CRIMINAL JUSTICE FORENSICS

DUE TODAY 6/9/2014 by 9 p.m. USA TIME sooner the better

An officer responds to an accident in which a vehicle has crashed into a parked car. The driver seems to have the odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath but does not exhibit any other signs of impairment. The officer conducts several field sobriety tests on the driver. One of the most familiar sobriety tests is the walk and turn test. Do you think this is an effective way to judge whether a person has been drinking? Why or why not? Inventory the benefits and drawbacks.

Considering your newfound knowledge of ethanol, why do you think the tests used in the Standardized Field Sobriety Testing program help in the determination of alcohol use and impairment in the individual?

This Assignment above is already complete your next assignment is to:

Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.

You Must Provide Feedback on what they have written.

You should include your thoughts associated with their posted information.

Additionally, you are to contribute to the discussion by adding support or constructive alternatives to your classmates’ posts.

Each response should be a minimum of 200 words.

First Student Response from Lamonte Hale

I can see the pros and cons of field sobriety tests. Conducting tests like these could help an officer determine whether a person is only drinking or if they may be on some type of drugs or not. The person’s responses and the way they carry out tasks can be indicators of drugs other than alcohol. As pointed out in our text, “Certain aspects of behavior and appearance indicate the possibility of drug use” (Gaensslen, 2013). Some examples listed in our text of this would be someone being slow with responses or falling asleep when they should be awake which often points to depressants or someone being hyperactive or extremely talkative which could indicate stimulant use.

These tests can have negative associations as well though. Someone may exhibit certain characteristics that point to drug or alcohol use that are actually caused by medical conditions. For example, I have an elder friend who was recently pulled over by a local police officer. During the traffic stop, my friend was questioned in-depth by the officer. He was asked why he was so nervous and why his hands were shaking so bad. The questions were aimed at finding out if there was some sort of crime being committed or some type of drugs being used. The truth behind the situation though was that the shaking hands of this friend of mine are the result of his Parkinson’s disease. In other situations such as this, someone could be detained and drug tests performed in an effort to clear them of any illegal activity because of the initial indicators pointing to drug or alcohol use.

As far as ethanol goes, our text states that ethanol itself has no particular smell of its own and that it is the additives that give it the odor. “Something to note is that ethanol has no odor; instead, it is the other components of the alcoholic beverage, such as tannins, oils, and additives, that contribute to those smells” (Gaensslen, 2013). The problem here is that certain other things ingested can produce odd odors as well that could potentially be mistaken for alcohol use or certain home-made alcohols may have too little of an “alcoholic” odor to be noticed. In either case, I think this is why Breathalyzer tests can be handy tools. When Breathalyzer tests are used in conjunction with sobriety tests, it can be a lot easier to determine the sobriety of a person. Using these test in conjunction can prove that a person has been drinking or might show that a person has not been drinking but needs further testing to look for drug use as a factor in the situation.

References:

Gaensslen, R.E., & Larsen, K. (2013). Introductory forensic science. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Second Student Response from Stasia Burnett

When alcohol is smelled or an officer feels that a driver is under the influence of any drug, not just alcohol, they can conduct a field sobriety test (or more than one) to get a better idea if the person is under the influence of any drug. I have never felt that the options for field sobriety tests are very strong. To give an example, I am a very clumsy person and when I walk I do not walk anywhere near in a straight line; sober. I cannot stand on one leg for very long without falling over, but on the other hand there are some people that I know that can do all of the tests while they are highly intoxicated and can pass with flying colors. This is why I do not feel they are very reliable. Yes, they do catch a lot of people and they are obviously a great tool to have in place, but I feel that a Breathalyzer should always be used if a person fails. It is also good to have a few officers trained in each department that are Drug Recognition Expert. The issue when it comes to drugs other than alcohol is getting another test to be conducted. If the suspect agrees to a blood draw and gives a urine sample, or if the Breathalyzer test is negative, he or she will often be taken to a hospital for the draw and collection. Blood draws are routine in the case of an accident. The routine hospital blood draw will allow the hospital to test serum for alcohol. Serum is the fluid left behind when all of the blood cells are removed. This process concentrates the alcohol in a smaller volume, making it necessary to convert the serum alcohol concentration into a whole blood alcohol concentration (Gaensslen, Larsen, 2013).

References:

Gaensslen, R.E., & Larsen, K. (2013). Introductory forensic science. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.