Tennessee DUI / DWI Blog

The legilsture in TN was very busy with neew DUI laws, I will cover the changes in the next few blogs. I apologize for the few updates lately been in court a lot. The first nes change that went into effect July1, 2010 is the way of calculating the look back period for multiple offender cases. The law previously was you calculated DUI offenses conviction date to conviction date. Meaning if you were able to continue a case long enough you could move the case out of the time frame for a multiple offense. This has been an issue for years with the DA’s office. The law now is after July 1, 2010 to calculate a multiple offense it is offense date to offense date. expample if you cot arrested July 2, 2000 and again July 1 2010 you would be a DUI 2nd the time when your case is resolved is no longer and issue it is truly DUI’s with in a 10 year period. On some occasions the DA can go back 20 years. More on the updates later this week when we look at interlock and drivers licenses.

Lawmakers pass new laws about restricted license and interlock. TN lawmakers have made driving a car profitable for the state and added more punishement to accused DUI offenders. They have now even gone to the point to punish or hold it agains a person who has a prior of a non dui offense. The new law and sanctions begs the question who is profiting from interlock?

The fall out keeps coming from the report last week of the DUI quota, DA’s scrambling this week as officers wer being questioned about there arrest quota or the shift. Back in court on Friday for a ruling on Melendez-Diaz as to how the state will have to introduce breath test, hoping to mave a final order this week.

A report by the media and confirmed by the MNPD shows that police officers are being reprimanded if they do not make the benchmark (quota) of DUI arrest’s. The police department has put in writing it expects officers working in DUI enformcement to make at least 2 DUI arrests per night if they do not they can expect some type reprimand. The officers working the DUI grant (being paid extra to hunt for DUI) were told in a memo that the only officers that would be working the grant and allowed to make the extra money are those that make a lot of arrests. I guess my question to the police, government and the citizens of this county when did we put a bounty on arresting people. What is being done is that police officers are being told find people to arrest or else you will be punished or lose money. Is that what true law enforcement is about?

The legislature has passed a new law concerning bond on DUI cases. If a person is arrested and has had a prior DUI the magistrate issuing the warrant must determine if the person is a dangerous offender if so then bond will require either interlock or SCRAM as a condition of bond. This means an open court bond until the nex day to meet with a real judge. If you are on bond for a DUI and get arrested again you are deemed to be a multiple offender again open court. I guess the idea of innocent until proven guilty is not true in a DUI case. Interesting you can kill some one and get bond and out of jail, a misdemeanor and you are a dangerous offender. What is the constitution in TN coming too.

Would it suprise you to know that the breath tests utilized by the police and prosecutors can have a variance ratio of over 20%. Yes the machine and it manufacture will admit to a 5% error rate. The machine assumes a lot of things a breath tempature or 34 degree when acutally science now says the average tmep is 35 degree for each degree above there is an 8.6 % higher reported BAC. Looking at partion ratio can be up to 14 % variance an incorrect BAC. If a person hold there breath before blowing into the machine this can increase the test by up to 15 %. If yo take a breath test in TN you only get one test no duplicate or replicate test. The National Safety Counsel has sent a memo to the persons in charge of breath testing in TN to change there protocal. The response close enough for government. These are but a few of the challenges to breath testing that need to be looked into.

The court is still studyying the issue of Melendez-diaz continued until the first part of June. Nothing much new other than surviving the flood. courts re-opened today and hopefully back ot a little bit of normalcy come the first of the week.

If you have followed for a awhile still awaiting a ruling by the court as to the proper way to admit breath tests in TN, back in court tomorrow to see if the court has decided. Been a busy week in Nashville DUI wise, last week had the State argue against jury nullification because my client decided to sleep in his car instead of driving should be an interesting case for the jury. Also dscovered a universtiy police officer likes to blog as well. He talks about fantasy policing for numbers how fun it is to harrass people on traffic stops just the general love of this officer to harrass people other than to protect and serve. Will psot tomorrow the ruling by the court.

I just returned from a class of approximately 18 hrs legal education on scientific evidence. Very informative recieved good information challenging both breath and blood tests. A breath test can be off by as much as 22% and these are numbers from scientific articles written by the experts that train the government. Blood testing has almost as many pit falls. In Tennessee for instance we are the only state in the union that does only one test on blood not duplicate or relpicate. Not eaxcatly sound science.