Originally Posted by
daem
I proceeded to drive home, and was almost at the entrance to my neighborhood. I entered the neighborhood and a police car turned on his lights to pull me over. I obeyed promptly and rolled my window down and the officer immediately asked me if I had been drinking because ‘I smelled like alcohol.’ I responded yes and was told to exit the vehicle to perform some tests.
He did the pen test first, moving a pen back and forth and up and down while another assisting officer was shining a flashlight in my direction at my face. Nothing was said about the results and I was asked to perform another test. This time I was told to stand on my right foot and balance while counting to 30. I proceeded to follow these instructions and kept counting past 30 to demonstrate that I was not impaired. Following this test I was asked to walk the line, however the line turned out to be part of the winding, sloping road near the bottom of the hill on Wetherington drive. I felt I walked the line, toe to toe, without hesitation and the best I could considering the slope and unevenness of the ‘line’ I was told to walk on.
Immediately following this last test I was handcuffed and told that I was under arrest for DUI and led to the cruiser. I asked the arresting officer if my performance on the sobriety tests warranted arrest and he told me that I ‘failed everything pretty badly.’ I was put in the back of the car and the officer told me that my car would remain where it was until things were sorted out. I was told I could take a breathalyzer at the station if I wanted to contest. I was not read any rights at this time nor told what I could or couldn’t do.
Upon arriving at the station and having my cuffs removed I asked for a phone call and I was denied saying that I would get one “soon.” I asked what the alternatives to the breathalyzer were and was told that there were none unless I wanted to go to jail first. Never having been in this situation before, I obediently answered some preliminary questions that were asked and then reluctantly took the breathalyzer. The result came out to be .175 and I asked if I could try it again, to which the response was no. I asked about the calibration of the machine and the officer proceeded to assure me that it was working properly and was calibrated correctly. I proceeded to ask what I could do after failing this test and I was told that after I signed all the paperwork I could go to a hospital and get another test, but that I would go to jail if I refused to sign. The officer also made it clear that getting another test would be pointless anyway. All of my questions must have provoked the officer because I could tell he was getting upset at the fact that I was trying to ascertain what I could and could not do. I felt hurried and pressured to do what I was told to do for fear of possibly doing something wrong and going to jail since I was told about it several times. It was not until after all the paperwork was signed that I was allowed to make a phone call.
Anyone have any advice or could give me some tips to try to beat this? Or am I pretty much screwed because of failing the test?
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