Are the Field Sobriety Tests Scientifically Proven?

I have represented the citizens of Pennsylvania in thousands of DUI cases.  One thing I have seen is that prosecutors put far too much emphasis of these roadside tests.

These tests are designed to put people in unusual body positions doing impractical acts.  People do not normally walk around literally walking heel-to-toe on a straight line counting out loud.  No one routinely lifts one leg off the ground for 30 seconds and is not allowed to use their arms to balance.

In fact, in the original research by the Southern California Research Institute and printed directly in both the Practitioner and the Instructor guides it specifically reads “Categories Of People Who Would Have Difficulty & Should Not Be Tested—People who are Older than 65.  People with Back, leg or middle ear problems.  Individuals wearing heels more than 2 inches high should be given the opportunity to remove their shoes. R10/95 VIII-21; R2/00 VIII-12; R1/02 VIII-11; R9/04 VIII-11; R2I06 VIII-11 and People overweight by 50 or more pounds R10/95 VII-5; R10/95 VIII-25; R2/00 VIII-14; R1/02 VIII-13; R9/04 VIII-11; R2/06 VIII-14

Having said that, it is what it is.  Prosecutors try to force the juries to drink the proverbial Kool-Aid and try to report it as empirical science.  They are inundated with “HGN (horizontal gaze nystagmus) cannot be faked” and “it is the most reliable and objective scientific test out of the 3”.  Both of which are utterly silly, unscientific conclusions.  Pure Propaganda.

The issue with these roadside tests is that they are NOT peer-reviewed, verified scientific methods yielding true empirical results.

If it is presented to the fact-finder (the juror) as science as the Government does, then the fact finder will believe it to be logical, empirical and not fungible.  If defense attorneys and the accused stand moot and allow it to be so presented and simply ask for it to be dismissed because it is “voo-do” or because of some hyper technical reason such as the stimulus was moved a half second too quickly, then the jury will likely not connect with that concept, but rather accept the Government’s proposed “science” as true.

Stated more simply, if you take the attitude of “forget that test” or in the alternative “it is science but only if it is administered and graded according to the detailed manner it was designed to be given without deviation to yield valid results”, then we either give the fact finder no reason to use logic to disregard it in the case of the former or an implicit validation of the foundation of the underlying junk science in the case of the latter.  Both of which are clear losers in my experience.

In my opinion, the better way to combat the Government’s junk science is with true verified and peer reviewed actual science from credentialed clinicians with advanced scientific degrees in the discipline that they are researching and reporting AND NOT the biased police “scientists” who do not have hard science degrees and credentials in the field that they are studying.  Furthermore, these police "scientists" do not adhere to scientific method or even basic statistics, but rather engage in their research in an intellectually and scientifically impermissible way in openly engaging in wide-scale contextual bias in their examination of any given issue.

If it is a choice between the first type of scientist described above (i.e., true verified and peer reviewed actual science from credentialed clinicians with advanced scientific degrees in the discipline that they are researching and reporting) versus the second type of scientist described above (the biased police “scientists” who do not have hard science degrees and credentials in the field that they are studying who further do not use the scientific method or even basic statistics, but rather engage in their research in an intellectually and scientifically impermissible way in openly engaging in wide-scale contextual bias in their examination of any given issue), then logic would dictate confidence in the conclusions of the first type of scientist over the second type, would it not?

In short, in my opinion, it is vitally important to show the fact finder empirically and scientifically why and HOW it is important to disregard the invalid pseudo-scientific conclusions that NHTSA and SCRI and the government are trying to draw.  Articles like the attached and the below referenced ones are good ammunition for that.  They are peer reviewed.  They are produced by true credentialed scientists who are operating well within the scope of their training, knowledge and experience.  They have been vetted prior to and after publication by the scientific community.

 

 “Attacking NHTSA’S Three Test Field Sobriety Assessment”
 “Development and Field Test of Psychophysical Test for DWI Arrest”
 “Divided Attention Performance in Cannabis Users and Non Users Following Alcohol and Cannabis Separately and in Combination”
 “Drug Interactions: The Effects of Alcohol and Meprbabmate Applied Singly and Jointly in human Subjects”
 “Effect of Subacute Treatment with hypnotics, Alone or in Combination with Alcohol on Psychomotor Skills Related to Driving”
 “Effect of Tricyclic Antidepressants and Alcohol on Psychomotor Skills Related to Driving”
 “Effects of Acute Exposure of Toluene and Methyl Ethyl Ketone on Psychomotor Performance”
 “Effects of Alcohol on Performance in Continuous Attention Tasks”
 “Effects of Alcohol on Psychomotor Performance of Men and Women”
 “Effects of Alcoholic Beverages and Congeners on Psychomotor Skills in Old and Young Subjects”
 “Effects of Ethanol On psychomotor Performance”
 “Effects of Hangover on Psychomotor Skills Related to Driving, Modification by Fructose and Glucose”
 “Effects of Rate of Drinking on Human Performance”
 “Field Evaluation of a Behavioral Test Battery for DWI”
 “Field Sobriety Exercises: Are they really admissible?”
 “Field Sobriety Test: I May Flunk, but I Ain’t Drunk”
 “Improved Sobriety Testing, Gaze Nystagmus, Walk and Turn and One Leg Stand Tests”
 “Indexing Cognitive Tests to Alcohol Dosage and Comparison to Standardized Field Sobriety Tests 1”
 “Indexing Cognitive Tests to Alcohol Dosage and Comparison to Standardized Field Sobriety Tests 2”
 “Influence of Experience in Clinical Examination of Drunkenness”
 “Low and Moderate Alcohol Doses, Psychomotor Performance and Perceived Drowsiness”
 “Mental Task Test and Heart Rate Level in Alcohol Intoxication Process”
 “Psychophysical Test for DWI Arrest”
 “Rombergs Test in the Cerebellar Syndrome Occurring in Chronic Alcoholism”
 “Sensorimotor and Physiological Effects of Various Alcoholic Beverages”
 “Spatial Learning of Visual Nonsense Figures during Experimental Ethanol Intoxication”
 “Statistical Evaluation of Standardized Field Sobriety Test”
 “Testing the Impaired Driver”
 “The Accuracy of Estimating the Sobriety of Drinking Drivers”
 “The Effects of Alcohol on Skilled Performance”
 “The Effects of Alcohol, Marijuana and Diazepam on Divided Attention Task: Traffic Authority of New South Wales”
 “The Relationship between Alcohol Dosage and Performance Decrement in Humans”
 “Two Weeks Treatment with Chlorpromazine, Thioridazine, Sulpiride or Bromazepam, Actions and Interactions with Alcohol on … Driving”
 “Validation of Human Behavioral Test Using Ethanol as a CNS Depressant Model”
 “Variability in Behavioral Impairment Involved in the Rising and Falling BAC Curve”
 “Walk on Floor Eyes Closed: A New Addition to an Ataxia Test Battery”
 “Body Sway and Divided Attention Performance under the Influence of Alcohol Dose Response Differences between Males and Females”
 “Ethanol Induced Changes in Body Sway in Men at High Alcoholism Risk”
 “Positional Nystagmus and Body Sway After Alcohol Ingestion” 
 “Critical flicker fusion and finger oscillation as functions of blood alcohol concentration: An Examination of acute tolerance in primary sensory and motor functions. Part 1”
 “Critical Flicker Fusion and Finger Oscillation as Functions of Blood alcohol concentration: An Examination of acute tolerance in primary sensory and motor functions. Part 2” 
 “Delayed Auditory Feedback and Ethanol Effect on Verbal and Arithmetical Performance” 
 “Differential Effect of Alcohol on Auditory Vigilance and Divided Attention Tasks”
 “Effects of Different Alcohol Dosages and Display Illumination on Tracking Performance during Vestibular Stimulation”
 “Effects of Xylene and Alcohol on Vestibular and Visual Functions in Man”
 “Influence of Alcohol on Vestibular and Optokinetic Reactions Recorded Electronystagmographically”
 “Some Effects of Alcohol on Vestibular Responses” 
 “Sobriety Tests for the Presence of Drugs”
 “Action of Alcohol on Visual and Retinal Responses to Intermittent Illumination”
 “Alcohol and Human Eye Movement”
 “Alcohol and Marijuana Effects on Ocular Tracking”
 “Alcohol and the Oculomotor System”
 “Alcohol intoxication reduces visual sustained attention”
 “Alcohol Prolongs Time Course of Glare Recovery”
 “Alcoholic Downbeat Nystagmus”
 “Aspects of the Eyeblink during Simulated Driving as a Function of Alcohol”
 “Barbituate Nystagmus and the Mechanisms of Visual Fixation”
 “Diagnosis of Alcohol Intoxication by the Optokinetic Test”
 “Different Types of Alcohol Nystagmus”
 “Driver Eye Movements as a Function of Low Blood Alcohol Concentrations 1”
 “Driver Eye Movements as a Function of Low Blood Alcohol Concentrations 2”
 “Driver Eye Movements as a Function of Low Blood Alcohol Concentrations 3”
 “Effect of Alcohol and Marijuana on Eye Movements”
 “Effect of Alcohol on Auditory and Visual Time Perception”
 “Effect of Alcohol on Binocular Vision”
 “Effect of Congeners in Alcoholic Beverages on the Incidence of Nystagmus”
 “Effect of Gravity on Positional Alcohol Nystagmus Phase 2 in Man”
 “Effects and After Effects of Alcohol, Tranquillizers and Fatigue on Ocular Phenomena”
 “Effects of Alcohol and Other Psychotropic Drugs on Eye Movements, Relevance to Traffic Safety”
 “Effects of Alcohol Conditioning and Expectancy on a visuo motor integration task”
 “Effects of Alcohol on Nystagmus and Tracking Performance during Laboratory Angular Accelerations about the Y and Z Axes”
 “Effects of alcohol on peripheral vision as a function of attention”
 “Effects of Alcohol on Visual Accommodation and Eye Movement Latency”
 “Effects of Ethanol on Eye Tracking in Rhesus Monkeys and Humans”
 “Effects of Ethyl Alcohol on Visual Pursuit and Suppression of the Vestibulo Ocular Reflex”
 “Eye Movement Control in Primates” “Eye Signs in Suspected Drinking Drivers, Clinical Examination and Relation to Blood Alcohol”
 “Gaze Nystagmus and Blood Alcohol” “Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Sobriety Test Procedures”
 “Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test: The State of Science in 1995"
 “Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus: The New Drunk Driving Alchemy”
 “Influence of Alcohol on Vestibular and Optokinetic Reactions Recorded Electronystagmographically”
 “Ingested Ethanol as a Factor in Double Vision”
 “Inter Saccadic Interval Analysis of Vestibular Nystagmus”
 “Is the Driver Drunk? Oculomotor Sobriety Testing”
 “Noninvasive estimation of blood alcohol concentrations ethanol vapor above the eye”
 “Nystagmography, Recording of Nystagmus in Clinical Neuro Otological Examinations”
 “Nystagmus and Other Eye Signs in Acute Alcoholism”
 “Nystagmus as a Physical Sign in Alcoholic Intoxication”
 “On the Origin of Positional Alcohol Nystagmus”
 “Optokinetics after Alcohol Intake”
 “Optometric Expert Testimony, Foundation for the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test”
 “Periodic Alternating Nystagmus in Phenytoin Intoxication, Clinical Experience in 27 Cases Confirmed by Urine Assay”
 “Perovskite Type Oxides as Ethanol Sensors” “Positional Alcoholic Nystagmus, PAN, In Man Following Repeated Alcohol Doses”
 “Positional Nystagmus” “Positional Nystagmus and Body Sway after Alcohol Ingestion”
 “Positional Nystagmus from Ingestion of Alcohol, Heavy Water and Glycerol”
 “Positional Nystagmus of the Central Type as an Early Sign of Multiple Sclerosis”
 “Potential for Application of Corneal Retinal Potential Measurements to Detect Alcohol and Drug Use: A Report to Congress”
 “Pupil Size after Use of Marijuana and Alcohol”
 “Quantitation of Ethyl Alcohol in the Postmortem Vitreous Humor”
 “Quantitative Effects of Ethanol Infusion on Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements in Man”
 “Relationship between Postmortem Blood and Vitreous Humor Ethanol Levels”
 “Relationships between Blood Alcohol Positional Alcohol Nystagmus and Postural Equilibrium”
 “Report of the Working Party on Ocular and Visual Phenomena”
 “Some Effects of Alcohol on Nystagmus and Vertigo during Caoric and Optokinetic Stimulation”
 “Some Effects of Alcohol on various Aspects of Oculomotor Control”
 “Studies of Positional Nystagmus in the Human Centrifuge”
 “Synergistic Effects of Alcohol, Methapyriline, and Chlordiazepoxide on Drivers Eye Movements and Tracking Errors in Simulated Dangerous Situations”
 “The Correlation of Angle of Onset of Nystagmus with Blood Alcohol Level, Report of a Field Trial”
 “The Effect of Alcohol on Vision”
 “The Effect of Blood Alcohol Concentration on the Onset of Gaze Nystagmus”
 “The Frequency Response of Horizontal Pursuit Movements of the Human Eye and the Influence of Alcohol”
 “The rapid eye test is gaining popularity because of the high cost of blood and urine testing and the controversy over privacy rights”
 “The Relationship between Saccadic and Smooth Tracking Eye Movement”
 “Unreliability of Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test”
 “Vestibular and Optokinetic Responses to Diazepam and Alcohol”
 “Visual Evoked Response and Alcohol Intoxication”

xosotin chelseathông tin chuyển nhượngcâu lạc bộ bóng đá arsenalbóng đá atalantabundesligacầu thủ haalandUEFAevertonxosofutebol ao vivofutemaxmulticanaisonbethttps://bsport.fithttps://onbet88.ooohttps://i9bet.bizhttps://hi88.ooohttps://okvip.athttps://f8bet.athttps://fb88.cashhttps://vn88.cashhttps://shbet.atbóng đá world cupbóng đá inter milantin juventusbenzemala ligaclb leicester cityMUman citymessi lionelsalahnapolineymarpsgronaldoserie atottenhamvalenciaAS ROMALeverkusenac milanmbappenapolinewcastleaston villaliverpoolfa cupreal madridpremier leagueAjaxbao bong da247EPLbarcelonabournemouthaff cupasean footballbên lề sân cỏbáo bóng đá mớibóng đá cúp thế giớitin bóng đá ViệtUEFAbáo bóng đá việt namHuyền thoại bóng đágiải ngoại hạng anhSeagametap chi bong da the gioitin bong da lutrận đấu hôm nayviệt nam bóng đátin nong bong daBóng đá nữthể thao 7m24h bóng đábóng đá hôm naythe thao ngoai hang anhtin nhanh bóng đáphòng thay đồ bóng đábóng đá phủikèo nhà cái onbetbóng đá lu 2thông tin phòng thay đồthe thao vuaapp đánh lô đềdudoanxosoxổ số giải đặc biệthôm nay xổ sốkèo đẹp hôm nayketquaxosokq xskqxsmnsoi cầu ba miềnsoi cau thong kesxkt hôm naythế giới xổ sốxổ số 24hxo.soxoso3mienxo so ba mienxoso dac bietxosodientoanxổ số dự đoánvé số chiều xổxoso ket quaxosokienthietxoso kq hôm nayxoso ktxổ số megaxổ số mới nhất hôm nayxoso truc tiepxoso ViệtSX3MIENxs dự đoánxs mien bac hom nayxs miên namxsmientrungxsmn thu 7con số may mắn hôm nayKQXS 3 miền Bắc Trung Nam Nhanhdự đoán xổ số 3 miềndò vé sốdu doan xo so hom nayket qua xo xoket qua xo so.vntrúng thưởng xo sokq xoso trực tiếpket qua xskqxs 247số miền nams0x0 mienbacxosobamien hôm naysố đẹp hôm naysố đẹp trực tuyếnnuôi số đẹpxo so hom quaxoso ketquaxstruc tiep hom nayxổ số kiến thiết trực tiếpxổ số kq hôm nayso xo kq trực tuyenkết quả xổ số miền bắc trực tiếpxo so miền namxổ số miền nam trực tiếptrực tiếp xổ số hôm nayket wa xsKQ XOSOxoso onlinexo so truc tiep hom nayxsttso mien bac trong ngàyKQXS3Msố so mien bacdu doan xo so onlinedu doan cau loxổ số kenokqxs vnKQXOSOKQXS hôm naytrực tiếp kết quả xổ số ba miềncap lo dep nhat hom naysoi cầu chuẩn hôm nayso ket qua xo soXem kết quả xổ số nhanh nhấtSX3MIENXSMB chủ nhậtKQXSMNkết quả mở giải trực tuyếnGiờ vàng chốt số OnlineĐánh Đề Con Gìdò số miền namdò vé số hôm nayso mo so debach thủ lô đẹp nhất hôm naycầu đề hôm naykết quả xổ số kiến thiết toàn quốccau dep 88xsmb rong bach kimket qua xs 2023dự đoán xổ số hàng ngàyBạch thủ đề miền BắcSoi Cầu MB thần tàisoi cau vip 247soi cầu tốtsoi cầu miễn phísoi cau mb vipxsmb hom nayxs vietlottxsmn hôm naycầu lô đẹpthống kê lô kép xổ số miền Bắcquay thử xsmnxổ số thần tàiQuay thử XSMTxổ số chiều nayxo so mien nam hom nayweb đánh lô đề trực tuyến uy tínKQXS hôm nayxsmb ngày hôm nayXSMT chủ nhậtxổ số Power 6/55KQXS A trúng roycao thủ chốt sốbảng xổ số đặc biệtsoi cầu 247 vipsoi cầu wap 666Soi cầu miễn phí 888 VIPSoi Cau Chuan MBđộc thủ desố miền bắcthần tài cho sốKết quả xổ số thần tàiXem trực tiếp xổ sốXIN SỐ THẦN TÀI THỔ ĐỊACầu lô số đẹplô đẹp vip 24hsoi cầu miễn phí 888xổ số kiến thiết chiều nayXSMN thứ 7 hàng tuầnKết quả Xổ số Hồ Chí Minhnhà cái xổ số Việt NamXổ Số Đại PhátXổ số mới nhất Hôm Nayso xo mb hom nayxxmb88quay thu mbXo so Minh ChinhXS Minh Ngọc trực tiếp hôm nayXSMN 88XSTDxs than taixổ số UY TIN NHẤTxs vietlott 88SOI CẦU SIÊU CHUẨNSoiCauVietlô đẹp hôm nay vipket qua so xo hom naykqxsmb 30 ngàydự đoán xổ số 3 miềnSoi cầu 3 càng chuẩn xácbạch thủ lônuoi lo chuanbắt lô chuẩn theo ngàykq xo-solô 3 càngnuôi lô đề siêu vipcầu Lô Xiên XSMBđề về bao nhiêuSoi cầu x3xổ số kiến thiết ngày hôm nayquay thử xsmttruc tiep kết quả sxmntrực tiếp miền bắckết quả xổ số chấm vnbảng xs đặc biệt năm 2023soi cau xsmbxổ số hà nội hôm naysxmtxsmt hôm nayxs truc tiep mbketqua xo so onlinekqxs onlinexo số hôm nayXS3MTin xs hôm nayxsmn thu2XSMN hom nayxổ số miền bắc trực tiếp hôm naySO XOxsmbsxmn hôm nay188betlink188 xo sosoi cầu vip 88lô tô việtsoi lô việtXS247xs ba miềnchốt lô đẹp nhất hôm naychốt số xsmbCHƠI LÔ TÔsoi cau mn hom naychốt lô chuẩndu doan sxmtdự đoán xổ số onlinerồng bạch kim chốt 3 càng miễn phí hôm naythống kê lô gan miền bắcdàn đề lôCầu Kèo Đặc Biệtchốt cầu may mắnkết quả xổ số miền bắc hômSoi cầu vàng 777thẻ bài onlinedu doan mn 888soi cầu miền nam vipsoi cầu mt vipdàn de hôm nay7 cao thủ chốt sốsoi cau mien phi 7777 cao thủ chốt số nức tiếng3 càng miền bắcrồng bạch kim 777dàn de bất bạion newsddxsmn188betw88w88789bettf88sin88suvipsunwintf88five8812betsv88vn88Top 10 nhà cái uy tínsky88iwinlucky88nhacaisin88oxbetm88vn88w88789betiwinf8betrio66rio66lucky88oxbetvn88188bet789betMay-88five88one88sin88bk88xbetoxbetMU88188BETSV88RIO66ONBET88188betM88M88SV88Jun-68Jun-88one88iwinv9betw388OXBETw388w388onbetonbetonbetonbet88onbet88onbet88onbet88onbetonbetonbetonbetqh88mu88Nhà cái uy tínpog79vp777vp777vipbetvipbetuk88uk88typhu88typhu88tk88tk88sm66sm66me88me888live8live8livesm66me88win798livesm66me88win79pog79pog79vp777vp777uk88uk88tk88tk88luck8luck8kingbet86kingbet86k188k188hr99hr99123b8xbetvnvipbetsv66zbettaisunwin-vntyphu88vn138vwinvwinvi68ee881xbetrio66zbetvn138i9betvipfi88clubcf68onbet88ee88typhu88onbetonbetkhuyenmai12bet-moblie12betmoblietaimienphi247vi68clupcf68clupvipbeti9betqh88onb123onbefsoi cầunổ hũbắn cáđá gàđá gàgame bàicasinosoi cầuxóc đĩagame bàigiải mã giấc mơbầu cuaslot gamecasinonổ hủdàn đềBắn cácasinodàn đềnổ hũtài xỉuslot gamecasinobắn cáđá gàgame bàithể thaogame bàisoi cầukqsssoi cầucờ tướngbắn cágame bàixóc đĩaAG百家乐AG百家乐AG真人AG真人爱游戏华体会华体会im体育kok体育开云体育开云体育开云体育乐鱼体育乐鱼体育欧宝体育ob体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育开云体育开云体育棋牌棋牌沙巴体育买球平台新葡京娱乐开云体育mu88qh88
Justin McShane

PA DUI attorney Justin J. McShane is the President/CEO of The McShane Firm, LLC - Pennsylvania's top criminal law and DUI law firm. He is the highest rated DUI attorney in PA as rated by Avvo.com. Justin McShane is a double Board certified attorney. He is the first and so far the only Pennsylvania attorney to achieve American Bar Association recognized board certification in DUI defense from the National College for DUI Defense, Inc. He is also a Board Certified Criminal Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Approved Agency.

2 responses to “Are the Field Sobriety Tests Scientifically Proven?”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *