Wow. this (AOL site video news report) takes…heck, I don’t know what it takes, but it’s certainly neither decency nor dedication to the people she was supposed to be protecting. Nah, that wouldn’t be as much fun as arresting practically everyone (yes, hyperbole; but not all that much apparently) she met on the highways of Utah. Yep, it’d be more fun to arrest someone for DUI who had taken no medication and doesn’t even drink booze! And to top it all off, when her stunts get her and the State of Utah sued, she files suit to–if I were to write this for a comedy show, I’d be the one laughed out of a job–get her job back!
ETA: Oops. I forgot to add Deseret News non-video report for those who don’t want to watch the video.
You didn’t glean from what I posted that the lady in question was a law enforcement officer in Utah and had arrested folks for DUI although they weren’t under the influence and that she’s suing to get her job back? Okay, let me summarize:
[ul][li]Lisa Steed, while working as a law-enforcement officer of the Utah Highway Patrol, arrests an inordinately greater number of people than her colleagues for DUI.[/li][li]She is honored one year as Trooper of the Year, in part for said number of arrests.[/li][li]It’s discovered that she lied her butt off in at least one case.[/li][li]It’s also determined that she couldn’t be bothered with following UHP procedures for suspected DUI incidents.[/li][li]She’s fired.[/li][li]People have lost property and even jobs thanks to her malfeasance and general dishonesty.[/li][li]Those people are joining a class action suit against her and the UHP.[/li][li]And the icing on this particular case is that she’s suing to get her job as a UHP Trooper back.[/ul][/li]
It occurs to me that Ms. Steed isn’t the only one in the UHP who should’ve been canned for this case.
If a cop gives arrest you DUI, when you actually are not, is there no way to counter her? Doesn’t the cop have to get you tested at a medical facility go prove DUI?
Evidently the way to counter the cop’s false charge is to go to court. DUI legal representation fees don’t seem to come cheap either. And, a quick google search shows that if you’re arrested for DUI in Utah, it’s mandatory that the arresting officer also impound your vehicle. That’ll cost you a quick $330 fee to get your vehicle out of impound. Oh, and since the arresting officer may have also confiscated your license and it’s up to the local DMV to accept a temporary license as proof of identity, you very well may have to get the DMV to issue you a State ID Card in lieu. Fee after fee after fee, with the lawyer’s fee no doubt not being on the low end of the scale. I don’t know about you, but I don’t regularly plan for a minimum $330 bump in my expenses because some jackass feels that a badge entitles her to break the law she’s supposed to be enforcing.
In the US, this depends on local law. You generally have the right to request a blood or urine test in lieu of a breath test, but most people don’t know that and don’t ask.
Where does it say in either of those articles that she is suing to get her job back. The only one that mentions anything about her getting her job back says she is on her second appeal but nothing about suing.
You can also be convicted without any of those tests. You can even be convicted in at least some states if the tests come in below .08 but there’s still other evidence that you were too drunk to drive safely.
More at the link. But the fun part is where it’s stated that “1,500 to 2,000 potential victims” have been identified by the plaintiffs’ lawyer. That’s an awful lot of lying from Steed, the former trooper, and I’d be surprised if her lies were limited to just DUI cases. The UHP should bite the bullet, dig up every arrest report where she was involved, and do the right thing; i.e., untarnish (should be a word!) the reputations she’s ruined.
The information was there, but hard to get to. Instead of ever saying “Law enforcement officer,” there was only the allusion to “as much fun as arresting practically everyone.” Good writing is clear writing.
The bulleted list was a good example of very clear writing. The OP was as opaque as Mississippi mud.