NACDL

The DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Manual: Using Their Playbook Against Them Stephen L. Jones December 2010 24 The DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Manual1 (SFST Manual) is the government’s bible. It covers what the observing, investigating and arres

Grid & Bear It Catharine M. Goodwin September/October 2001 37   Update on Selected Restitution Issues The Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996 (MVRA) 1 is the most sweeping change to restitution for federal criminal cases in recent decades, and is gradually changing the restitutio

DWI- Preparing for Plan B: Mitigating Punishment in DWI Sentencing Michael M. Hawkins, Gus McDonald

DWI -- Modern Day Salem Witch Hunts Mimi Coffey

DWI Steve Oberman, Sara Compher-Rice

DWI Steven House

DWI Ted Vosk

DWI Steve Rubenzer

DWI Bruce Kapsack November 2002 57   ‘Everything old is new again’: A new playing field for field sobriety test evidence A series of recent decisions handed down by our nation's courts have altered the legal landscape with respect to the admissibility of scientific, technical or specialized evi

DWI W. Troy McKinney April 2002 50 Challenging and Excluding HGN Tests The majority of states recognize that the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test is scientific evidence. 1 Even states that have found as a matter of law that the scientific basis for HGN and the general method of applying it a

DWI Steven Oberman December 2001 46 Cross-Examination of the State's Blood Test Expert Cross-examining an expert witness is a daunting task, even to the experienced lawyer. To alleviate the stress and strain of the impending cross-exam, there is no substitute for preparation. After all, before yo

DWI Edward L. Fiandach August 2001 37 The Great .08 Debate In 1938, the National Safety Council Committee on Tests for Intoxication described a correlation between blood alcohol and the degree to which the subject would be physiologically affected. Establishing three “zones of influence,” the stu

DWI J.J. (Jess) Paul, III June 2001 39 Blood, Tests & Fears: A Crash Course in Blood Alcohol Samples One of the most complicated issues facing DUI lawyers is that of the blood alcohol sample: how the blood is drawn and identified, the integrity and reliability of the sample, and the testing p

DWI Phillip B. Price, Spurgeon Cole April 2001 37 NHTSA Field Sobriety Tests Validation v. Invalidation Dr. Marcelline Burns and cohorts recently conducted and published three new studies on the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST). These studies were funded in whole or in part by the Nat

DWI Steven Oberman January/February 2001 57 Drunk or Drowsy? How Fatigue Can Be Mistaken for Intoxication Mr. Sober has handed you a copy of the arrest warrant which states that the officer arrived on the scene of a one-car accident last Saturday, just after midnight. Upon approaching the suspect

“Walk the line.” Everyone knows that when people hear those words, they’re being tested to see if they’re drunk. DUI defense lawyers often hear clients say, “I couldn’t do that if I was sober!” Although lawyers hope that they didn’t phrase it in quite those terms to the arresting officer, the point is well-taken. The now ubiquitous standardized field sobriety tests are unscientific, unfair, and misunderstood. However, if they are unchallenged, they have tremendous persuasive effect on the court and the jury.