Okay, Ms. Winter, may I have you come over here for me? Okay. All right. So, what I'm going to do is just go ahead and drop your arms down to your side for me. Go ahead and turn around. And bring your hands back behind you. At this time, you are going to be placed under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol tonight. >> Oh, why? >> On the night of June 26th, 2021, in Hillsborough County, Florida, a routine traffic stop for a red light violation turned into a full DUI investigation, and ultimately, an arrest. >> I went to McDonald's last night and got a burger and I was trying to get an order on it and they said >> All right. >> Hi. >> your driver's license, registration, proof of insurance? And what's going on tonight? >> Well, we thought Taco Bell was open. >> Okay. >> And they're not, so she wanted McDonald's. >> Okay. All right. Do you realize that when you came off of Henderson, that that's a red light? And that you did not stop at >> Kennedy. And you're on Henderson, and it comes out onto Kennedy. >> Honestly, I have no idea. >> Okay. >> Wait, CRG? >> What? >> The corner of CRG? Like Henderson and Dummy Road? >> No. Henderson and Kennedy. Right before McDill. Is this still a good address for you? >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. Where are we coming from tonight? >> We are coming from my home. >> Okay. Which is All right, Ms. Ms. Winter, how much alcohol have you had to drink today? >> Um, two glasses of wine. >> Do you feel like you're okay? >> Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just hungry, honestly. Is that >> Uh, these are both from 2019. >> Okay. Okay, I'm sorry. How do you know You were north or south bound and what kind of vehicle is it? I'm sorry. Hold on. >> All right. Well, while you're looking for that, I'm going to hold on to this and I'll be right back, okay? >> Thank you. I have no idea what Where does my dad have to keep the car? >> Oh, okay. >> All right. >> Oh, so let's let's do this. What I'm going to have you do is just set that stuff aside. I'm going to have you sit back here for a moment. I'll have you sit here if you still can't find it. >> No, it's fine. >> You don't have to turn off the car for long. >> She's my assistant. >> Okay. All right. All right. Miss Winner, I'm going to have you stand here for a moment. I'm a little concerned about your sobriety, so I'm going to ask you to do some field sobriety exercises. I'm going to have you >> Honestly, it's okay. >> help me to whether or not you're driving under the influence of alcohol tonight. Are you willing to do that? >> Yeah, okay. >> Okay. >> Are you willing to do these field sobriety exercises? >> Yeah, it's fine. >> Okay. Are you wearing contacts? >> No. >> Do you have any issues with your eyes whatsoever? >> No. >> And you can see out of both of your eyes and you're not legally blind. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, you stand right here for me and turn back around facing me. >> All right. >> All I'm going to have you do is put your feet together for me, heel to heel, toe to toe. >> Okay. >> Like that. And just keep your eyes straight ahead. You see that little straight ahead red light? Just follow this with your eyes and your eyes only. Don't move your head, okay? Do you understand? >> Yeah. >> Don't move your head. You got to keep your eyes forward. >> One of four, 10-30 call. 10-50. 239 6783 10-30. >> Okay. You're all right. Just a second. Are you taking any medications of any kind? >> None. >> All right. >> I'm on I'm on antidepressants cuz I got divorced recently, but it's honestly working. >> All right. Have Have you taken those antidepressants today? >> This morning. >> Okay. Is it like a daily thing? >> I take it in the morning. >> Okay. And >> About it. >> All right. But you're taking it today. >> Yeah, this morning. >> All right. And have Is it something you've been taking regularly for >> No. >> a week, two weeks, three weeks, a month? >> It's It's Do I have to tell you this? I don't know. >> You don't have to tell me what it's for. You just I just need to know if you're what what How long you've been taking it? >> It's random. Like if I get depressed >> So, it's kind of like a needed as needed. >> 676 If I work too much, my therapist says I got to take it, but I don't like I have to need it. I don't know. Um if I get If I work too much, I get depressed and I just take it. That's That's all it is. >> Okay. Um any any history of high blood pressure, diabetes, epilepsy, anything like that? You're not feeling ill or ill tonight. Um no physical limitations at all. >> I just went to dinner and then I came home and my assistant lives with me and she wanted McDonald's. We went to the one Curtain Plaza, it was closed, so I brought her here. >> Okay. All right. >> I just get depressed because it's a weird situation. >> Mhm. >> Sorry. >> Okay. The initial stop is legally clean under Terry v. Ohio 392 US 1 1968, an officer needs only reasonable articulable suspicion of a traffic violation to justify detaining a driver. A red light at the intersection of Henderson and Kennedy provides exactly that. There is no Fourth Amendment problem at the point of first contact and the officer's authority to order the driver out of the vehicle is equally established. Pennsylvania v. Mims 434 US 106 1977 holds that during any lawful traffic stop, an officer may order the driver to exit without any additional justification. That part of this encounter is textbook. All right. As far as being able to do these field sobriety exercises, do you think you're going to be able to do them with >> Yeah, I can do it. It's fine. >> Okay. All right. Ma'am, you come up here for me. And I'm just going to have you stand right here on the end of this white line. Actually, I'm going to have you stand right stand right here. And I'll be your assistant. Okay. All right, so here's what we're going to do. I'm going to give you a series of instructions. I'm going to demonstrate the instructions for you. It's important that you pay attention, watch what I'm doing, and also listen to what I'm telling you to do, okay? All right, so the first thing we're going to do, we're going to do this together. I'm going to have you place your left foot in the center of this white line. You're going to place your right foot directly in front of your left foot so the heels touch in the toe, just like this. Make sure you pull it back. Are they touching? Drop your arms down to your side and remain in this position. Don't do anything until I tell you, okay? >> Okay. >> When I tell you to, you're going to take nine heel-to-toe steps on this white line. When you reach nine, you're going to turn around take nine heel-to-toe steps back on this line. >> foot. >> Correct. Correct. Your very first step forward will be number one, and you're going to take nine. >> Okay. >> After you've taken nine, you're going to turn around and take nine heel-to-toe steps back on this white line. As you do this, keep your arms to your sides at all times. >> Okay. >> Look down at your feet, and you're going to count out loud your steps. So, it's going to look just like this. You're going to go 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. >> Okay. >> When you reach nine and you turn around, you're going to turn around by leaving your front foot on that line. Do not pick it up. Use your back foot. Take a series of small steps around your front foot like so. Once you've turned completely around, that's when you'll take your nine heel-to-toe steps back. >> Okay. >> All right. Once you begin, don't stop at any point until you complete the exercise, okay? >> So, nine and nine? >> Correct. Nine heel-to-toe, nine heel-to-toe. Turn around like I showed you. Keeping your arms to your side, looking down at your feet, counting out loud, and don't stop once you begin. Okay? >> Okay. And one one one one or like one two >> Well, let's get you back uh the right position. Put your right foot in front. Now, from there, okay? >> Okay. >> Your very first step forward is going to be number one, then number two, then three, then four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. >> Okay. >> All right. >> One two three four five six seven nine Okay. One two three four five six seven nine >> Okay. >> All right. >> All right. All right, I'm just going to have you stand right here for me. Mhm. And turn and face me this way. >> Okay. >> All right, I'm going to have you put your feet together for me. All right, keep your arms to your side. Remain in this position. Don't do anything until I tell you, okay? >> Okay. >> Now, when I tell you to, you're going to raise one foot. Your choice, whichever foot you want to raise, raise that foot out in front of you so that the heel is at least 6 in off ground. Now, it's going to look just like this. Keep both legs straight. Keep your foot parallel to the ground. Keep your arms to your sides at all times. >> Okay. >> Look down at your raised foot and you're going to count out loud. 1,001, 1,002, 1,003, 1,004, 1,005. Just keep counting until I tell you to stop. >> Okay. >> If you put that foot down before I tell you to, and I don't want you to, but if you do, you're just going to pick your foot back up. You continue to count from the number that you left off. >> So, what's my goal? Like >> You're just going to keep your Well, we're going to do it for 30 seconds. >> Okay. >> I'm going to keep track of time. All you need to do is focus on what I just explained. >> Okay. >> And and counting out loud. Okay, but don't start yet. I'll tell you. Do you have any questions? >> No. >> Do you understand the instructions? >> Yeah, I got it. >> Okay. All right. Give me just a second. >> I just wish I had these shoes on. Okay. >> Okay. All right. Well, if you want to take them off, you can take them off. It's up to you. All right. You can start whenever you're ready. >> So, I have to breathe for 30 seconds? Okay. >> Okay, go ahead and stop. >> Really? >> Yep, you can go ahead and stop. Okay. >> Where things get legally complicated is the medication disclosure. During the horizontal gaze nystagmus pre-screening, the officer asked about medications. The driver initially said, and this matters, that she was not answering those questions. That instinct was constitutionally sound. The Fifth Amendment protects against compelled self-incrimination. The question is whether roadside questioning during a non-custodial stop rises to the level that triggers those protections. Under Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 US 420 1984, a routine traffic stop is not custody for Miranda purposes, and roadside questioning does not require Miranda warnings. The officer was within his authority to ask, but the driver then voluntarily disclosed she had taken a prescription antidepressant that morning. That disclosure matters because impairment under Florida statute section 316.193 includes not just alcohol, but any chemical substance that impairs normal faculties. The critical question the footage does not answer is whether this officer holds drug recognition expert certification. Many antidepressants do not produce the same nystagmus patterns as alcohol. Applying standard field sobriety scoring to drug-related impairment without DRE training is a legitimate challenge point in court. The walk-and-turn and one-leg stand tests were administered per NHTSA protocol. Those tests carry defined clue thresholds. Two or more clues on the walk-and-turn is associated with a blood alcohol concentration at or above 0.10 per NHTSA research. What the officer did not do on camera was enumerate specific clues. The stated arrest basis at the 11-minute mark was driving on a suspended license, not DUI. That charge distinction is significant and requires verification against the actual license status as of June 26, 2021. If the license was valid, the stated arrest charge is legally unsupported. If the license was suspended, it creates an independent and entirely separate legal basis for the arrest, disconnected from the field sobriety performance entirely. The breath test request at the jail is constitutionally sound. Florida statute section 316.1932, the implied consent law, deems any driver to have consented to chemical testing upon a lawful DUI arrest, and the Supreme Court confirmed in Birchfield v. North Dakota, 579 U.S. 438 2016, that a warrantless breath test as a search incident to arrest is valid. >> All right. I'm going to have you come back up here for me. And I'm going to have you wait at the bumper and I'll be with you in a second, okay? >> I don't feel like that. >> Well, I'm looking for >> Besides the light, like >> I'm I'm I'm looking for indicators of impairment. All right. And And the whole reason why I asked you to step out of >> car >> and come back here and do all all of this is because there are certain things that I'm noticing. >> Yeah, I got that. >> All right. So, your your sobriety was is in question and whether or not you should be driving at all. >> Okay. I got it. >> So, that's kind of why we're going going through this. >> Okay. >> So, and And I'm we are conducting an a DUI investigation. Okay. That's That's where we're at. Okay. All right. Hang tight for just a second. We'll be right back. >> Okay. >> Ms. Winter, may I have you come over here for me? >> Okay. >> Okay. So, what I'm going to do is just going to have you drop your arms down at your side for me. Go ahead and turn around. And bring your hands back behind you. At this time, you are going to be placed under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol tonight. >> Oh, why? >> Uh because you've exhibited signs and clues of impairment, which lead me to believe that you are impaired by alcohol and/or chemical controlled substance. >> I do differently? >> Well, it's not a matter of whether it's a pass or fail, it's a matter of if you exhibited signs and clues. Each one of those exercises that we just did, there are a certain number of things that we're looking for. It's kind of like a checklist, and as those things get checked off, um it leads me to believe there's impairment. >> Is it so differently with like pills or like alcohol? >> Uh when you're just releasing this real quick. Um well, whether or not it's alcohol or >> Go ahead and turn around for me. >> whether it's whether it's alcohol chemical controlled substance, which be in your presence or a combination. It's It's all driving around in there. Um so, here's what we're going to do. From here, I'm going to transport you to the Hillsborough County Jail. When we get there, I'm going to ask you some questions and I'll check your breath and we'll determine the alcohol content. Are you willing to submit to a breath test? >> I I'm literally fine. I'm I'm fine to do whatever. >> Okay. All right, so you're willing to do a breath test then? >> Whatever I have to do, I will. >> Okay. >> I'm ready. >> Come around this side of the vehicle and get in the back. We're We're going to take care of that in a second. And just keep going back. All right, just go ahead and sit for me. Be careful on your head. Watch your head. All right, go ahead and step on out. >> Why am I so susceptible? >> You ready? >> Yeah, I'm good. Thank you. >> All right, we're just going to go right up here. >> First door. >> Right up here. Straight ahead. I'm going to curve. All right, right at this door right here. You have no gum, candy, anything like that in your mouth? >> No. >> No. >> Okay. I have to ask cuz before you do the breath test, I have to make sure you have nothing in your mouth. >> That's fine. >> All right, you're good to go. >> Uh weapons >> Yes, ma'am. >> No weapons >> Okay. Deactivating per HCSO policy, closed arrest. >> Now for the grades. The officer earns a B. His technique was patient, his tone was consistently professional, and the FST administration was methodical and detailed. Those are real strengths, and they matter. But a B is not an A, because the stated arrest charge raises an unresolved question. The FST clues were never enumerated on camera, and whether he had the training to properly evaluate prescription drug impairment remains unanswered by the footage alone. The driver earns a B+. She cooperated fully from first contact to the jail door. She did not physically resist, and she consented immediately to the breath test. That conduct reflects composure and legal awareness in a stressful moment. She loses ground only because she initially declined to answer medication questions, the correct instinct, and then walked it back voluntarily. That reversal handed the officer additional analytical weight that a more disciplined response would have withheld. Every encounter like this one carries lessons. Not just for the people in the footage, but for anyone who could find themselves in the same position on the side of a road at 11:00 at night. Here are five that this case makes clear. Lesson one. Field sobriety tests are voluntary in Florida. A driver may decline without triggering automatic legal penalties. That decision has trade-offs, but the choice exists, and knowing it exists is not the same as being advised of it on the roadside. Lesson two. Medical information is not automatically required. The Fifth Amendment does not compel you to disclose prescription history during a non-custodial traffic stop. If you start to invoke that right, maintain it consistently because a voluntary reversal carries its own evidentiary weight. Lesson three. The charge at the moment of arrest is not necessarily the charge that survives. Driving on a suspended license and DUI are different offenses with different evidentiary requirements. Always request the arrest affidavit as early as possible and verify the stated charge against the actual record. Lesson four. Cooperation and legal protection are not mutually exclusive. This driver demonstrated that you can be calm, polite, and fully compliant while still asking questions, requesting an attorney, and understanding what you are and are not required to provide. Lesson five. The breath test result ends the analysis for most of this case. Everything that happened on the roadside, the FST clues, the medication disclosure, the arrest charge, becomes secondary once a confirmed blood alcohol concentration number enters the record. The science either supports the probable cause or it does not. If this analysis helped you understand what is actually happening in these encounters, beyond the surface-level drama, consider subscribing to our channel. We break down police body cam footage with the law in hand, not headlines. Drop your questions or any updates on this case in the comments. If you know the outcome, the charge disposition, or the breath test result, share it. That context matters for the full legal picture.