# Odd occurance during DWI arrest **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 27, 2015, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161 "2015-03-27T22:41:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/61 "2015-03-30T03:59:41Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I have never seen or heard of five dollar bags of weed in the USA, supposedly in some areas with really large populations of addicts and cheap drugs they sell tiny 2-5 dollar bags of heroin or crack/coke. Generally a dealer isn’t going to want to mess around for less then ten bucks. I have. Nickel bags, sure. About enough for a pinner. Found in high-traffic drug areas, usually sold alongside other drugs like crack and heroin. Usually the task of bagging up all these tiny bags is relegated to one of the dealer’s addict customers, in exchange for a bit of drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/62 "2015-03-30T04:18:43Z")
If you can afford to drive a flashy late-model vehicle, why don’t you just ask your lawyer this question? I’m sure your daddy can afford it. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/63 "2015-03-30T05:08:20Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > When I was on jury duty for a DUI case a few years ago, the arresting officer described three field tests that he administered the defendant; examining his eyes for irregular movements while passing a pen back and forth, walking a straight line, and standing on one leg while counting to thirty. Reciting the alphabet, forwards or backwards, was not discussed. The three tests you’ve listed (horizontal gaze nystagmus, walk-and-turn, and the Romberg test) are the only three tests which are recommended by NHTSA. Some officers will do other ones, but any DUI lawyer worth his salt will be able to get them excluded at trial (or at least severely undermine them to the point of worthlessness, if the judge is a jerk and lets them in). Not to say that these three are sure-fire valid, but other ones (such as reciting the alphabet backwards) have been found to have zero validity in enough studies that the government won’t recommend them. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/64 "2015-03-30T14:23:22Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I guessed the state based on your OP! > > You know another fun trick they play in TX to get around the 4th amendment? > > In Texas any and ALL vehicular offenses are arrestable at the officers discretion, meaning you can be arrested for a speeding ticket. So if you are pulled over for speeding and they ask to search your vehicle and you decline, they just arrest you and then they have the right to do an inventory of your vehicle. > > Welcome to Texas! All states do that, not just Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/65 "2015-03-30T15:12:49Z")
> [@LurkerInNJ](#): > > I would be very surprised if an adult told me they had no idea what a dime bag of pot looked like, pot smoker or not. > [@Smapti](#): > > I don’t. I have no idea what a dime bag of pot looks like. ---
**Author:** ![SJL4041](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@SJL4041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SJL4041)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/66 "2015-03-30T15:40:39Z")
So, can the cops in this thread tell us if it’s okay to refuse the Field Sobriety Tests? Or is that a sure way to get arrested? I know a lawyer who was drunk out of his mind, and somehow got only a minor charge by refusing all tests. Maybe I should start a new thread: what’s the best strategy if you’re stone cold sober and what to do if you aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/67 "2015-03-30T16:12:41Z")
> [@SJL4041](#): > > So, can the cops in this thread tell us if it’s okay to refuse the Field Sobriety Tests? Or is that a sure way to get arrested? I know a lawyer who was drunk out of his mind, and somehow got only a minor charge by refusing all tests. IANAL - hopefully a real L will stop in and correct me. I believe (at least in my state) if you are driving, you can refuse the Field Sobriety tests, but not a Breathalyzer or blood test. By signing the forms to apply for a driver’s licence, you are consenting to chemical testing on demand. If you are just walking down the street, I believe you can refuse both. The cop may still arrest you, if he has probable cause to think you are drunk and disorderly, but you don’t have to do the tests. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/68 "2015-03-30T17:54:29Z")
> [@get\_lives](#): > > I keep telling people that the War on Drugs killed the 4th amendment, but nobody listens. Oh well. Then shit like this happens, and everybody acts shocked. Well, I am not shocked. > [@get\_lives](#): > > The War on Drugs killed the 4th amendment, and the War on Terror desecrated its corpse. No it didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/69 "2015-03-30T20:57:24Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > No it didn’t. Oh, OK. They “helped the 4th Amendment in its passage into the spiritual realm”. Is that better? I got more sarcasm if you want. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/70 "2015-03-31T01:05:56Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I believe (at least in my state) if you are driving, you can refuse the Field Sobriety tests, but not a Breathalyzer or blood test. By signing the forms to apply for a driver’s licence, you are consenting to chemical testing on demand. It’s pretty much like that in California, with the addition that you are only required to submit to the chemical tests IF you have been placed under arrest. You are not required to take the blood or breath test if you haven’t been arrested. The officer needs probable cause for the arrest, and that’s generally what the field sobriety tests are used for: to establish probable cause. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/71 "2015-03-31T04:48:11Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > I have no idea what a dime bag of pot looks like. [Dime bag](http://lmgtfy.com/?q=dime+bag) ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/72 "2015-04-01T13:47:18Z")
My dad was a cop for over 30 years, I asked him once about the “reciting the alphabet backwards” routine. He told me that he never used it, but those who did weren’t looking for you to attempt it, they were waiting for you to say “Man, I can’t even do that when I’m sober!” Boom, admission of intoxication. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/73 "2015-04-01T15:12:00Z")
> [@get\_lives](#): > > Oh, OK. They “helped the 4th Amendment in its passage into the spiritual realm”. > > Is that better? I got more sarcasm if you want. The Court just decided _Grady v. North Carolina_, saying that the Fourth Amendment is implicated when when, after conviction, police install a monitoring device on a person’s body to track their movements. I don’t understand how the supposedly moribund Fourth Amendment could compel this result. Can you explain? ---
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/74 "2015-04-01T15:56:22Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The Court just decided _Grady v. North Carolina_, saying that the Fourth Amendment is implicated when when, after conviction, police install a monitoring device on a person’s body to track their movements. > > I don’t understand how the supposedly moribund Fourth Amendment could compel this result. Can you explain? Decomposition gases escaping the corpse. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/75 "2015-04-01T17:11:13Z")
> [@get\_lives](#): > > Decomposition gases escaping the corpse. I don’t follow. Those would need to be some pretty agile gases. Maybe, just maybe, you overstated your case? ---
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/76 "2015-04-01T21:47:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I don’t follow. Those would need to be some pretty agile gases. > > Maybe, just maybe, you overstated your case? Clearly you don’t support the legalization of recreational marijuana, let alone the legalization of most of the major currently-illegal drugs. I do. I’m a little more moderate on the issue of warrantless wiretapping, but only somewhat. I think those differences explain the difference in our opinions of 4th Amendment issues very well. ---
**Author:** ![analogqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@analogqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/analogqueen)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/77 "2015-04-03T06:09:28Z")
This story needs to be on the news. This old scam is what cops have used since the beginning of time to trick criminal suspects into admitting their crimes- but this one takes the CAKE! Speaking of Texas… I was pulled over, in a similar instance- but instead of being arrested- the officer that pulled me over and the 2 units that showed up for “backup” or whatever they call it- had a pow-wow with much whispering and talking amongst themselves and the 1st officer slowly walked back to my car, smiling apologetically and advised me to “just go home, don’t go drink a cup of coffee and get back out on the road, just go right home and sleep it off”. This has happened to me not once- not twice- but at least _three times._ My friends asked me if my father was a judge, if I came from a famous family, or something like that. In each instance the officers appeared to cut me a break and address me very professionally and with utmost respect. FWIW I had every reason at the time TO be arrested- and charged. Someone said that I “must be on some kind of a ‘list’”. Anyone else heard of this? sorry I do NOT mean to hijack OPs event at all! just wanted to share an opposite thing. But his story really blows me away!! Was this in that small town on Louisiana/TX border where it was in the news where they were systematically pulling over blacks, and claiming every bit of cash they had was “drug money”? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2015, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/78 "2015-04-03T07:17:57Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Why is everyone so sure the pot wasn’t his? The guy drove drunk. For all he knows, he bought it wherever he was and doesn’t remember. The OP was clearly impaired to a significant degree, but based on the information provided is it likely he’d been sufficiently plastered to forget his having bought pot that same evening? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2015, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/79 "2015-04-03T07:31:50Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Why is everyone so sure the pot wasn’t his? The guy drove drunk. For all he knows, he bought it wherever he was and doesn’t remember. And for that matter, why does drunk driving imply the possession of marijuana? Would it imply the possession of, say, cocaine or heroin? ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161/80 "2015-04-04T02:50:05Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > And for that matter, why does drunk driving imply the possession of marijuana? Would it imply the possession of, say, cocaine or heroin? It didn’t 1. There was a theory presented before that the COP got his JOLLIES from doing certain procedures… legalised rape, basically 2. Perhaps they wanted to take _blood_ for DUI THC in case the breath test machine was acting up. Perhaps the OP can challenge the calibration of the breath test. 3. Perhaps the dope was there, that hitchhiker 3 months ago … the neighbor you gave a lift to the shops and back… your children…your nieces or nephews,etc Its not worth their time to start a trial over $10,so with no confession they let you go. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-occurance-during-dwi-arrest/716161.md?page=5)