Here is a case study in how not to make an arrest. Exhibit A: The Madison Police Department as they arrested one Sarah Lofton of Madison County and charged her with a DUI (refusal) and leaving the scene of the accident, only to have a Madison County Court judge throw out the case.
The police report states Mrs. Lofton hit a vehicle in the Kroger parking lot at Colony Crossing and left the scene on December 29, 2011. A witness provided a description and license plate number to the police. Several Madison police officers went to her home in an attempt to find her. She lives on Gluckstadt Road. The house is barely outside the Madison city limits. That fact proved to be the crucial point on appeal, as MPD did not call for assistance from the Madison County Sheriff's office. Another Madison police officer radioed the one in pursuit stating the suspect had just passed him on Hwy 463 heading towards her home address as he worked another accident.
The police arrived at her home and found her standing by her car. She denied being in the Kroger parking lot and said she was returning from going to her bank on Briarwood Drive. She also denied drinking any alcohol or ingesting any drugs. A review of Kroger security cameras showed she was in the store and the parking lot. Several police officers stated she could barely stand, her speech was slurred so badly she was almost unintelligible, and her breath reeked of the smell of alcohol. She allegedly covered her mouth with her hand as she spoke to the police. He searched her car and found an open container of beer and its still freshly spilled contents. Unopened bottles of wine and vodka were found in the back seat. Another officer reported he found a silver paint "transfer" on the rear bumper of her white BMW. She was arrested and taken to jail. She repeatedly refused to take the breath test. The entire incident took place in the middle of the afternoon. Officer Wolverton was the investigating officer and initiated the search for Mrs. Lofton. Officer Taylor took her into custody. Officer Burnell conducted the field sobriety test. They were all present at her home when the arrest was made.
So... suspect left the scene. Police found her in the driveway of her home. They allege she was nearly falling down drunk, her speech was slurred, the car had a recently opened container of beer, and she failed the field sobriety test. Slam drunk case. Right? Well, not so fast, my friend. There is a reason why the founders wrote the fourth and fifth amendments. In other words, you still have to play the game as nothing is a sure thing.
Madison Municipal Court Judge Dale Danks found her guilty of both charges. He ordered her to pay $1,096 in fines and court costs and suspended a 48-hour jail sentence pending completion of unsupervised probation for two years. She was represented by attorney Bill Featherston.
Mrs. Lofton had better luck in appealing to county court. Mr. Featherston argued his client did not realize she had backed into another car. He said the traffic accident was minor in nature. The police had no warrant for her arrest. He stated the arresting officer, Micah Taylor, was not in pursuit and did not witness any part of the crime. None of the police officers witnessed the incident take place and thus had no grounds to arrest her without a warrant. The invasion of her property was a "trespass" and thus all evidence should be suppressed, as it was illegally obtained.
The city replied that the police made an honest mistake, as the home is just outside the city limits. (It is adjacent to the intersection of Highway 463 and Gluckstadt Road). The city argued the Decker case allows the police to make honest mistakes in such matters and that the defense has to prove the police were reckless or grossly negligent.
Nice try by the city but no cigar, as Mr. Featherston did an admirable job representing his client. Madison County Court Judge Steve Ratcliff granted the defendant's motion to suppress the evidence and acquitted her of all charges. So..... the lesson here for the cops is if you think you might have to make an arrest outside of the city, better first call the Sheriff before you whip out the handcuffs.
Monday, December 30, 2013
How not to make a DUI arrest
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33 comments:
Do we get to vote for this Ratliffe character, or are we stuck with him?
F--- paperwork niceties, this is a miscarriage of justice. There was no major violation of her constitutional rights. We need to get drunks off the road.
Its a shame a drunk driver beat the system, but I'm not for waiving the constitution. I am for cops following the law and knowing the rules. You start bending the rules, and next thing you know, its russher all over again
Jackassery at it's best!
This is a classic illustration of the saying "Hard cases make bad law". The police made crucial mistakes and the Judge simply applied the law. If you want someone to answer for this, call Gene Waldrop and suggest that his patrol officers get some remedial training in basics like the city boundaries and warrantless arrest.
@11:06 The Constitution that guarantees you the right to keep and bear arms is the same Constitution that protects Ms Lofton (and you) from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. Judge Ratliff got this exactly right.
12:16 PM, unfortunately you are right.
Is this her?
https://www.facebook.com/LoftonAdvertising
Sounds like this gal got away with one. But those who've posted about follow the law are right. I live in Rankin County where it's just as bad in places but south Madison County has got a bunch of hot headed exmilitary types who are out of control. Whoever said they need training is right but it needs to be from the Buckhead (Atlanta), Belle Meade (Nashville) or River Oaks (Houston) cops that know how to better work an area where there is more affluence. That areas economy would be twice what it is now if these silly public officials and cops knew what "deft" means.
do Madison police cars not have GPS? I suspect they do
I'm assuming that she will be paying for the damages incurred in the Kroger parking lot. The police screwed up the DUI, unfortunately, but the lack of a conviction shouldn't affect the injured party's right to sue her, and she probably would be better off to go ahead and offer the payment without the added expense of legal fees - hers and the other guy's.
I am all for the police sticking to the rules, but I hate to see anyone get away with a crime because of a technicality. I ask some of the attorneys who frequent this site: What if she'd run over and killed a child in the Kroger parking lot? What's the legal difference?
12:53- Yep that's her! She was President of Madison County Business League too.
2:07....She would be guilty of manslaughter of course, assuming that the evidence was sufficient to convict her. And that evidence would not include evidence that was obtained illegally. Kind of hard to prove DUI based on a Kroger video, but I'm sure the owner of the damaged car has a much better case than MPD.
Amen to 11:30 AM. Follow the constitution please.
2:07 all charges against her were misdemeanors. In Mississippi, by statute, an officer cannot arrest you for a misdemeanor that he did not witness unless he has an arrest warrant issued by a judge. a felony arrest can be made without a warrant where the officer has probable cause. this is so because the legislature says it is the law. it could be changed quite easily.
"What if she'd run over and killed a child in the Kroger parking lot? "
Thank God someone gets it.
"The Constitution is not a suicide pact"
-Oliver Wendell Holmes
"If that be the law, sir, then the law is an ass"
-Charles Dickens
This is not a case of jurisdiction. It would have made zero difference had the Madison S.O. been called. They didn't witness anything either and would not have had a warrant either.
"Thank God someone gets it."
too bad it's not you
Meanwhile, in Jackustan, a blitzed driving-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road-avoiding-the-ditch black legislator is offered an easy out by JPD.
Ooops, almost forgot. Who owns the extended clip gun Johnny? Is it yours?
So why a different outcome in Muni Court?
Perhaps one day Mississippians will demand that Justice and Muni Courts be of record-not kangaroo collection systems & search warrant approval stations.
Too bad she got off. Thanks to the Madison PD for making the arrest. She was standing by her car when they arrived. Had they not shown up, who knows what might have happened if she had gotten back in the car.
My personal opinions aside, hope everyone has a safe and happy new year. And please, play it safe and don't drink and drive.
""Thank God someone gets it."
too bad it's not you "
Perhaps if you had signed as many death certificates as I have for victims of drunk drivers, and broken the news to as many family members that their child/spouse/parent could not be saved, you would understand a little more about this topic.
Hoe many have you signed, BTW? How many people have you tried to console after their loved one was killed by a drunk driver? You show absolutely zero signs of compassion for the victims, and a strange sympathy for those who kill through actions of their own choice.
Fallacies abound here. If you want to argue, then argue the points of law, not a varied assortment of what-ifs and how-comes and might-have-beens.
Speculation regarding what she might have done later or what if the S.O. had been called or who has signed the greater number of death certificates are idle chatter.
We don't live in the 50s any more when cops could arrest and gain convictions regardless of whether they had followed lawful practice.
This is nothing more than a fine example of Keystone cops either ignoring or never having received proper training.
However, the biggest mistake made was her consenting to perform field sobriety exercises. That invitation should always be declined. And as we have discussed before THAT is NOT a DUI Refusal.
8:19
You show absolutely no compassion for the families of the "victims" or the "victims", themselves. Your idled attempt to personalize, using an emotional response, to something that is not extraordinary, belies any guise of understanding why we attempt to stick to the rules of law.
People die everyday from various reasons. Your need to elevate a DUI related fatality above all of the numerous other types of death is where you show your lack of true compassion for the victims and/or their families. Your issue, as greatly expressed by yourself, is that you personally find it difficult consoling the same. Well, it's difficult regardless of the cause, my friend.
Quite frankly, an intellectual would question why the act of driving while impaired from alcohol would be viewed so differently from the various acts of drivers who are sober and alert, but just don't care or pay attention. Such as the numerous drivers who text while driving, drive erratically without concern for others on the road, etc. Those are conscious, sober decisions that take the lives of "innocent" victims.
I guess it's easy for you to inform the families of "victims" of those types of fatalities.
Thank you 10:06 for jumping in quicker than I. What a silly, silly, response from this person. Trust me, losing a 52 sibling to cancer is every bit as horrific, not downplaying or belittling this crime but loved ones deaths are loved ones deaths and you sir don't have the ability to judge which ones carry more grief.
Every death is difficult to the ones left behind.
Death by acts of selfishness (driving while impaired), and carelessness (texting, cell phone use, eating, smoking, etc) of others are hard to understand, given the fact very few actually are punished for it, though punishment does not bring a loved one back. Punishment, does however, prove a deterrent to the offender, and hopefully to others by making them think twice before doing something similar.
Death due to diseases such as cancer, are just horrible, period. There is no one to blame or punish, unless prolonged use of drugs, smoking or alcohol is to blame. Then the selfishness unfortunately falls on the deceased.
10:53; Anyone convicted of DUI Homicide is punished fairly harshly. Not sure about your comment..."Very few are punished for it". I'm not wanting a diatribe on the evils of drinking and driving. Last I heard there is usually significant prison time.
And, YES, Mississippi DOES need a law against texting and driving. At least a drunk struggles to stay between the lines.
technically, there is no crime called "DUI Homicide" in Mississippi. There is manslaughter; there is aggravated DUI. manslaughter carries a maximum of 20 years and the state has to prove culpaple (gross) negligence; Agg DUI carries 5 to 25 years and the state only has to prove simple negligence. my experience has been that once a jury convicts of Agg DUI, the sentence averages about 15 years.
I wasn't reading from a technical manual. You know what I meant. It's a death resulting from drunk driving. I could be wrong but I think the 'manner of death' is DUI vehicular homicide. The point being, the comment 'very few are punished for it' is incorrect.
I believe in getting the drunks off the road but it is about time someone showed the City of Madison Police where the lines are...They have over stepped their boundaries one to many times... You GO BILL!!
They ought to spend more time profiling the low-riders with NASCAR tags. Beauty Queens and Business League Presidents aren't the problem.
Um, beauty queens and business league Presidents ARE the problem. They make the cocktail circuit, happy hours, dinner with drinks and drive every week. They are also the ones who hire the best attorneys.
Some of those MPD guys are way more interested in getting a DUI conviction than they are following the laws.
Well said:
"Beauty queens and business league Presidents ARE the problem. They make the cocktail circuit, happy hours, dinner with drinks and drive every week. They are also the ones who hire the best attorneys."
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