Mhm. >> You're avoiding eye contact, okay? It's which is not >> Yeah, I'm avoiding dude. >> Listen, I'm just >> I don't legally have to stare at you in I don't. I'm not staring at you. You're You're You're You're so I've I've I've never in my life had a police officer or a state trooper come into my window the way that you did. You're two You're two feet from me. >> Okay. I thought I smelled I believe I smelled some sort of alcoholic beverage coming from your breath. Okay. >> There's not a chance. >> Okay. So, that's where I'm at with this stop, okay? You know what I mean? I'm not like I'm trying to give you a hard time about it. >> This stop started after the trooper claimed the driver used his turn signal too late and nearly hit a curb while turning, but it stopped being about that almost immediately. Instead of handling the alleged traffic violation and moving on, the trooper started trying to turn it into a DUI stop leaning on Red Eye's supposed eye contact issues to justify pushing for field sobriety tests. The legal issue here is the difference between a traffic infraction and a DUI investigation. In New York, the turn signal rule is vehicle and traffic law paragraph 1163, which requires a driver to signal continuously for at least the last 100 feet before a turn. That can justify the initial stop, but expanding that stop into a DUI investigation is a different question entirely because the officer still needs enough facts suggesting actual impairment, not just a minor traffic allegation and a list of vague observations. That is exactly where this stop turned into a fight because the driver refused to help the trooper build a DUI case out of a turn signal stop and kept forcing the encounter back to the lack of real evidence. >> Hello, Trooper Johnson here with the State Police. How are you? >> Not bad. How are you? >> Not too bad. You know why I'm stopping you there? >> Uh not sure. >> You almost hit that curb down there and you put your blinker on last minute. You know when you went there to merge onto >> Yeah. >> Yeah, that's why I'm stopping you, okay? How much you had to drink tonight? >> I've had none to drink. I don't drink. >> No? Okay. Why didn't you stop right here right away when I pulled when I the >> Well, cuz I didn't want to pull on the side of Yeah, I'd rather pull somewhere safe for you. >> Okay. Where are you coming from tonight? >> Um nowhere really. >> You didn't come from anywhere? >> No, I'm just driving around. >> Driving around? Where are you headed to? >> I'm heading home. >> Okay. Why aren't you looking at me? >> Why aren't you looking at me? Well, cuz you have the light and everything. Why do you have two feet You're in my car. >> I'm just >> Which is You're in my property. >> Okay. Do you have your license on you? >> Yeah. Well, what exactly did I do? >> I told you you didn't use your turn signal halfway prior to your turn. >> Okay, that's fair. >> Okay. >> Yeah, that's fair. >> That's where you're supposed to stop. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Do you have your license? >> Yep. >> Okay. Sit tight and I'll be right back there. >> Not a problem. >> What's that? >> Hm? >> What'd you say? >> I said not a problem. >> All righty. Um I'm going to have you step out just to make sure you're good to drive, okay? >> I'm not going to submit to any field sobriety test. >> You refuse to submit to field sobriety tests? >> Yeah, I'm completely sober. I've I've done absolutely nothing. I'm articulating everything perfectly fine. I've done absolutely nothing. And I know that I don't have to. Okay. Not a problem. What's that? >> Huh? >> What's that? >> I said I was going to come over to that side to talk to you. >> Okay. Yeah, I mean I'm going to take I I I I know that I've done nothing illegal. I I literally don't even drink. >> Okay. I absolutely don't drink. >> So, can I just explain to you where I'm coming from with this? >> Sure. >> Okay. So, I saw you not use your turn signal halfway prior to your turn. I saw you almost hit that curb. >> Right. Yeah. So, I I honestly, I was driving down the road. I seen um the police pulled over had somebody pulled over. So, I looked over curious. And then I literally live off of right over there. So, you know, I I was just observing that and then I'm like, oh crap, There's my turn." You know? I turned my signal on and I turned. >> Okay. So, can >> I wasn't I wasn't swerving. I wasn't, you know? >> Well, I wasn't I wasn't behind you at all. >> I I promise you, I absolutely do not drink. I've done nothing illegal. >> Well, technically, vehicle traffic law-wise, you have done something illegal. >> not That's not a crime. >> It It is a >> I didn't commit a I didn't commit No, I didn't commit a I committed a traffic infraction. >> Yeah, which is legal PC for me to stop you, okay? So, that's where we're at. So, I'm going to talk you through this, okay? >> Yeah. >> I'm just going to try and talk you through this. Just so you're aware of where I'm coming from, okay? >> Yeah. >> I started talking to you, okay? >> Mhm. >> You're avoiding eye contact, okay? It's which is >> Yeah, I'm avoiding, dude. >> Listen, I'm just >> I don't legally have to stare at you in a >> don't. I'm not saying >> You're You're You're You're so I've I've I've never in my life had a police officer or state trooper come into my window the way that you did. You're two You're two feet from me. Not even. From my face. >> talking to you? >> Because you're probably trying to whip Understand you're probably trying to smile or cough or something, which I know that you don't. >> Okay. So, can I just keep telling you where I'm coming from with this? >> Yeah. >> So, I look at you a little bit. I see your eyes are red shot or red red. Red, okay? >> Which is hearsay. >> They're bloodshot. >> Okay. >> Okay. And they're somewhat watery, okay? >> If they >> The reason >> you're going to say that, but okay. >> Okay. >> Even if they're not. >> Okay. I thought I smelled I believe I smelled some sort of alcoholic beverage coming from your breath, okay? >> There's not a chance. >> Okay. So, that's where I'm at with this though, okay? You know what I mean? I'm not like I'm trying to give you a hard time about it. I would like to run you through field sobriety, make sure you're good to drive, and I'm going to kick you loose. >> Oh, I mean, okey-dokey. I'm not I'm not going to What do you want me to do? The alphabet backwards? >> No, all I I There's three standardized tests. Will you please do that for me? >> I I don't want to do the field sobriety test because all you do is you look for errors in people. You you know for a fact I've been nothing but articulable about everything. I'm not There's no delayed speech. You you know I'm not drunk or you know I have not been drinking. You you Any reasonable person would say that I have not been drinking. You know I have not been drinking. >> I I don't. That's why I'm asking. >> You want to You do. You want to have me run field sobriety tests which I don't have to legally, you know, I'm not legally required to do. >> Okay. >> I've I've You have no suspicion that I've been drinking. >> I just told you why I why I'm why where we are. >> I understand why you pulled me over, so give me a ticket for it. I've done I've done nothing illegal. >> You've done nothing illegal? >> I haven't Absolutely not. No, I have not broken the law. Yes, I made a traffic infraction. Okay, I made a traffic It's not against the law. It's not a crime. It's not Is it a Is it a misdemeanor or a felony? Yeah, okay, it's a I understand I'm I I I am not trying to be a head. I'm honestly not. I'm really not. You know, I'm I Well, yeah, because I I know that I've not been drinking. I know I I understand that I made a traffic infraction in front of you. Yeah. Sure. >> Thank you. >> Yes, sir. >> All right, Jeremy. So, you're going to take a ticket a to signal on the 100 ft turn. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> You need to show up at the Village Court with court on June 9th at 4:00 p.m. You don't need to go in person to back of the youth plead guilty or not guilty to mail it in. >> Okay. >> There's a supporting deposition on the back here. Okay? >> Mhm. >> All righty. You're all set to go. >> Yep. Be safe. >> Yeah, have a good night. Drive safe. >> You too, man. >> And that's how you stand up for your rights. >> This stop is a good example of how an officer can have a lawful reason to make the initial traffic stop and still look like he is overreaching once he tries to turn it into something bigger. If the trooper truly saw a late turn signal, that falls under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law 1163, the statute that requires signaling for at least the last 100 ft before a turn or lane movement. That gives him a basis to pull the car over. But, the much bigger issue is what happened after that because once the stop shifted toward DUI, the trooper needed facts that actually pointed to impairment rather than just a pile of generic claims like red eyes, avoiding eye contact, and an alleged odor. That matters because roadside field sobriety tests are not the same thing as the chemical test rules under New York's implied consent law. The walk and turn, one leg stand, and similar roadside exercises are generally voluntary in New York while chemical tests after a lawful DWI arrest fall under VTL paragraph 1194, the implied consent statute. So, when the driver refused field sobriety tests here, he was refusing to help the trooper build more evidence on the roadside, not refusing a post-arrest chemical test. That is a big distinction. The driver's strongest move was refusing to hand the trooper extra material to twist into clues of intoxication while repeatedly forcing the stop back to the actual problem with the trooper's case. If there was real evidence of DUI, this stop should have produced more than a turn signal ticket. Instead, the trooper spent the encounter trying to inflate a minor traffic allegation into a DUI investigation and still walked away with nothing but the original citation.