Sample Drunk Driving Cases Handled by William C. Head

Case 26
State v. T.K.
Bibb State Court
Macon, Georgia

T.K., a professional jet skier from Florida, was in Macon for a race/competition. The night before the race, he and his friends went to dinner at Applebee's and later to Rockabilly Club, where he consumed two beers. Shortly after leaving the club, T.K. and his friends were pulled over for speeding and weaving into the emergency lane. The officer, after smelling alcohol coming from the car, asked T.K. if he would submit to some field sobriety tests. T.K. performed the horizontal gaze nystagmus, walk and turn, and one leg stand tests.

Before asking T.K. to perform these tests, the officer never asked him a single preliminary question about his physical ability to execute the tests, something that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires. Moreover, T.K. volunteered information (as captured on the videotape) about "massive scars," pointing to his legs. However the officer merely cut him off and said "Do the best you can."

After T.K. finished the field sobriety checks, the officer placed him under arrest and took him to the jail. A state administered breath test, one hour after the arrest showed that T.K. had a blood alcohol content of 0.089. The legal limit at the time of this arrest was 0.10 grams. At trial, the arresting officer testified that he failed to comply with his NHTSA training by not determining if T.K. was a good candidate for testing. In fact, T.K. voluntarily told the officer about the two surgeries he had undergone on his left leg due to catastrophic injuries. Despite this, the officer told him to "use his good leg" and "do the best he could."

T.K. performed well on the one leg stand test, standing on his uninjured leg. Under a hypercritical evaluation by the officer, he scored 4 out of 8 clues on the walk and turn test. The only test he did not perform well on was the horizontal gaze nystagmus. However, our field sobriety test expert testified that T.K. suffered from permanent nystagmus as a result of prior injuries to his head and spine. One of T.K.'s friends also testified regarding T.K.'s prior racing injuries and his compromised physical condition.

After hearing all of the evidence, the jury deliberated for only 19 minutes before returning a verdict of not guilty. The prosecutor had dropped all the other charges in an effort to get her jury to convict of the only remaining count.

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