Saturday, June 23, 2007
DUI detention unconstitutional
Detention in DUI case ruled unconstitutional
June 23, 2007
The Utah Supreme Court ruled Friday that a man suspected of drunken driving who was stopped in a remote canyon and taken to an off-duty officer's home for sobriety tests was unconstitutionally detained.
In a 4-1 decision, the court said the detention violated Mitchell Worwood's Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
On June 20, 2003, an off-duty Utah Highway Patrol trooper encountered Worwood standing by a truck that was partially blocking a dirt road up Deep Canyon near Levan, about 80 miles south of Salt Lake City, according to court papers. Worwood then got in the truck to pull it over to the side of the road, and an off-duty officer, Korey Wright, stopped. Wright reported that he smelled alcohol and Worwood's speech seemed slurred so he told him to he should be checked out by a trooper before driving more. Wright told Worwood to get into Wright's truck. Wright had a friend with him drive Worwood's truck down the canyon and asked that friend to call police and meet them at Wright's house. At Wright's house, an on-duty officer named Kevin Wright arrived and gave Worwood field sobriety tests and arrested him.
Worwood pleaded not guilty to a third-degree felony charge of driving under the influence with two prior convictions. He then filed a motion to have the basis for the charge, including the field sobriety test, suppressed, contending that his constitutional rights had been violated. His motion was denied and he entered a conditional guilty plea and appealed to the Utah Court of Appeals, which upheld the trial court's decision.
But the Utah Supreme Court said that although Wright's initial encounter with Worwood was justified under reasonable suspicion, the rest of the detention exceeded the constitutional bounds of an investigative stop.
The Supreme Court ruled that because the field sobriety tests were part of that detention, the test results should be suppressed and the case should be sent back to 4th District Court in Nephi for further action.
June 23, 2007
The Utah Supreme Court ruled Friday that a man suspected of drunken driving who was stopped in a remote canyon and taken to an off-duty officer's home for sobriety tests was unconstitutionally detained.
In a 4-1 decision, the court said the detention violated Mitchell Worwood's Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
On June 20, 2003, an off-duty Utah Highway Patrol trooper encountered Worwood standing by a truck that was partially blocking a dirt road up Deep Canyon near Levan, about 80 miles south of Salt Lake City, according to court papers. Worwood then got in the truck to pull it over to the side of the road, and an off-duty officer, Korey Wright, stopped. Wright reported that he smelled alcohol and Worwood's speech seemed slurred so he told him to he should be checked out by a trooper before driving more. Wright told Worwood to get into Wright's truck. Wright had a friend with him drive Worwood's truck down the canyon and asked that friend to call police and meet them at Wright's house. At Wright's house, an on-duty officer named Kevin Wright arrived and gave Worwood field sobriety tests and arrested him.
Worwood pleaded not guilty to a third-degree felony charge of driving under the influence with two prior convictions. He then filed a motion to have the basis for the charge, including the field sobriety test, suppressed, contending that his constitutional rights had been violated. His motion was denied and he entered a conditional guilty plea and appealed to the Utah Court of Appeals, which upheld the trial court's decision.
But the Utah Supreme Court said that although Wright's initial encounter with Worwood was justified under reasonable suspicion, the rest of the detention exceeded the constitutional bounds of an investigative stop.
The Supreme Court ruled that because the field sobriety tests were part of that detention, the test results should be suppressed and the case should be sent back to 4th District Court in Nephi for further action.
# posted by SanDiegoDUI @ 2:12 PM 
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