Friday, April 22, 2011

TOO OLD FOR FIELD SOBRIETY TEST

PULASKI TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A Lawrence County judge has dismissed a drunken driving case against an Ohio woman, ruling she was too old to take a field sobriety test.

Danniel Weaver, of Youngstown, was 59 when she was cited for DUI following an accident on Route 422 in Pulaski Township in February 2010.

According to court records, a police officer asked Weaver to perform four field sobriety tests. She passed three of them, but failed a test requiring her to stand on one leg.

Team 4 investigator Paul Van Osdol reported that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the one-leg-stand test should not be done on persons over 60.

"The feeling is, if you get to a certain age, that's just not the same kind of indicator of intoxication as it was when you were younger," said John Burkoff, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

In his ruling on the case, Common Pleas Judge Dominick Motto wrote: "Since the tests were not designed for persons above the age of 60, and Ms. Weaver was 59 at the time, and she had just been in a violent automobile collision, the results of Ms. Weaver's single failed field sobriety test should be deemed unreliable."

The police officer also said Weaver had slightly slurred speech and her eyes were "a bit glassy" but the judge ruled that alone was not enough evidence to pursue the DUI case.

Burkoff said the judge's decision does not mean seniors are off the hook if they get behind the wheel, because they can still be given Breathalyzer or blood tests.

"The one impression you shouldn't get is that what the judge was doing was creating some kind of senior discount for DUIs," said Burkoff. "Doesn't exist."

A breath test that was done on Weaver was not submitted as evidence in her case. The reason for that is unclear.

Weaver told Van Osdol that she had no idea that the one-leg-stand test was improper for someone her age.


CAUTION:
AS WE HAVE STATED ON OUR WEB SITES, WE WOULD ALWAYS REFUSE THE FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS. IN OKLAHOMA THEY ARE STRICTLY VOLUNTARY AND ARE DESIGNED FOR FAILURE.

Bruce Edge
Board Certified DUI Defense,
National College DUI Defense according to ABA guidelines
201 W. 5TH Street, Suite 550
Tulsa, OK 74103
918-582-6333
877-DUI-EDGE
www.EdgeLawFirm.com


John Hunsucker
Hunsucker Legal Group
One North Hudson Avenue, Suite 700
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
405-231-5600,
www.OKDUI.com

Friday, April 8, 2011

JUDGE SHOWS HE IS NOT ABOVE THE LAW

Drunk Judge, Wrapped in Bedsheet, Arrested in Hotel Hallway
By Adam Ramirez on April 6, 2011 5:47 AM | No TrackBacks

A Pennsylvania judge has landed on the other side of the law after police found him (sans robe or gavel) highly intoxicated, naked and wrapped in a bedsheet in a Cumberland County hotel.
Douglas Gummo, a magistrate judge in Huntingdon County, is charged with harassment, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.
Police said they were called to the Radisson Penn Harris hotel in Camp Hill on April 1 after getting a call from another judge. Police said Gummo had met the other judge at a conference at the Radisson and he was trying to get into her room, WJAC-TV reports.
Gummo made quite a scene outside his fellow judge's hotel room. He really wanted to get in there. She really did not want him to come in.
Gummo was wearing only a bed sheet when he was taken into custody for repeatedly banging on the hotel door, police said, WGAL-TV reports.
Officers wrote in the citation that Gummo admitted to drinking 10 cans of beer and that the victim was "shaken" by the incident and required a police escort back to her room, WJAC-TV reports.
"She refused him admission to her room previously in the evening," a police news release states. "Gummo returned a short period later and beat on her door for approximately 10 minutes and attempted to turn the doorknob. He left and returned on two other occasions beating on the door attempting to gain access."
Huntingdon County court administrators told WJAC-TV on Monday afternoon that Gummo had not been suspended, but that a court order was released stating that other district magistrates would preside over hearings on Gummo's docket.
The woman in the room was identified by police as a magisterial district judge from outside the Harrisburg area, The Patriot-News reports.


Bruce Edge
Board Certified DUI Defense,
National College DUI Defense according to ABA guidelines
201 W. 5TH Street, Suite 550
Tulsa, OK 74103
918-582-6333
877-DUI-EDGE
www.EdgeLawFirm.com


John Hunsucker
Hunsucker Legal Group
One North Hudson Avenue, Suite 700
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
405-231-5600,
www.OKDUI.com