Field Test Evidence
The Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs), are the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, Walk and Turn and One Leg Stand. Physical rules affecting your brain, eyes, or parts of your body involved in standing or walking may negatively affect your performance on these tests.
During the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus you follow a stimulus with your eyes while the officer looks for:
- Slight jerking of the eyeball while following the stimulus;
- Distinct jerking at the farthest point;
- Jerking before an angle closer to a forward gaze.
During the Walk and Turn, you get a barrage of instructions but no opportunity to practice. Imagining a straight line, you must take nine heel-to-toe steps up, then back. If you score more than ONE of the following "clues", you have failed:
- Start before being told;
- Cannot keep balance during instruction phase;
- Step off the "imaginary" line;
- Miss heel to toe;
- Stop walking;
- Use arms to balance;
- Improper number of steps;
- Improper turn.
During the One Leg Stand, you get instructions but no practice. You must raise one leg six inches while counting, "one thousand and one, one thousand and two" and so forth until told to stop. More than ONE of these "clues" is a fail:
- Sway while balancing;
- Raise arms;
- Put foot down;
- Hop.
The officer may have administered other tests, but only these three are standardized and "validated". Yet, to be valid, they MUST be administered in the fixed, standardized manner. Our Washington DUI/DWI Lawyers are trained NHTSA SFST administrator. If the officer improperly administered your tests, or if they were not done voluntarily, vigorous cross-examination can devastate the prosecutor's case, and may lead to an acquittal, dismissal or a cut charge.
The officer probably then asked you to give a breath test.
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