Posted 12/29/2010

DANGER! COPS ON STEROIDS

Research indicates at over 20 percent of cops are on steroids. The kinds of steroids which make them aggressive, agitated and quick to anger.

Research in prior years indicates that over 20 percent of cops have serious personality defects from Day One on the job. Most defects have to do with a sadistic desire to control and intimidate people.

Hopefully the two groups do not seriously overlap.

Here is a true story of how one victim coped with an overly aggressive, harm-oriented cop. (The names are changed to protect the innocent and guilty.)

We are on the jury as a prosecutor makes his opening address.

"Mr. Sheep was in his car, weaving all over the road one night, when Officer Collie pulled him over. Officer then asked Mr. Sheep if he had been drinking. Mr. Sheep said he had been drinking wine in a restaurant and then had stopped at a bar to have drink with a friend.

"Suspecting that Mr. Sheep was driving under the influence of alcohol, Officer Collie directed Mr. Sheep to take a field sobriety test – which he failed. Officer Collie then asked Mr. Sheep to take a Breathalyzer test. Mr. Sheep refused. The facts will prove that Mr. Sheep was clearly driving under the influence."

As a juror, you feel that this guy was guilty as sin.

Then the defense attorney takes her turn.

"The true facts of this case will prove beyond any kind of doubt that Mr. Sheep was completely innocent and definitely not driving under the influence. At dinner during the night in question, Mr. Sheep was one of a party of four at the restaurant. Only one bottle of wine was served, which they shared. On his way home, Mr. Sheep stopped at a friend's bar just to say hello. The friend insisted on buying Mr. Sheep a drink. Just to be polite, Mr. Sheep took one sip and only one sip. He then got into his car and was driving home when Officer Collie pulled him over."

Listening to that, you now feel the guy must be innocent.

The prosecutor calls Officer Collie to the stand. In his testimony, the officer calmly and effectively supports the opening statement made by the prosecutor.

Then the prosecutor shows a videotape of the arrest scene. You can see and hear Officer Collie aggressively attempting to intimidate Mr. Sheep. We clearly observe Mr. Sheep speaking softly and politely while taking the sobriety tests, which he seemed to perform well. Especially the difficult "heel-to-toe" walking test and the "balance on one leg" test. The prosecutor rests his case.

The defense calls its first witness, Mr. Sheep's friend, who had bought him the drink at the bar. The defense witness supports everything the defense attorney had said in her opening statement.

We feel the case is a tie when his attorney calls Mr. Sheep to the stand. Under questioning, Mr. Sheep says,

"I am a single man and a business owner. I had only one glass of wine at the restaurant and took only one sip of a drink at my friend's bar. I was driving my Maserati home when I dropped my cell phone on the left side of my seat and then onto the floor. As I reached down to retrieve the phone, I may have not steered perfectly straight, but I was not weaving.

"My Maserati is a family sedan and not a sports model, which I bought used several years ago. The officer accused me of driving under the influence and told me to perform several sobriety tests on the side of the road. I thought I performed them reasonably well. Officer Collie then asked me to take a Breathalyzer test, to which I said, ‘Not at this time.' I refused because I didn't trust the officer to give me a fair test. I was definitely sober when the officer stopped me."

After the defendant testifies, there's a little back and forth between the prosecutor and the defense, but only one piece of new information is revealed. It seems Mr. Sheep had a female passenger in his car at the time of his arrest. But, curiously, neither the prosecutor nor the defense makes anything out of that fact.

After the concluding arguments, we move to the jury room. All seem to feel that Mr. Sheep was not guilty of driving while impaired or committing a DUI, especially since he had performed so well on the tape.

Then one juror decides to find out how difficult the sobriety tests were. She tries the "heel-to-toe" test and flounders. Several others try it, too. None of the jury can perform the test as well as the defendant had.

Same with the "stand on one leg for 30 seconds" test.

The prosecutor's tape backfires, proving the Mr. Sheep was not driving under the influence. In addition, the jury feels that Mr. Sheep's answer of "Not at this time" to the request for the Breathalyzer test was reasonable under the circumstances.

The jurors feel the officer must have been "over the top" during the arrest even though Collie had testified reasonably and rationally on the stand.

In short order, we, the jury, reaches a unanimous "not guilty" verdict.

There are two lessons for us all from this case.

1. You may encounter overly aggressive cops in an arrest situation.

2. You should remain calm, and remember you can always ask for a jury trial of your peers.

(click here for a printable version of this article)