The best Massachusetts drunk driving attorneys know how to properly use medical records to account for alleged deficient performance and failure of DUI field sobriety tests. In the case of Commonwealth v. Schutte, 52 Mass. App. Ct. 796, 800 (2001), for example, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled that reports of medical treatment of a person accused to drunk driving can be introduced to show that an OUI defendant’s medical condition and not his being under the influence of alcohol accounted for a police officer’s observations of the defendant during field sobriety testing.
In the Schutte case, the medical report stated that Schutte suffered from an inner ear problem which caused chronic balance and equilibrium problems. The medical report also stated that “[p]atients with this kind of problem do have more difficulty, particularly in the dark, in maintaining their balance.” It was permissible for Schutte’s DUI attorney to use these statements to impeach a police officer who claimed that Schutte failed field sobriety tests.
Field sobriety tests “measure a person’s sense of balance, coordination, and acuity of mind in understanding and following simple instructions.” Here, there was a credible explanation for Shutte’s difficultly in balancing while performing the one legged stand and the heel to toe field sobriety tests. His medical condition significantly detracted from the reliability of these tests as indicators of alcohol intoxication.
This DUI case demonstrates the importance of hiring a good DUI lawyer who will conduct an in-depth client interview, to determine if anything in your medical history could account for your performance on field sobriety tests. Once exculpatory information is identified, your DUI attorney should gather medical documentation and follow the steps required to insure that it will be admissible as exculpatory evidence in your operating under the influence (OUI) trial.
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