SFST Legal and Ethical Considerations 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the Fourth Amendment, what legal standard must officers meet before conducting an SFST?
- Beyond a reasonable doubt
- Reasonable articulable suspicion (Correct answer)
- Probable cause to arrest
- Preponderance of evidence
Correct answer: Reasonable articulable suspicion
Reasonable articulable suspicion of DUI is required to initiate a traffic stop and request SFSTs.
Question 2: Which Supreme Court case established that roadside sobriety testing does not violate the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination?
- Miranda v. Arizona
- Pennsylvania v. Muniz (Correct answer)
- Schmerber v. California
- Terry v. Ohio
Correct answer: Pennsylvania v. Muniz
Pennsylvania v. Muniz (1990) held that physical sobriety tests are not testimonial and do not trigger Fifth Amendment protections.
Question 3: An officer administers SFSTs without informing the suspect they are voluntary in a state requiring advisement. This could result in:
- Automatic acquittal of the defendant
- Suppression of SFST results at trial (Correct answer)
- Mandatory re-arrest of the suspect
- Civil immunity for the officer
Correct answer: Suppression of SFST results at trial
In states mandating voluntary advisement, failure to inform a suspect can lead to suppression of the test results.
Question 4: Which ethical obligation requires an SFST officer to document and report clues that suggest a driver is sober?
- Duty of impartiality (Correct answer)
- Chain of custody requirement
- Brady disclosure obligation
- Exclusionary rule mandate
Correct answer: Duty of impartiality
Officers have an ethical duty of impartiality to record all observations, including those favoring the suspect.
Question 5: When an officer's SFST report omits that the suspect was wearing high-heeled shoes during the Walk-and-Turn test, this constitutes:
- A minor clerical error
- Exculpatory evidence suppression (Correct answer)
- An admissible inference
- Standard administrative discretion
Correct answer: Exculpatory evidence suppression
Omitting factors that could explain poor performance suppresses potentially exculpatory evidence.
Question 6: A prosecutor requests that an SFST officer inflate clue counts in the written report. The officer should:
- Comply if instructed by a superior
- Refuse and report the request through proper channels (Correct answer)
- Amend the report to satisfy the prosecutor
- Consult a defense attorney first
Correct answer: Refuse and report the request through proper channels
Officers must refuse requests to falsify reports and should report such misconduct through appropriate channels.
Question 7: The Daubert standard, applied in federal courts to SFST evidence, requires that the tests:
- Be accepted only by law enforcement experts
- Rest on scientifically validated and reliable methodology (Correct answer)
- Have been approved by the state legislature
- Exclude any peer-reviewed criticism
Correct answer: Rest on scientifically validated and reliable methodology
Daubert requires expert testimony and scientific evidence to be based on validated, reliable methodology.
SFST Legal and Ethical Considerations 2
Under the Fourth Amendment, what legal standard must officers meet before conducting an SFST?