Reply #6: Possibly ...

[Kweli4Real]

The point of doing the cell-phone thing is for the purpose of put the officer on notice that he is being "observed", if only telephonically. This will upset him/her; but will make him/her follow the rules.

Refusing the FST but offering to blow or get stuck, again, will upset the officer; but it is your right. And, more importantly, is proof-positive of your sobriety.

Here's my story:

Not long after I got to Tucson, I found a (cowboy) bar on that side of town. The bar had a couple of pool tables and weekly pool tournaments ($100-200 1st prize, $50-100 2nd prize). After a couple of visits, I knew that I could beat everyone that frequented the bar, so I made it my Friday night routine ... go home change into my raggedy jeans and a tee-shirt; go to the bar; collect $50-200; head to the other side of towns; get my party on.

Well, one Friday -- at winning another tournament -- I got pulled over for a burned out tail light. The officer asked me where I was coming from and where I was headed. My normal response would have been "back there" and "that way", respectively; but this time, I told him the name of the bar since I saw him pull out from the parking lot across the street from the bar.

He asked me whether I had been drinking and I honestly responded that I had not. He told me that he had been watching my car (a Benz) for over two hours because it did not "fit in the community." He then told me he did not believe that I had not had at least one drink, "What else could you be doing in a bar for two hours ... Selling drugs?"

I told him that I was shooting pool and had had had two sodas (I had to keep my head straight to get paid). He asked if I wouldn't mind "Blowing." (Since I was almost certain that he was referring to a breathalyzer, and not something else) I complied. Of course, I blew zeroes; but none-the-less, the cop ordered me out the car to do a FST.

Again, I complied until he wanted me to stand on one leg, with my head back and say the alphabet backwards. I told him in no uncertain terms what he could. This resulted in my being cuffed and taken to jail.

At my bail hearing, I recounted what had occurred and the judge asked me, "Are you saying that officer XX had you submit to the FST after you had done breath-test?" When I told him yes, he turned to the officer and asked if this was true. The officer said, "Yes, but ..." And the judge asked him, "what did he blow?" And the officer said, "Zero, but ..." and the judge let loose one of the most venomous rebukes I have ever heard in a courtroom (and in my previous jobs, I have spent a lot of time in courtrooms).

The judge threw out the case on the spot.

About two weeks later, I happened to be in that judge's courtroom on another matter. He remembered me. At the end of the matter, he asked me to his chambers and went on and on about how cops were abusing their authority, especially when it came to FSTs. That's when he gave me the advice that I have passed on.

After hearing his advice, I recall telling him, "Your Honor, I appreciate your counsel; but as a Black man, it is my purpose to avoid jail. And, it has been my experience that antagonizing the police is the quickest way to end up in jail, or worst."

The judge acknowledged that there is that risk; but said with a smile, "In this town, with the cell-phone, excepting the worst, your trips to jail could be very lucrative."

I thanked him and took it under advisement.

Since then, I have been stopped and asked to submit to a FST more times than I'd like to count. Each time I called my wife and placed the phone on the dash and refused the FST, offering to blow instead. Each time, I have been let go ... most times without having to blow.

Though on one ocassion (not related to a FST), a police officer told me to hang up my phone, to which a replied, "I'm sorry, but no; I will not hang up my phone." And that was the end of the stop, as the officer mumbled something about letting off with a warning; though he never said what he was stopping for.