Overview of Standard Field Sobriety Testing (SFST)
Field Sobriety Tests are basically psycho-physical tests administrated by law enforcement officers when an individual is suspected of DWI. Field sobriety tests can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction nationwide. Some of these tests consist of reciting the alphabet backwards, counting backwards, and finger counting. However, the most accepted field sobriety tests are the three Standard Field Sobriety Tests (SFST). According to the National Highway Traffic Safely Administration (NHTSA), the SFST are scientifically validated tests that if administrated correctly are reliable in predicting whether an individual’s blood alcohol content (BAC) is greater than 0.10%. These three tests are the One-Leg Stand, Walk and Turn, and the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test.
One-Leg Stand: According to the NHTSA, if instructed properly, the one leg stand test has a 65% reliability of predicting that an individual’s BAC is 0.10% or greater. An individual that is administered the one leg stand test must be properly instructed by the officer the following:
1. Stand with your feet together and your arms at your side
2. Keep that position until you are told to begin
3. The officer must ask if you understand the instructions and receive an acknowledgment from you that you do.
4. When told to start, raise either leg approximately 6 inches off the ground with your foot pointed out
5. Keep both legs straight, arms at side
6. Count 1,001, 1, 002, etc until officer instructs you to stop
7. Keep your arms at side and keep watching your raised foot
8. The officer must again ask if you understand the instructions and receive an acknowledgment from you that you do
9. The officer must then start the test
10. The test can last no longer than 30 seconds of actual time.
There are four scoring factors (clues) that officers look for when administering the one-leg stand test:
1. Sways while balancing
2. Arms for balance
3. Hopping
4. Puts foot down
Inability to complete the test occurs when an individual:
1. puts foot down three or more times, during the 30-second period; or
2. cannot perform the test.
Walk and Turn Test: According to the NHTSA, if instructed properly, the walk and turn has a 68% reliability of predicting that an individual’s BAC is 0.10% or greater when there or two or more “clues” indicated, or the test cannot be completed. An officer must properly instruct an individual, and the officer must demonstrate the following:
1. Place your left foot on the line
2. Place your right foot on the line ahead of your left foot, with the heel of your right foot against toe of your left foot
3. Keep your arms to your side
4. Keep this position until you are told to begin
5. The officer must ask if you understand the instructions and receive an acknowledgment from you that you do.
6. When told to start, take 9 heel-to-to steps, turn, and take 9 heel-to-steps back
7. When you turn, keep the front foot on the line, and turn by taking a series of small steps with the other foot
8. While walking, keep arms at side, watch feet at all times, and count steps out loud
9. Once you start, don’t stop until test is completed
10. The officer must ask if you understand the instructions and receive an acknowledgment from you that you do.
11. Begin the test and count first step from the heel-to-toe as “one”.
There are eight scoring factors (clues) that an officer is observing for the Walk and Turn test:
1. Cannot keep balance while listening to instructions
2. Starting before instructions are finished
3. Stopping while walking
4. Did not touch heel-to-toe
5. Stepped off line
6. Used arms for balance
7. Improper turn
8. Incorrect number of steps
Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test: According to the NHTSA, if properly instructed, the HGN test is the most reliable SFST of predicting that an individual’s BAC is 0.10% or greater. The HGN test is said to be reliable 77%, if four or more “clues” are present. An officer must instruct an individual the following:
1. I am going to check your eyes
2. Keep your head still and follow the stimulus (usually a pen or officer’s finger) with your eyes only
3. Keep following the stimulus with your eyes until the officer tells you to stop.
There are six scoring factors for the HGN test (one for each eye):
1. The Lack of Smooth Pursuit; do the eyes bounce as they follow a smoothly moving stimulus.
2. Distinct Nystagmus at Maximum Deviation; distinct nystagmus will be evident when the eye is held at maximum deviation for a minimum of four seconds
3. Onset of Nystagmus at Prior to 45 Degrees; officer is observing for the point at which the eye is first observed jerking.
Important tips regarding SFSTs:
1. An individual as a Right to Refuse to submit to these tests.
2. Any field sobriety testing must be fair and must be strictly administrated according to the NHTSA standards.
3. A sober person can fail the SFSTs, thus a failing grade on any of the SFSTs is not always an indication of intoxication. In fact, there may be several factors that contributed to failing the SFSTs that the officer failed to account for when administrating the tests, such as underlying medical, mental, and physical disorders.
4. An DWI attorney may be able to challenge the validity and reliability of any field sobriety testing.
I’m curious, do you not have roadside breath-tests as standard in Texas, or the US generally?
In the UK, Police can administer a roadside breath-test, with a further (more accurate)breath test being administered at the police station following arrest. The result of the test at the Police Station is the one which will beused as evidence in any prosecution, and refusal to provide a specimin when requested can also be a separate offence, dependent of the circumstnaces, although there is the right to offer a blood-test instead.
I ask because I don’t think that the tests you’ve outlined would be accepted as evidence of being over the drink-drive limit here in the UK. How often are they challenged?
Margo,
There are roadside breath tests given here in Texas and in the US generally. However, in Texas as well as many other States, the prosecutor can prove intoxication based upon the accused’s perceived deficiencies in his/her physical and/or mental capacity to operate a motor vehicle, in lieu of proving that the accused had a blood alcohol content (BAC) over the legal limit. Thus, the State can prosecute a DWI case without the need to administer a chemical test of the person’s BAC. So in cases where there is no breath/blood test indicating a person BAC over the legal limit, the Standard Field Sobriety Tests can be used as evidence to prove that a person had diminished mental/physical capacity to operate a motor vehicle.
Standard Field Sobriety Tests are challenged all the time for a variety of reasons, such as the officer administering the tests was not in strict conformity with the guidelines of administering such test(s).
The best defense is to refrain from drinking or taking any medication (legal or otherwise) before driving. Otherwise, refusing to submit to testing results in all sorts of legal complications including losing your license most of the time so if you are clean of such substances, submitting to a blood or breath test is not a bad idea most of the time. Face it, if you’ve been drinking and they pull you over, smell booze on your breath, and/or saw you driving poorly, you’re going to jail. There are all sorts of fallacies regarding the process but if you’re going to act irresponsibly behind the wheel of a car on public streets, be wise enough to hire competent representation. It won’t be cheap but you made that bed when you decided to drive under the influence and then refuse testing.
Quick question for the administrator though, about what does it cost to represent someone these days? From the ALR hearing to revoke the driver license to the various court resets to a two or so day trial? I know some fellows charge upwards of $50k for the package deal while others advertise $500 at a starting point (ending up around 9 or 10k if it goes all the way to trial) but those are extremes, yes?