The unofficial last weekend of summer usually means baseball, hot dogs, and enhanced DUI enforcement. Admittedly, we got this post up too late to discuss the multiple jail release options following a DUI checkpoint stop. But cases usually take several weeks or months to wind their way through the pre-filing process and arrive in criminal courts. So, we have lots of time to discuss DUI checkpoint defense options, which are outlined below.
Motorists at checkpoints lose their Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable searches and seizure. They’re subject to both, based on nothing other than their place in line. But Fifth Amendment rights remain in full force. Motorists must obey basic “pull forward” commands. However, if officers stop them in line, they need not answer questions or even roll down their windows.
If officers at a checkpoint violate one of the rules listed below, or if they don’t properly respect a driver’s Fifth Amendment rights, a Marietta criminal defense lawyer can overturn the illegal stop in court. At that point, the remainder of the case falls apart like a house of cards. So, an attorney usually convinces the judge to throw the case out of court or works out a deal with prosecutors for a plea to a lesser included offense, like reckless driving. Either outcome is a clear win for the defendant.
Supervising Law Enforcement Planning
For much of this post, we’ll compare DUI checkpoints with speed traps. Contrary to popular myth, a DUI roadblock is significantly different from a speed trap.
These differences begin with supervisor authorization. Officers may hide behind billboards and at the bottom of hills and conduct speed traps on their own. But a supervising officer, usually someone like the chief of police, must authorize the creation of a DUI roadblock.
Mr. Big can delegate the operational details to a lower-level supervisor, like a captain. But with one important exception, officers must do as they’re told at checkpoints. They have no operational discretion.
Advanced Advertising
Officers don’t place pins on Google Maps to warn drivers about speed traps. Officers must publicize DUI checkpoints in advance. The publicity and timing must allow motorists to avoid the area altogether, if they wish to do so.
Most police departments send a Tweet a few hours before the checkpoint starts up. That’s probably not sufficient. Unless people subscribe to the Twitter feed, which is unlikely, they know nothing about the pending checkpoint. However, police departments probably don’t need to take out full-page ads in the local newspaper. There’s a lot of grey area between these two extremes.
Sufficiently Safe
Officers often set up speed traps on highways and at speed limit change points, like when the speed limit reduces at city limits.
Supervisors cannot authorize checkpoints on highways. These locations are too dangerous. Supervisors cannot set up checkpoints on residential streets either. They’re too disruptive. That leaves major four-lane surface streets.
The location must be safe for officers as well. Officers are exposed to danger if they stand around in high crime areas. We’ll follow up on that point below.
Clear Visibility
Speed traps are invisible. That’s why they call them “traps.” DUI roadblocks must be clearly visible, for several reasons.
First, signs must convey the nature of the detention (“DUI Checkpoint Ahead”) and give general instructions (“Have Drivers’ License and Proof of Insurance Ready”). These instructions relate to another Constitutional right, which is examined below.
Second, visible checkpoints are safe checkpoints. Speed trap safety doesn’t matter. DUI checkpoint safety matters. Drivers stop, seemingly for no reason. So, officers must deploy traffic cones or other such obstacles well ahead of the actual checkpoint, so motorists slow down.
Third, the checkpoint must be visible so motorists may turn around and avoid it. Officers immediately assume that U-turners are probably drunk drivers. So, a patrol car will probably tail these drivers for at least several blocks. However, these officers lose the Fourth Amendment suspension power. So, the tailing officer must have reasonable suspicion, which is basically an evidence-based hunch, to pull over the motorist.
Limited Detention Time
Once again, no hard and fast rules apply in this area. Compliant checkpoints give officers limited Fourth Amendment immunity, and this immunity is quite limited. Therefore, if drivers must wait in the checkout line longer than about thirty seconds, that’s too long.
Officers have some limited operational discretion in this area. They can change the formula to speed up the line. For example, instead of stopping every third vehicle, they may switch to every fourth or fifth vehicle.
The formula must remain neutral. Random checkpoints aren’t random. Officers cannot stop certain motorists because they don’t look right and wave others through,
Incidentally, DUI checkpoints must target likely DUI suspects. A checkpoint in a mostly white area (since most DUI defendants are white) during the Labor Day holiday is a legitimate checkpoint. A roadblock in a mostly nonwhite area is probably an illegal pretext checkpoint. That’s especially true if officers arrest almost as many people for outstanding warrants and non-DUI violations, like drug possession, as they arrest for drunk driving.
Sobriety checkpoint stops often don’t hold up in court. For a free consultation with an experienced Marietta criminal defense attorney, contact The Phillips Law Firm, LLC. We routinely handle matters in Cobb County and nearby jurisdictions.
