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How to refuse a DUI checkpoint

Because driving is a privilege and not a right. For the breathalizer, you can refuse. However, the state can revoke your driving privilege without infringing on your rights. It is a bit of a grey area as far as the coercion involved, though.
 
HeavyPetter said:
The probable cause is that they've observed your actions while sitting behind the wheel of the car and smelled the inside of your car. It's a little known fact, but cops have the keenest sense of smell of all humans. Of course they made these observations at their checkpoint of questionable constitutional legality and common sense, but let's move past that as quickly as possible for the greater good.
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Sarcasm aside, that's exactly right. Check out the cop when he's asking the dude questions - he's looking all around the car, leaning in, etc. The PC comes from what he "sees" or "smells."

I got pulled over for not having a sticker on my plate at 2:30 am in Nashville and they "smelled" alcohol in the car from my wife's 2 drinks a few hours earlier. That was enough PC for them to get me out and FST me. I hadn't been drinking so it wasn't an issue, but thats the way it goes.

Oh, and Caturday, didn't you get into a gnarly car accident? Anything to do with your proclivity to drive drunk?
 
Also worth mentioning, in a lot of states, probably most, the license suspension from a refusal or even a positive is an administrative process rather than a criminal process, so you as the defendant do not have the same level of rights as you would in a criminal proceeding. Suck on that you drunks!
 
I've read the SCOTUS cases on this. In my opinion, the legal reasoning is suspect at best.
 
Not to thread hijack but no point in starting a new thread, especially for ground that has been trod before. I need basic advice on what to do for a ticket in Forsyth County. 64 in a 45, reduced by cop to 60. I am a Virginia resident with an otherwise clean driving record. I have gotten blanketed with lawyer appeals and would appreciate anybody's referral or advice.

Thankfully this has nothing to do with DUI, unlike a friend I just heard about who got one coming home from watching the UVA-VT game.
 
My parents and went out to dinner one night with moms friend and her husband and on the way back they got stopped at a DUI checkpoint. The friend who was driving froze when the cops stopped her and asked if she had been drinking. She responded that she had had "a few drinks" so they made her pull the car over. They later explained that she had had 2 glasses of wine during dinner 3 hours ago since they went to the movies after dinner so they let her go. But it's hilarious since she had the worst response possible if you get stopped.

Also the checkpoint was set up since a couple weeks earlier a drunk woman hit the trailer of a semi causing it to swerve and then flip over. The truck burst into flames killing the driver and his pregnant passenger. So while the checkpoints suck they definitely are a good thing for public safety.
 
IslandDeac said:
I've gotten pulled over a couple of times before (sober) and asked to perform FSTs once. I declined them since I'm not going to incriminate myself for something I haven't done (not doing FSTs is recommended by a DUI lawyer I knew since cops aren't looking to see you pass, but rather to see what you do wrong. I.e. they'll have something you've done wrong no matter how big or small - "the count to 10 actually took 12 seconds"). Did a breath test, blew a 0.0, went on my way.
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I would caution against refusing the SFST's unless you know the laws in your jurisdiction, as the rules regarding this can vary.
 
DirtySouthDeacon said:
We went through a Check point on NYE this year after crossing the bridge from Charleston going towards IOP. Kids awake and asking questions in the back - Check. Obv pregnant wife at wheel - Check. Daddy half drunk smiling comfortably from passenger seat - Check.
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I have been stopped at this exact checkpoint.
 
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IslandDeac said:
I've gotten pulled over a couple of times before (sober) and asked to perform FSTs once. I declined them since I'm not going to incriminate myself for something I haven't done (not doing FSTs is recommended by a DUI lawyer I knew since cops aren't looking to see you pass, but rather to see what you do wrong. I.e. they'll have something you've done wrong no matter how big or small - "the count to 10 actually took 12 seconds"). Did a breath test, blew a 0.0, went on my way.
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Oh and the italicized part is wrong. The field tests that count are standardized, meaning there are certain specific things they look for. There's a threshold, based on research that indicates when a person is going to be impaired within a high degree of scientific certainty.
 
wfumike02 said:
Oh and the italicized part is wrong. The field tests that count are standardized, meaning there are certain specific things they look for. There's a threshold, based on research that indicates when a person is going to be impaired within a high degree of scientific certainty.
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No it's not wrong. The cop will find a reason to make you blow and detain or arrest you if he feels like it, regardless of the actual results of the FST.
 
wfumike02 said:
Oh and the italicized part is wrong. The field tests that count are standardized, meaning there are certain specific things they look for. There's a threshold, based on research that indicates when a person is going to be impaired within a high degree of scientific certainty.
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Funny when you realize that when you quote someone, it all gets italicized...

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I like being a smart ass when they ask me if I have had anything to drink when I have not touched alcohol. I remember pissing a cop off one time saying yea I have had a few drinks some gatorade and a water.
 
HeavyPetter said:
No it's not wrong. The cop will find a reason to make you blow and detain or arrest you if he feels like it, regardless of the actual results of the FST.
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If that happens then you won't have anything to worry about because the intoxilyzer results will get thrown out.
 
TownieDeac said:
Thanks for all the responses. Wasn't/still not trying to be dense. I guess I'm not sure what initial provisions they have to set up the DUI checkpoint in the first place. Do they do them on days like NYE, 4th of July, or just randomly? In the case of the latter, I get it from a public safety standpoint, but what about legally, how is this cool?
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Yeah I don't really understand this either. I don't get the probably cause aspect.
 
(b) The State's interest in discretionary spot checks as a means of ensuring the safety of its roadways does not outweigh the resulting intrusion on the privacy and security of the persons detained. Given the physical and psychological intrusion visited upon the occupants of a vehicle by a random stop to check documents, cf. United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U. 3. 873; zzzzzzz in an automobile does not lose all reasonable expectation of privacy simply because the automobile and its use are subject to government regulation. People are not shorn of all Fourth Amendment protection when they step from their homes onto the public sidewalk; nor are they shorn of those interests when they step from the sidewalks into their automobiles. Pp. 662-663.

(d) The holding in this case does not preclude Delaware or other States from developing methods for spot checks that involve less intrusion or that do not involve the unconstrained exercise of discretion. Questioning of all oncoming traffic at roadblock-type stops is one possible alternative. P. 663.
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Delaware v. Prouse.
 
Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly. The cop's question leads to a self-incriminating answer, so the guy refused to answer on grounds of the Fifth without claiming it (bc doing so would give probable cause?). Is this similar to the question a cop asks on a traffic stop, "do you know why I pulled you over today?" and folks incriminate themselves by mentioning their speed, that stop sign, red/yellow light, etc? I've been told the best answer to that question is "no, I'm in control of my car and aware of my surroundings."
 
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