If a police officer suspects you are driving under the influence, the officer will ask you to perform field sobriety tests. While the officer will not tell you this, these tests, unlike the breath test, are voluntary and rarely to your advantage to agree to take them, as they are fundamentally physical agility tests and can be failed by even a sober person. Nevertheless, if you fail, the officer will use them to defend the decision to arrest you for DUI. An experienced attorney skilled in field sobriety tests defense in Jacksonville can challenge the validity of these results and protect your rights.

Standardized Field Sobriety Tests

For those who have been arrested following field sobriety tests, there is good news. By working with an experienced DUI lawyer in Jacksonville who is well-versed in these tests, you may be able to invalidate the results in court. Usually, prosecutors use breath, blood, or urine test results to establish that a defendant is DUI. However, sometimes these test results are not usable in court due to procedural errors. At that point, the prosecutor will fall back on field sobriety tests to prove that you are DUI. The most common tests are:

• Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN): The officer positions an object twelve inches away from your eyes and moves it back and forth. The officer observes your eyeballs to see if they lurch or quiver.
• Walk and Turn (WAT): You are asked to take nine heel-to-toe steps along a line and then turn around and walk back. The officer watches to see if you lose balance or make mistakes.
• One Leg Stand (OLS): While standing straight with arms at your side, you are asked to raise one leg six inches and start counting until the officer tells you to stop. The officer watches for you raising your arms to balance yourself or any other non-optimum action.