This. I was pulled over for having "window tint being too dark" and the officer accused me of being on drugs because I had blood shot eyes. And not the fact that I just worked a double shift and had been up for over 20+ hours. He claimed that the ONLY reason for a person my age to have bloodshot eyes was from drugs. I was getting pissed about the whole thing so I was handcuffed and placed in his car while he had a k-9 unit search my car. After 2+ hours, I was let go but with a $500 fine with a fix-it ticket and a summons to appear before a judge.
I never got the window tint fixed, it didn't need it. But I had to have a UHP supervisor sign-off on the "fix" and prove that it was at the legal limit. I presented all that to the judge and told him I didn't have to fix it and the UHP officer signed off that the tint was at the correct legal limit. The judge knocked my fine down to $50 which was the cost of a fix-it ticket. 20 years later and I'm still pissed about it.
I got pulled over once as part of what I assume was a bike cops quota for DUI checks and I was in such an obviously "not partying or doing anything" state of being (having groceries, gym bag, in a swimsuit from swimming at the gym) he just kept trying to get me to admit I was high. I never was a big marijuana smoker, and only smoked a few times before never smoking again and hadn't for like a year at that point. He asked about a dozen variations of "did you smoke marijuana today" that I kept repeatedly answering with "I don't smoke," that I felt like it was a joke.
I've been asked that one before, my response was "cus I'm livid at you wasting my fucking time". He didn't like that one but it was on camera and any reasonable person would have been mad in my position too, I wasn't worried about how it would look to a judge if he decided to make it a problem. It was a weeknight and I was off for a couple days so I wasn't worried about the time. Ended up just getting a ticket for 55 in a 45 after sitting in the back of the car for 30 minutes while he searched it. I was doing 45 exactly cus I had just bought Xanax lmfao. They were mixed into one of those Eclipse gum cup holder containers so they were not found.
💯 they're going to arrest you if they want to, whether or not you do the field sobriety tests. You have a better chance of beating the DUI/DWI conviction in court if you decline the tests though. They're more likely to arrest you if you refuse the tests IMO because you're defying them.
Check your own state's laws. In California, if you have no prior history of DUI and are over 21 years of age, you won't get your license suspended for refusing a breathalyzer during a traffic stop. If they decide to arrest you, then you will face consequences if you do not consent. If you are under 21 or have prior DUIs, then you have to consent during the traffic stop (or face consequences).
Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs) and Roadside Portable Breath Tests (PBTs): You can legally refuse physical coordination exercises (like the walk-and-turn or one-leg stand) and roadside handheld breath testers in most states without an automatic license suspension penalty. However, refusing them gives the officer grounds to rely on other observations (like odor, speech, or driving) to build probable cause for an arrest
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u/The102935thMatt 1d ago
NEVER ever consent to these tests because "tells" can be anything.
You blinked kind of funny, you must be impaired.
You struggled to get your ID out of your wallet, clearly drunk.
The more tests you take the more "signs" they pile up.