K.I.S.S. My DWI

I'm not from Ithaca, NY even though I love the area. I always say I am in Ithaca by Choice Not Chance. I am thankful daily for my educational opportunities both as a Chiropractor, and as a lawyer. When I hear students complain about the high costs of college I am quick to point out the higher costs of ignorance. But educations much like people come in different forms. I grew up with few privileges (my kids hate my Abe Lincoln speech) but growing up on the streets of Brooklyn I learned a great many things they don't talk about in the burbs.

Some of them related to a core-street philosophy.

Ideas like:

-Mind your own business (focus on your own stuff/your own issues/don't put your nose where it doesn't belong)

-Don't poop where you eat (don't cause problems where you live/Don't date locally)

-Poop or get off the pot (be decisive, Do not vacillate, indecision is a killer and the cousin of procrastination)

-KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid, complicated is not always better)

Well I just returned from a NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety) Certification on the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests in Chicago. The instructor, a former police officer, trainer, and Phd. (he did his dissertation on the HGN, Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test) Dr. Platt taught us that KISS for DWI Defense really means: Keep It Sobriety Specific.

In other words when we are looking at a traffic stop, first police contact, and an eventual DWI arrest we (as defense attorneys) should view all the evidence (all the facts) from or through the prism of SOBRIETY.

What and where is the sober behavior?

Driving Pattern

What and where is the normal behavior?

Walking Pattern

What and where is the appropriate behavior?

Talking Pattern

What and where is the expected behavior?

Mental function/Understanding/Coherency

Before we even get to looking at performance on the SFSTS (standardized field sobriety tests: HGN, Heel-Toe, One Leg Stand) we must look over the TOTALITY of the Police encounter with an investigator's demeanor and focus.

Our best defense to the charges of DWI lie within this KISS philosophy.