DUI Cases: 3 Personal Ailments That May Impact A Standardized Field Sobriety Test
Posted on: 9 June 2016
If a police officer pulls you over and suspects that you have been driving impaired, they may request to conduct a process known as a Standardized Field Sobriety Test. These are tests that can showcase if you have the mental and physical capabilities of someone who is sober. While these tests may work in general, failing them may not only occur just because you are drunk. Instead of being used as evidence against you in a drunk driving case, an attorney can prove that personal conditions lead to the failed test. Based on these tests, there are three personal impacts that can help prove your case and work towards getting the DUI charges dropped all together.
Amblyopia
One of the more common field tests to undergo is an eye test. In these tests, a person must hold their head still and follow the movements of an officer by moving only their eyes. For a person with amblyopia, this type of test can be nearly impossible. Amblyopia is the scientific name for a lazy eye. This means that one or both of your eyes cannot move in coordination. By using reports from eye doctors or other professionals, an attorney can show that your test was failed due to amblyopia rather than actually being impaired.
Joint Pain & Arthritis
For people suffering with joint pain or arthritis, going through the daily motions of a day can be challenging enough. Extra pressure and pain can put on your body if you were told to perform two different tasks during a standardized field sobriety test. One example of this is a one-legged stand. By standing on one leg, you place a lot of pressure on the joints and may be unable to physically complete the task. An attorney can showcase your history with arthritis pain to help disprove your failed test and remove the evidence against you.
Dyslexia
To help check your cognitive ability, a police officer may conduct a number of verbal tests after pulling you over. These tests may include basic knowledge questions including reciting the alphabet backwards. For many people put in this situation, the questions asked can be impossible to follow if you suffer from dyslexia. Dyslexia is not about the visuals of the words or letters, it's about processing them in the wrong order. If you've been diagnosed with dyslexia, then all of these test results are representing your mental condition, not the impaired state that you were in.
All of these personal ailments can have a huge impact on your case. Contacting an attorney is the first step to reducing or having your DUI charges dropped all together. For more information, contact a lawyer like those at Mesenbourg & Sarratori Law Offices.
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