Lawsuit Alleges State Trooper Made Career out of Falsifying Arrests

False Arrests: One reason you should know the law and your rights

Unjustified DUI Arrests

“I told her…‘You’re making the biggest mistake of your life. I haven’t had nothing (anything) to drink”, said a suspect arrested by a former Utah State Trooper.

During detention at the County Jail, the suspect, passed a blood test and had no drugs or alcohol in his system. The DUI charges were eventually dismissed. His words were hauntingly true.

The New York Times reported this story last week, where a lawsuit was filed, after a Utah State Trooper was dismissed for misconduct. The officer’s Sergeant reviewed at least 20 files where suspects were arrested; and DUI tests results confirmed, there was no evidence of alcohol, drugs in the driver’s system, or resulting driving impairment. The lawsuit alleged that she “made a career” out of falsifying arrests.

False arrests are not uncommon. Although we would like to think they are rare, we hear many stories of its kind. They can happen in Arizona, and any other state, in any jurisdiction to anyone. They may occur for a multitude of reasons. False arrests may be the result of a genuine error or mistake on the part of the police. However, that does not mean, they can’t result from overzealous occupational motivation; or financial incentives in the way of fines by budget torn cities or jurisdictions.

The fact that they exist at all, should make motorists leery of settling with a conviction, without consulting a DUI Attorney for defense of their impaired driving charges, especially if they do not feel they were driving impaired.

DUI Arrests Requirement

In Arizona In order to make an arrest a police officer must have “probable cause”. This standard is higher than “reasonable suspicion” to make the stop initially. An arrest is unlawful without material evidence which warrants “probable cause”. Examples of this would include positive official breath test findings; chemical test results such urine or blood screening; an admittance of drunk driving by a suspect; and a host of other signals. Put simply, it is unlawful for an officer to make an arrest based on a hunch, or because they think a person was driving impaired due to alcohol or drugs. It’s a decision that must be based on a cumulative evidence that leads to “probable cause” that a person was drunk driving or impaired due to drugs or alcohol.

Arizona DUI Laws

Under A.R.S. 28-1381 a person may be found guilty of DUI if they are found to be driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle; and

• They are impaired to the slightest degree due to alcohol or drugs; and/or
• They have a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of 0.08 percent or higher.

In other words, a person does not have to be drunk, or have a BAC of 0.08% to be arrested for DUI. If they are found by the police officer to be impaired to the slightest degree, even if it is below 0.08 percent; or they have drugs in the system but not alcohol, they may be arrested.

Burden of Proof

The burden of proof is with the State and Prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person was driving impaired or over the legal limit due to alcohol or drugs. The defendant is presumed by law, to be innocent until proven guilty.

An arrest does not mean you are guilty; it means you need to defend your charges.