FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS IN ARIZONA DUI STOPS

Note: You may refuse to perform field sobriety tests. If you do perform them the results will be used against you in your DUI case.

Arizona police officers will routinely "ask" a driver to perform Field Sobriety Tests (FST's) during a DUI stop (although the driver may not realize it is voluntary and he is not required to perform FST's). Under Arizona law, the results of these tests can be used in two ways.  First, to establish probable cause to arrest a driver for DUI and require a breath or blood tests. 

Only three FST's have been "standardized" by The National Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) to have any meaning (although officers may ask a driver to perform others).   The three standardized tests are:

1. HGN (Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test)

This test is commonly referred to as the "eye test" or the "pen test" becuase it involves an officer having the suspected DUI driver to look at and follow a moving object, most often, a pen.  The officer is looking for Nystagmus, which is an involuntary jerking or bouncing of the eye as it moves.  Nystagmus can indicate a neurological impairment which can be caused by alcohol.  However, Nystagmus may also be caused by many things other than alcohol, including some over the counter medications, and even occurs naturally in some people.  Unfortunately, If you are stopped for a DUI and perform the HGN, there is no way to know if your eyes exhibit Nystagmus.  Further, the only evidence of what happens during the test is the officer, whose job it is to arrest people for DUI's.

An experienced DUI lawyer can attack the HGN results - both in the accuracy of the result and the validity of the test.  Many recent scientific articles have concluded that HGN is not a valid indicator of DUI. 

2. Walk and Turn Test

The next test an officer will perform in a DUI stop is the Walk and Turn test.   Here, the driver is instructed to walk nine steps, touching heel to toe in a straight line - then turn around and walk nine steps back,   What the officer will not tell you is that this test is negatively scored, which means that a driver will be penalized for anything he does wrong, without considering all of the things a person did right.  If you are stopped for a DUI and perform the walk and turn test, the officer will not tell you that he will hold it against you if you: step off the line, even once; fail to touch heel to toe even once; take the wrong number of steps; turn around in the "wrong" way; raise your arms to balance; go to slow; start before he finishes giving instructions; or stop to balance yourself. 

An experienced DUI lawyer will attack the Walk and Turn test based on the subjective nature of the test, all of the things that were done properly by his client, and the inaccuracy of the test as a predictor of DUI.

3. One Leg Stand 

In this test, the driver is told to stand on one foot and raise the other foot six inches off the ground and count to 30.  If you are suspected of DUI and asked to perform this test, the officer will not tell you that it will be held against you if you: use your arms to balance; stop looking at your foot; count too fast or slow (you likely will not be told how fast to count in the first place); hop or bounce even once; sway at all from side to side or front to back; or put your foot down at all.  And again as with all FST's, the police officer's word is the only evidence of how you did.  He is the one who is paid to arrest people for DUI.

If you or a loved one are stopped for DUI in the State of Arizona, you have a right to refuse to take field sobriety tests.  Any experienced DUI attorney, would advise you that you should not do these tests. 

FST's are designed to prove you guilty of DUI.  They are negatively scored and the results are based on the subjective observations of the police officer who is trained and paid to arrest people for DUI.   Additionally, there are many reasons other than alcohol that people perform less than perfect on these test: you may be tired, you may be nervous after being stopped at night on the side of the road; you may not be as agile and balanced as some people, you were likely given imperfect and improper instruction and asked to perform unnatural acts which you have never practiced before. 

Again, for the above reasons you should not  agree to take any FST's if you are pulled over for suspicion of DUI.  However, in many instances clients come to Borrelli Law Office, PLLC after they were stopped and before they were informed not to do these tests.  When these cases are litigated, When possible, Mr. Borrelli uses his experience in Arizona DUI law to pick apart these tests and explain their deficiencies so that a jury in a DUI trial has no doubts that these tests are not accurate indicators of DUI.