Field Sobriety Tests in a Will County DUI Stop

The three standardized tests

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration trains officers in a battery of three tests. NHTSA describes these as the tests with validated clues of impairment. Other roadside tasks, such as saying the alphabet or touching your nose, are not part of that battery.

Horizontal gaze nystagmus

The officer moves a pen or light from side to side while you follow it with your eyes only. The officer looks for jerking of the eye as it moves to the side. NHTSA trains officers to look for several clues in how the eye follows the object and when the jerking starts.

Walk and turn

You are asked to walk heel to toe along a line, turn in a set way and walk back. It is called a divided attention test, because you must listen to instructions while you balance. NHTSA scores it on a set list of clues, such as losing balance during the instructions, stepping off the line and raising your arms.

One leg stand

You raise one foot off the ground and hold it while counting. This is also a divided attention test. NHTSA scores it on a set list of clues, such as swaying, using your arms for balance, hopping and putting your foot down.

Where these tests fit in a DUI case

Field tests come before the arrest. The officer uses them, with the driving, the smell of alcohol and your speech, to decide whether there is probable cause to arrest you. They are separate from the breath, blood or urine test that comes after the arrest.

The two kinds of testing carry different consequences. Refusing a chemical test after a DUI arrest brings a statutory summary suspension under 625 ILCS 5/11-501.1. Illinois also has a separate rule for cannabis. If an officer has a reasonable suspicion of cannabis impairment, Section 11-501.9 attaches a suspension to refusing NHTSA approved field sobriety tests or validated roadside chemical tests. Because the rules differ, do not guess what you must do. Be polite, and ask Jeff what the rules mean for your case.

At the hearing, the officer's report and any video are what the court reads. If the video does not match the report, that can matter.

Ways a field test can be challenged

Field tests are not lab results. They depend on a person giving the test, a person taking it, and the place it is done. Questions Jeff asks include:

• Were the instructions standard? The tests are meant to be given the same way each time. Missed steps in the instructions or the demonstration can matter.
• Where was the test given? A sloped shoulder, loose gravel, snow, rain, traffic lights or a dark roadside can all affect balance and eyes.
• What were you wearing? Heels, work boots or wet shoes change how you stand.
• What else could affect you? Leg, back or inner ear problems, an eye condition, a recent injury, age, weight or just nerves at midnight with police lights on.
• Is the report scored fairly? The officer's scoring is a judgment call. Squad car or body camera video can show whether the clues in the report are visible on screen.
• Was the officer trained and current? Jeff asks for the officer's training record on the standardized tests when it matters.

What to do if you were given these tests

You cannot change what happened at the roadside, but you can protect the evidence.

1. Write down what you remember as soon as you can: the road, the lighting, your shoes and what the officer said.
2. Note any medical condition or injury that could have affected the tests.
3. Keep all papers from the stop, including the ticket and any suspension notice.
4. Ask Jeff to request the squad car video, body camera video and the officer's report. Agencies do not keep video forever, so ask early.
5. Do not post about the stop online.

Why the tests are not the whole case

A prosecutor often leans on field tests because they are easy to describe to a judge. But the tests have a narrow job. They support the officer's decision to arrest, and they are one item of evidence at trial. The case can still turn on the reason for the stop, the arrest decision, how any breath test was given, or whether the suspension paperwork was done right. That is why Jeff reads the whole file instead of only the roadside part.

See also the pages on breath test problems and what to do in the first days after an arrest.

How Jeff helps

• Gets the officer's report and the video so you see what the court will see.
• Compares what the officer wrote with what the video shows.
• Looks at the road, lighting, weather and your footwear, and at health issues that could have changed your performance.
• Asks about the officer's training on the standardized tests.
• Explains your choices on the suspension and the criminal charge separately.

Reviewed by Jeff McCarthy, Attorney, Inspired Law Group, 136 E 9th St, Lockport, IL 60441.