape Cod Hospital, police said.

The Defendant is to be arraigned in Barnstable District Court…whenever it reopens following the storm...for drunk driving.

Let’s all hope she presents a bit better than she did in her “mug shot” which was published at the below link in the original article.

My experience, since 1984, handling drunk driving cases in Massachusetts goes back to my last year at Boston University School of Law as a student prosecutor. The cases, particularly when a breathalyzer is involved come down to issues of perception and prejudice.

I do not mean racial prejudice, but bias based upon indoctrination. Most often, if a police officer pulls you over because he or she feels you are intoxicated, or begins to suspect you are under the influence, you will most likely be charged with

This influence, by the way, can be alcohol, illegal drugs or even legal prescription drugs…to say nothing of any mixture of the three.

In my experience, once suspected of being under the influence, you should assume that the police report will say that you have glassy eyes and slurred speech. Most likely there will also be some kind of odor of alcohol listed.

That said, consider yourself under arrest. Any other descriptive is gravy for the Commonwealth. This is why it is usually a mistake to submit to any tests. Granted, if you pass the breathalyzer, for example, it will help you down the road. However, it will probably not prevent your being arrested. If you do not pass it, it will surely hurt you down the road.

Given the amount of vehicular homicides last year due to drunk driving allegations, victims sometimes being police officers, you are not likely to receive a “break” from the officer.

So don’t ask for one. Said request will simply be treated like an admission of guilt by the prosecution.

And, yes, there will be a prosecution.

The advice in these cases is to not quarrel with the officer, or try to outwit or outrun the officer.

Simply remain polite, do not make statements (except name, license, etc.), and get an experienced criminal defense attorney as soon as possible.

If you would like to discuss such a matter with me, please feel to call me to arrange a free initial consultation at 617-492-3000.

To view the original story, and charming photograph about which parts of this blog were based, please go to : http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2011/01/by_john_r_ellem_29.html

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