Many Massachusetts DUI cases start out when the police stop a motorist for a traffic or equipment violation. In the case of Commonwealth v. Dick, the Massachusetts Appeals Court recently upheld a DUI stop for what first appeared to be an equipment violation. However, there was actually no violation.
The drunk driving defendant appealed his OUI 2nd offense conviction on the grounds that the stop of his vehicle was unlawful and, therefore, in violation of his constitutional rights.
At approximately 11:40 P.M. on the night of October 20, 2008, Sergeant Steven May of the Rowley police department was maintaining stationary traffic surveillance on Route 133 in that town. The defendant’s automobile passed his location. From his lateral view of the car, Officer May saw that the right rear tail light was fractured along the right edge of the lens and was consequently emitting a white, rather than red, light. He pulled onto the road, activated his cruiser’s emergency lights, and followed and pulled over the defendant’s car after about one hundred yards of travel.
This traffic stop allowed the officer to see that the defendant’s movements were lethargic; that his speech was slow and slurred; that his eyes were red and glossy; and that a strong odor of liquor emanated from his person. Based on these observations, the officer requested that the driver perform several field sobriety tests. At the conclusion of the tests, the officer arrested the defendant for drunk driving.
In this case, there was no tail light violation. The vehicle was complying with the law. However, it appeared to the officer that one of the tail light lenses was cracked and white light was shining through it.
The Mass. Appeals Court upheld the DUI conviction, ruling that a police officer’s honest but mistaken belief that a traffic violation was being committed gave the officer a legitimate reason to stop the car. Once the driver was stopped, the officer noticed signs and symptoms suggesting that the driver was under the influence of alcohol. These observations allowed the police officer to investigate further by ordering the driver out of the car to perform field sobriety tests.
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