State authorities reported that a man tried to eat the results of his drunk-driving test after police detained him for allegedly speeding on Nov. 2. According to the New York State Police, troopers stopped the 40-year-old man at about 5:30 a.m. on Interstate 95 and took him into custody after determining that he was impaired.
While in custody at the Tarrytown police barracks, the man tried to eat the result of a breath test that was emerging from a printer, troopers allege. Besides drunk-driving charges, the man also faces charges for criminal tampering and obstructing a government administration. Reportedly, the 40-year-old man is from Connecticut.
Drivers facing DWI charges in New York might believe that the results of a breath, urine or blood test will absolutely and irrefutably determine the outcome of their case. This, however, is not true. There are in actuality several defense strategies that an attorney representing the accused driver can employ to contest the results of a chemical sobriety test.
Some of these strategies involve questioning whether law enforcement officials had reasonable cause to stop the accused driver in the first place. For, if officials cannot articulate a valid reasonable cause, the results of any tests administered subsequent to the traffic stop may be invalidated.
Furthermore, a defense attorney may challenge whether law enforcement officials properly administered the chemical sobriety test and if they had been adequately trained to do so. For, in the event that officials do not stand up well under this type of scrutiny, the results of the tests they administered may be deemed invalid. Without this critical evidence, prosecutors may be forced to drop the drunk-driving charges.
Source: abc news, “NY troopers arrest man for trying to eat DWI test“, November 04, 2014