Thursday, May 10, 2007
Ask for a portable breathalyzer test if you are not drunk and less than the limit?
A Houston man wanted a breathalyzer test during a traffic stop to prove he wasn't driving drunk. But he was denied that, so he complained.
Clarence Archer was driving home from a club with a lady friend when a police officer pulled him over, saying he ran a red light.
"He asked if I'd been drinking," Clarence recalled. "I told him I don't drink. I expressed to him that I've been in sobriety for six years. ... I belong to AA."
The officer asked him to step out of the car, where he failed a field sobriety test even though Clarence says he asked for a full breathalyzer test.
"He said he didn't have the equipment," Clarence told Houston's Eyewitness News.
The officer handcuffed Clarence and his lady friend passenger, had Clarence's car towed and hauled them both to the jail downtown, where Clarence took the full breathalyzer test.
He said, "The test came up that I wasn't drunk, I hadn't been drinking, I was free to go."
Clarence wasn't charged with anything, but because his car was towed from the scene, Clarence says he was charged $189 to get his car out of the lot.
I went to see assistant chief of police Martha Montalvo about Clarence's case. I wasn't questioning the officer's action. My concern was why police cars don't have breathalyzer equipment.
"We did attempt approximately six months ago to obtain the funding for this equipment, but since that time the district attorney's office has stepped forward and offered to assist us in purchasing two of these mobile units," explained Montalvo. "I do sympathize with him and so does the chief sympathize with that, and that is the reason why it's very important to get these mobile units out on the streets for these officers."
http://www.SanDiegoDUI.com
http://www.google.com
http://www.yahoo.com
Clarence Archer was driving home from a club with a lady friend when a police officer pulled him over, saying he ran a red light.
"He asked if I'd been drinking," Clarence recalled. "I told him I don't drink. I expressed to him that I've been in sobriety for six years. ... I belong to AA."
The officer asked him to step out of the car, where he failed a field sobriety test even though Clarence says he asked for a full breathalyzer test.
"He said he didn't have the equipment," Clarence told Houston's Eyewitness News.
The officer handcuffed Clarence and his lady friend passenger, had Clarence's car towed and hauled them both to the jail downtown, where Clarence took the full breathalyzer test.
He said, "The test came up that I wasn't drunk, I hadn't been drinking, I was free to go."
Clarence wasn't charged with anything, but because his car was towed from the scene, Clarence says he was charged $189 to get his car out of the lot.
I went to see assistant chief of police Martha Montalvo about Clarence's case. I wasn't questioning the officer's action. My concern was why police cars don't have breathalyzer equipment.
"We did attempt approximately six months ago to obtain the funding for this equipment, but since that time the district attorney's office has stepped forward and offered to assist us in purchasing two of these mobile units," explained Montalvo. "I do sympathize with him and so does the chief sympathize with that, and that is the reason why it's very important to get these mobile units out on the streets for these officers."
http://www.SanDiegoDUI.com
http://www.google.com
http://www.yahoo.com
| This website & linked blog is made available by this law firm for general information purposes only and to provide a general understanding of the law, not to provide legal advice. Readers of this website/blog are cautioned that reading the website/blog does not create a lawyer-client relationship between the reader and this law firm. |
