# I just thought of the dumbest, pedantic way to get around refusal of a field sobriety test **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 19, 2023, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776 "2023-10-19T04:03:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/1 "2023-10-19T04:03:18Z")
Cops can’t make you do a field sobriety test. They CAN make you exit your car. So open the passenger door and make the driver crawl over the seats to exit. Not rock solid but it could help build a case. While I have you here, I have a less pedantic question. Let’s say an officer Mirandizes a suspect before taking them downtown. The suspect says he wants a lawyer and has nothing to say…so the officers rather then taking him downtown, takes him to the scene of the crime where any number of things may happen. An investigation may still be going on. A body could still be onsite. The Q: Could the prosecution use the suspects reaction to the crime scene against him? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/2 "2023-10-19T04:42:13Z")
Your Honor, I move for a bad court thingy. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/3 "2023-10-19T04:43:14Z")
I was traveling, not driving. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/4 "2023-10-19T04:56:46Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > the officers rather then taking him downtown, takes him to the scene of the crime I’m now wondering if there is any law against the cops taking an arrested suspect to play mini-golf for a few hours before going downtown. It seems like the least they could do under the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/5 "2023-10-19T04:56:59Z")
So crawling out the passenger door will do what, exactly? Might get your shiny cop shoes puked on. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/6 "2023-10-19T04:59:26Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > So crawling out the passenger door will do what, exactly? > > Might get your shiny cop shoes puked on… Demonstrate that you can’t crawl out the passenger door without puking on the cop’s shoes, presumably. Sounds like probable cause to me. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/7 "2023-10-19T05:01:38Z")
Alrighty, then. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/8 "2023-10-19T05:02:52Z")
Oh, also assault. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/9 "2023-10-19T05:03:40Z")
Escape attempt, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/10 "2023-10-19T05:04:23Z")
Resisting ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/11 "2023-10-19T05:10:50Z")
If someone is tased, should they be charged with resisting or conducting? ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/12 "2023-10-19T05:12:16Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > So crawling out the passenger door will do what, exactly? it might show some signs of drunkenness, I s’pose. But it would be tough to prove in court. I’m a healthy, skinny guy, and I can only barely maneuver and twist my body to get out of the drivers seat, over the console and stick shift, and crawl across the passenger seat to exit the car.\* But now I have a serious question for you lawyers out there: how do drunkenness and Miranda rights mix? 1.The cop arrests you for drunk driving, with good proof from the breathylizer test. So, by law, you are drunk, and incapable of making decisions. 2. Then the cop reads you your Miranda rights, and asks if you understand them. 3. But you’re drunk!!! You can’t understand anything. You can’t make use of your rights So how can the phrase “anything you say be used against you in a court of law” hold up? – \*( yes, the driver-side door latch was broken, and my muscles were sore for three days, till I got it fixed) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/13 "2023-10-19T05:20:59Z")
The trick is to schooch out butt first. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/14 "2023-10-19T05:24:29Z")
> [@](#): > > the trick is to schooch out butt first. Yeah, I figgered that out 'ventually. 🙂 But maybe if I’d been drunk, I wouldda been more flexible. I’ll try that next time 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/15 "2023-10-19T05:29:30Z")
Cops don’t have to read Miranda unless they are conducting an interrogation after an arrest. So if they felt the need to, they would wait until the perp sobered up in a cell, and then Miranda them. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/16 "2023-10-19T10:52:26Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > If someone is tased, should they be charged with resisting or conducting? Excellent! ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/17 "2023-10-19T11:08:20Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > So open the passenger door and make the driver crawl over the seats to exit. Not rock solid but it could help build a case. Huh? I don’t follow. At all. And myself, I might be able to do that. But it would be rough. I’m 6’2" 220 lbs and have long legs. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/18 "2023-10-19T11:22:14Z")
I’m not sure a drunk person crawling out the passenger side is going to look very much different than a sober person crawling out the passenger side. I mean, it’s crawling. As in down on all fours, the easiest possible way to balance yourself. Seems kinda useless (unless you go the evil route and testify “Look, this idiot driver was so wasted that he exited the passenger door.” ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/19 "2023-10-19T11:43:37Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > Cops can’t make you do a field sobriety test No, they can’t, but in Illinois (and maybe other states), refusal of a sobriety test is considered an admission of guilt and will result in the court rendering a verdict of guilty. Just an opinion from an “armchair lawyer”, but I think it would be totally unacceptable in court because the defendant was not allowed access to a lawyer before they started playing games with him. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776/20 "2023-10-19T11:47:15Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Demonstrate that you can’t crawl out the passenger door without puking on the cop’s shoes, presumably. Sounds like probable cause to me. Surely you’d have to establish that I could crawl out the passenger side door _without_ puking on the cops’ shoes _while sober_ before this could be used to prove I’m drunk? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-thought-of-the-dumbest-pedantic-way-to-get-around-refusal-of-a-field-sobriety-test/991776.md?page=2)