I mean, I'm sure I'm like sober enough to drive. I swear. Like, I'm 22. You know, I have one bear. Like, it's okay. But like, it can be above a 0.08, right? >> On October 23rd, 2020, a 22year-old college student was stopped on suspicion of driving under the influence. This 6-minute field sobriety investigation is worth examining closely because it was done correctly. Let's just step over here. Let's get out of here. Do you wear contact lenses or prescription glasses? >> I have a signis on. >> Okay, do me a favor. I'm 671. I'm 104. Thanks. Do me a favor. Step over here. I don't want those lights to bother you. See where I got my flashlight. Am I standing right there for me? And could you face me? Actually, face this way. There you go. Uh, so no contact lenses, no prescription glasses, but you do have a stigmatism. >> Prescription glasses. >> Gotcha. Are you on any type of medication that might affect your eyes or anything? >> Your vision. Okay. Do me a favor. Can you see the top of the pen here, my friend? >> What I'm going to ask you to do is just follow that with your eyes. Keep your head still for me. Okay. What I'm going to do is move it back and forth about a minute and a half. I just want you to follow your eyes. Right. I mean, I'm sure I'm like sober enough to drive. I swear. Like, I'm 22. >> You know, I have one beer. Like, it's okay. But like, it can't be above a 0.08, right? >> Under the Fourth Amendment, a DUI arrest requires probable cause, specific, articulable facts that a reasonable person would recognize as evidence of impairment. The Supreme Court set the controlling standard in Illinois v. 8 1983 as the totality of circumstances. The investigation opened with the horizontal gaze nestagmas test or HGN NHTS. A protocol requires a pre-screen contact lenses, prescription eyewear, and medications affecting eye movement. The subject disclosed a stigmatism. The officer correctly continued because a stigmatism does not produce nestagmas. HGN is the most scientifically validated field sobriety test. When alcohol impairs the central nervous system, the eyes jerk involuntarily while tracking a moving stimulus. Four or more clues out of six correlate with a blood alcohol level at or above. 08 in about 77% of cases. >> Exactly. >> Right. >> Do this for me. Go ahead. Put your feet together just like you got. I'm going to put your hands to your side like this. Take your right foot and put it in front of your left foot. Just like this. And Okay. Now, just stay in that position for me. Okay. Now, if you feel you want to take the boots off, by all means, take them off. Okay. >> It's just a struggle just because >> Okay. Are you sure you don't want to take them off? >> Okay. I just don't want you to fall. Okay. But anyways, okay. Which foot you going to hold up for the exercise, >> right? >> Okay. Once I see your foot's in the air, I can see you looking at your tip of the toes. I can hear you counting. >> Okay. >> I'll start timing. I'll let you know when to stop. Okay. >> If you have no questions, go ahead and start for me. >> Yep. 1,001 1,002 100, 10003 1, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109 I'm sorry, I'm just really balanced. >> Okay. >> 1 9 1,01,23,4 It's been 30 seconds. >> I'm so sorry. >> You don't have any other shoes in the car? >> No, that's just my only shoes. >> Okay, let's do this. Let's go ahead and put your boots back on. I'm not going to at this point. I mean, my feet are dirty. >> Uh, actually, yeah, I would put them back on. >> I'm sorry. I'm just literally two straights down. We're going to my friend's house. Got >> I mean, >> just for me, go ahead and put your boots down for me. >> Like, I'm not going to. I mean, at this point. >> Okay. Well, I'm going to put them down for you. Just set them here. Unfortunately, I am going to place Turn around for me. I'm going to place handcuffs on you and place your under DUI. Okay. >> The walk and turn evaluates divided attention following instructions while performing a physical task. The officer correctly required the subject to hold the starting position during the instruction phase, one of the most commonly cited procedural failures when DUI cases are challenged in court. Before the one leg stand, the officer offered the option to remove her boots. NHTSA requires this when heels exceed 2 in because elevated footwear compromises balance and can invalidate results. The subject declined. That decision stays with her legally. During the one leg stand, the subject put her foot down before the 32nd count. Under NHTS, a scoring that is a documented impairment clue. The test evaluates four clues and two or more indicate likely impairment at or above the legal limit. The subject voluntarily stated she had consumed alcohol. Under Burkimer v. Marti 1984. Roadside questioning is not custodial interrogation. So Miranda was not required. She had no obligation to disclose that fact. She did anyway, and the statement was fully admissible. This distinction matters. Investigative detention under Terry v. Ohio 1968 is not an arrest. Miranda attaches to custodial interrogation only. That voluntary admission combined with documented test clues gave the officer everything he needed for a lawful probable cause determination. The arrest was clean. The officer announced the charge, applied handcuffs, and performed a welfare check within seconds. He then called a female trooper for the search, which is standard policy across most agencies, protecting both parties and keeping the encounter procedurally correct. The arresting officer receives a B+. He ran a proper pre-screen, offered the footwear accommodation, and executed the arrest cleanly. One deduction, HGN results were never verbalized on camera, leaving a documentation gap a defense attorney would target immediately. The female trooper receives an A. She arrived promptly, conducted the search correctly, and asked about contraband in a non-acusy way. efficient, professional, and by the book. The subject receives a B+. Cooperative, non-resistant, and composed throughout. The deduction is strategic. She had no obligation to disclose she had been drinking, but she did. And that statement became central to the probable cause case against her. Hold still. >> Who's that car registered to again? I ran a tag. Is it registered to you or one of those gentlemen? Hey, would you mind doing a search for me? Appreciate you coming by. Hey, let me know. Is that too tight? I can loosen if it is. Okay, give me one second. 671 1015 one time. Per policy. I have to have you searched by a female officer. Fortunately, this trooper here stopped by. So, she's just going to make sure you got nothing on you. Is there anything on you we need to know about? And I asked it of everybody. Okay. I'm not accusing everything. We just want no surprises. Okay. Um so we're just going to walk right over here. Okay. Um guess probably front of my car be the best bet. We just just watch your step right there. Okay. At this point, you're under arrest for DUI. All right. >> You're really nice about it, but >> yeah. Unfortunately, you've been nice and I appreciate you being compliant. Unfortunately, this is what I got to do. >> I'm assuming that >> How are you wearing that? I mean, barely, but 10. >> Where you from? You said where you from, if you don't mind me asking. >> I'm from Lithuania. >> Oh, okay. How long you been here in the States? >> 7 years. >> I mean, your English is very good. >> I I appreciate that. Like, I really mean to my parents, you know, like >> that's we'll put that in your >> That's a You could say, >> I'm so sorry. I mean, I'm a biop major. Like I major bio. >> Oh, okay. available. >> Well, fortunately, nobody >> want to be that girl. I want to be that girl. That's just like >> Well, nobody got hurt. That's the good thing. And I'm assuming you probably never been arrested before or gotten into never. >> Okay, that's a good thing. All right, step over here for me. What I'm going to do is have you take a seat in the back of my car. >> Mhm. >> Give me a couple minutes and I'll explain what's going on. Okay. >> I'm so sorry. >> I'm just trying to be like so fair game. If you just take a seat back, this one, >> I'll explain to your friends where you're going. Okay. I do have to put the seat belt on you. So, could you just scoot over this way a little bit for me? >> What about my car? >> Uh, we'll take care of that. Okay. >> Oh my god. >> You get it back. There we go. Okay. Just sit tight for me. Okay. Okay. You sit out for me. Oh, actually, I got to get the seat belt off. But I got your sandals here, too. So, >> thank you for that. >> Just give me one second. There we go. All right. >> If you need help getting them on, >> thank you for that. >> I wish I could wipe off my tears. >> Actually, once we get in here and get get you a uh you know, I forgot. I'm sorry. No, you're okay. >> You're being really nice. Thank you. You learn how to >> No, he listen. This job is really all how you treat people. Absolutely. >> I'd rather treat people. >> This is your job and you have to be nice to me, but I appreciate the fact that you mean >> we're going to go just watch your step right here. >> We're now entering entering booking and I'm turning off my body warn camera. We're going to go this way right. Right. >> Before we wrap, this case raises five lessons grounded in law, not opinion, that apply to any driver who could face a similar encounter on the road. Lesson one, you are not required to answer questions about alcohol during a traffic stop. Burkimer v. Mccardi, 1984, protects that right. Silence cannot be treated as evidence of guilt and cannot lawfully be used against you. Lesson two, footwear matters. If the officer offers the option to remove elevated shoes before a balance test, accept it. Declining does not help your case and it may directly worsen your test performance in a way the officer is trained to document. Lesson three, disclose medical conditions before the test begins, not after. A pre-est disclosure is part of the official record. A post- test disclosure is treated with skepticism by courts and rarely affects how the scored results are interpreted at trial. Lesson four, physical compliance during a lawful arrest protects you. Verbal obstruction can generate additional charges. This subject disagreed with her arrest. She complied anyway. That single decision kept a bad situation from becoming significantly and unnecessarily worse. Lesson five, respectful treatment during an arrest is a professional standard, not a personal favor. It should be the baseline, not the exception. Demanding it consistently across every interaction is how it becomes enforcable over time rather than optional. The outcome of this case is unknown. No court records or news coverage were found. If the blood alcohol level came in at or above 0.08, the arrest stands. If it came in below that threshold, the field sobriety results become the defense's primary battleground. What this footage shows is that a proper DUI investigation is methodical and defensible at every step. Every question, every test, every accommodation the officer offered served a specific legal function. That is what NHTSA protocol compliance looks like in practice. If you found this breakdown useful, subscribe to our channel for more legal analysis of body camera footage. We cover these interactions so you understand what the law requires from both sides. 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