For the last 30 or so years, Georgia courts have refused to grant motion seeking exclusion of refusal of field sobriety tests. This is an appeal from an order granting the Defendant’s motion to exclude evidence of the Defendant’s refusal to submit to field sobriety tests. This DUI case was pending in the Bibb County State Court. This is an incredibly important and recurring issue in DUI cases because most suspects refuse to submit to, at least, some part of the evaluations requested by law enforcement. The refusal of any part of the evaluation is typically relied upon very heavily by the State “because why would a normal, non-impaired person refuse any test?” The recognition that a suspect has a constitutional right not to incriminate himself/herself by performing roadside tests is an important turning point in Georgia DUI law and brings it in line with other criminal cases in Georgia. This appeal is now pending before the Georgia Supreme Court.
This is the full transcript of this hearing:
Whitman – Exclusion of Refusal of Field Sobriety Tests – Transcript of Hearing
This is the full record of this case on appeal, including my brief in support of the motion:
Whitman – Exclusion of Refusal of Field Sobriety Tests -Record on Appeal
This is the State’s brief before the Court of Appeal:
