Ithaca Lawyer Defending the NY DWI with The Police Alphabet Test

Alphabet test, OMG, from joyreactor.com

Sometimes I muse it might be fun being a cop. Why you ask? 

1. They get to command, direct, and instruct people as part of their investigative power. 

2. They get to make shit up. They can lie, and they can use their imaginations to get to the truth.

When it comes to DWI investigations they get to make up their own tests. These are called the 

NON-standardized field sobriety tests because they have NO standards. There is no procedure, instruction, scoring, or method by which we can all agree that someone passes or fails. It is all up to the individual police officer or trooper to decide. How fun is that?

One such test they love to give is the Alphabet test. I have even seen officers give this to foreigners (people whose 2nd language is English). They usually begin by asking people what grade they completed and if they understand English. 

Ithaca Police or IPD, from centralny.wnn.com

1. Alphabet must be said not sing songed. 

The police do not want to hear you say the alphabet as you learned it as a child. This is too easy.

2. They will pick a specific letter to start and end with. This is usually not letter "a" to letter "z." Again way too easy. They will usually pick letter "j" to letter "u."

3. They will want you to begin when they instruct you to.

The alphabet is one of those non-standardized tests that I like for a number of reasons.

1. Even drunk (impaired) people can remember their alphabet. It is so ingrained in the brain.

2. You can usually speak the pronounce the letters articulately. The officer can generally understand you because they know what comes next and know the sequence.

3. It can demonstrate your memory, your alertness, and your cognitive abilities. 

4. Your performance can attack police testimony that your speech was slurred or that you were incoherent.

All in all, I prefer the police alphabet test over many of the other "made up" sobriety tests. 

Larry Newman, D.C., Esq.

newman.lawrence@gmail.com

 607-229-5184

http://www.ithacadwi.com 

Ithaca Cortland DWI Lawyer Explains Police Investigation Phases

Testing for sobriety has been around for many decades but "standardized" testing began in earnest in the 1970's. Dr. Marcelline Burns was commissioned to come up a battery of easily applied tests that could quickly and accurately gauge a motorist's sobriety at roadside. The final battery of three DWI tests she and her research team came up with are:

1. The walk and turn
2. The one leg stand
3. The horizontal gaze nystagmus test

They MUST be administered in a STANDARDIZED manner.

Standardized means testing done the exact same way every time.
Standardized means using specific criteria.
Standardized means using standardized instructions.
Standardized means specific scoring.

These are still the same exact sobriety tests for the past 35 years.  They are used in all 50 states. They have to applied, administered, instructed, directed, and scored in a specific manner, hence the term STANDARDIZED. Have I made it clear yet that the police can't willy nilly say do 10 steps instead of 9 steps or hold this position for 40 seconds instead of 30 seconds. The criteria are specific.

As to officer training, the SFST manual states:

"Upon completion of the training the candidate must demonstrate the ability to administer the SFST's in the approved sequence and appropriately document and interpret the results."

Why Must We Have Proper Police Administration?

"It is necessary to emphasize this validation applies only when the tests are administered in the prescribed standardized manner. The standardized clues are used to assess the suspects performance, the standardized criteria are employed to interpret that performance. IF any one of the standardized field sobriety test elements is changed the validity is compromised."
(P.VIII-19, SFST student manual, HS 178 R9/04).

Validity is COMPROMISED!  So the tests become invalid and hence the results from the tests invalid.
So maybe we really have sobriety, a sober person because the tester did not follow protocols?

Lawrence (Larry) Newman, D.C., J.D.

Doctor of Chiropractic

Attorney and Counselor at Law

504 North Aurora Street

Ithaca, NY 14850

607-229-5184

http://www.ithacadwi.com

http://www.ithacainjurylawyer.com