Can Field Sobriety Tests Be Challenged?
The gymnastics that you were asked to perform on the side of the road under abnormal conditions were not designed to objectively determine whether you were in fact impaired by alcohol. Police and prosecutors use them to collect evidence against you. They cannot be passed. They are judged by negative scoring; thus, you get no credit for doing things correctly. You can do a test perfectly and still fail the test because the Officer thought you performed in a “slow deliberate manner.” Police in Ohio routinely use field exercises that were rejected after exhaustive studies under expensive federal grants. These include the following: THE ALPHABET TEST; THE FINGER COUNT TEST; COUNTING BACKWARDS; TOUCHING FINGER TO NOSE TEST; MODIFIED BALANCE TEST—ESTIMATE 30 SECONDS WITH EYE CLOSED AND HEAD TILTED BACK. These Field Sobriety Tests are not scientific or reliable. In almost every case in Ohio, these tests are conducted in a manner which is not approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Adm
