IU Police use 3 sobriety tests to make OWI arrests

Contrary to popular belief, portable on-site breathalyzer tests are not admissible in a court of law.

For this reason, IU Police Department officers rely on three field sobriety tests to initiate probable cause to make an arrest and secure a conviction for Operating While Intoxicated.

“In order for any scientific evidence to come into trial, it must be proved accurate,” said Monroe County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Bob Miller. “Handheld breathalyzers aren’t accurate. They show a ballpark estimate to help support probable cause.”

Although admissible in the court system, Miller warned that field sobriety tests are only as good as the person utilizing them.

Though there is nothing completely uniform from case to case, there are generally two charges filed for OWI charges. The first charge is operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class A misdemeanor, with a maximum sentence of one year in jail. The second charge involves operating under a certain blood alcohol content.

“An individual operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol content between 0.08 and 0.15 may face a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by no more than 60 days in jail,” Miller said.

Those operating a vehicle above 0.15 may face a preliminary charge of a Class A misdemeanor.

First time offenders will be on supervised probation for one year, attend an alcohol class, commit to 30 to 100 hours of community service and pay a $600 fine which doesn’t include lawyer fees, Miller said.

If a driver has a prior OWI conviction in the last five years, he may be charged with a Class D felony. If three or more OWI charges occur in 10 years, the driver may be charged as a habitual traffic violator and may face a lifetime suspension of their driver’s license.

The most common field sobriety tests administered by IUPD are the horizontal gaze nystagmus, walk and turn and the one leg stand.

During horizontal gaze nystagmus, an officer will move an object, often the tip of a pen back and forth at eye level across a subject’s face.

“We look for a smooth pursuit,” IUPD Lt. Craig Munroe said. “Alcohol creates a jerky motion in the eyes, the more jerking, the higher the blood alcohol content.”

A second field sobriety test involves the walk and turn. In this assessment, officers may give instructions to walk in a straight line heel to toe. Then the subject is ordered to turn on one leg and walk back to the starting point.

Officers will usually be able to tell if someone is intoxicated because of their inability to follow simple directions, Munroe said. This includes walking before the officer tells you to.

During the one-leg stand, a subject must lift one foot six inches above the ground, while keeping it parallel to the pavement. The driver will count out loud to 30.  During the process, the officer is also looking at his watch, so any major deviation in counting speed will suggest intoxication.

Although inadmissible, the handheld, portable breathalyzers are used following the field sobriety tests to give officers the ballpark estimate of a driver’s blood alcohol content.

Once IUPD officers have enough probability that a driver in their jurisdiction is intoxicated, the violator will be arrested and taken to the IUPD station, where they will wait an additional 20 minutes for further testing to be done.

In a room on the lower floor of the station, officers conduct the sobriety tests again, this time on camera. A large and more accurate certified breathalyzer machine is also in the room and used to determine a subject’s blood alcohol content. Unlike the hand-held breathalyzers, the results from this machine are admissible in court.

Those arrested for OWI have the right to refuse to take a blood test or a breathalyzer test. 

“Under a policy we instituted with Bloomington Hospital, if someone is taken into custody and refuses to agree to take a test, it won’t be administered,” Miller said.

Although a warrant can be issued by a judge for the retrieval of a subject’s blood, it will not be taken if a person forcibly resists.

“We do not engage in forcibly drawing blood; there is a risk if the person is resisting,” Miller said.

In the case that a person refuses a chemical or breathalyzer test at the station, they will be charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated and their license will be suspended for one year.