A judge has ruled that the practice of state forensics labs receiving financial compensation for positive tests that lead to DUI convictions is unconstitutional.
The post Convictions Thrown Out After Police Caught Paying Labs for Positive DUI Test Results appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
Cops in Killeen, Texas are scrambling an investigation after disturbing images were released alleging an officer severely beat a young woman.
Tom Bean, TX — In America, there are two sets of laws — one for the government class of police, politicians and well-connected elite — and one for everybody else. This corrupt system punishes the citizens for crimes the elite commit with impunity. The recent DUI stop of City Councilman Benjamin Vincent in Tom Bean, Texas, illustrates this corruption and shows how it can be detrimental to the safety and well-being of citizens.
Last Sunday, Vincent was pulled over by Whitewright police officer Andrew LeFevre after he was seen swerving all over the road, driving into oncoming traffic, and sliding through intersections.
When the officer initiated conversation with Vincent, it was obvious from the start that he was highly intoxicated. He thought it was October and couldn’t complete a sentence or answer any of the questions without blurting out utter slurred nonsense.
After the city councilman admitted to drinking and was seen breaking numerous laws, the officers decided to let him go.
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“My suggestion is that you call a sober licensed family member to come get you,” LeFevre said. And just like that, this man who should’ve been arrested for driving dangerously drunk was let off with no consequences.
“Now Mr. Vincent, I want you to understand how big of a deal I’m cutting you here,” LeFevre said in the body camera video taken by Officer Mark Munt. “Between attorney fees, court fees, posting bond, insurance hikes, drivers license surcharges, DWIs can cost north of $20,000. Not to mention the stigma associated with it, the headache and hassle associated with it, having a criminal record. I’m really not trying to jam you up, but what I need you to understand and grasp from all of this is the seriousness of it.”
READ MORE: Cops Shoots Unarmed Man on Video, for No Reason then Covers it Up and Won"t be Charged
But Vincent did not grasp the ‘seriousness of it.’
On Tuesday, Whitewright Police Chief, Beau Heistand made an ominously predictive statement to the press after acknowledging his officer let a dangerous drunk driver back out on the road.
“There are a lot of fatalities that are caused by that and allowing someone to get a slap on the wrist and call someone to come take them home isn’t going to get anywhere,” said Chief Heistand.
He was right.
Only a few days later, after he’d been let off for putting the public at risk by driving while highly intoxicated, Vincent was right back at it. This time, however, the cops wouldn’t find him before he hurt someone.
As the Herald Democrat reports, the two-vehicle wreck involving Vincent and Elmer Stuckey, the driver of a Tom Bean Independent School District vehicle, caused injuries to both drivers, and both were transported to the hospital. In the early afternoon, Vincent was released from the hospital and arrested by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper. Vincent was booked into the Grayson County Jail for intoxicated assault with a vehicle causing serious bodily injury.
“Today about 10 a.m., officers with our agency and the Tom Bean Fire Department responded to a call of a major accident at the intersection of State Highway 11 and Britton Street,” Tom Bean Police Chief Tim Green said. “Upon initial observations, it was determined the accident involved a member of Tom Bean City Council and an employee of the Tom Bean Independent School District.”
Because police chose not to arrest a man because he was a city councilman, an innocent man was severely injured. Their corruption led to the suffering of others and it could’ve been far worse.
READ MORE: Cops Discharged from Department For Being Members of the KKK
As innocent citizens are given DUIs for being completely sober, wasted politicians are granted get out of jail free cards and allowed to hurt other people. While many people will claim these are signs of a broken system, those who pay attention know it was, in fact, intentionally set up this way.
As you watch the video below, put yourself in Vincent’s shoes. Do you think cops would’ve treated you the same way if you did what he did?
San Antonio, TX — The police officer DUI is so common that it usually doesn’t get our attention. However, when three police officers are arrested, in three separate incidents, by their brothers in blue, on the same night, in the same town, it becomes newsworthy.
San Antonio Police Officers Gena Rodriguez, Harold Thomaston were arrested within hours of each other Friday night, and then a Bexar County sheriff’s deputy Sabrina Moreno was arrested by yet another SAPD officer. In all, three officers were arrested on the same night by SAPD officers. According to WWLP:
Police say Rodriguez is an 11-year veteran and was driving with her three kids in the car when she rear-ended another car. When an officer arrived to the accident, he said Rodriguez was slurring her speech, smelled like alcohol and was unsteady on her feet. A few hours later, 20-year San Antonio police veteran, Harold Thomaston was pulled over. Police say he swerved into the lane of a fellow SAPD officer, then ran a red light.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said he was “extremely disappointed” in his officer but commended the SAPD for doing their jobs and ensuring those officers are held to the same standards as the rest of the general population.
He said, “I am extremely proud of those officers that made the right calls last night and did what they had to do in spite of their own personal feelings, in spite of whatever else may have been going on, they did their job and I am proud that we have officers like that on the streets that are willing to make that sacrifice.”
READ MORE: VIDEO: Cop Famous for Falsely Arresting Dozens of People is Run Over By Woman Who Refuses to be Arrested
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said, “Anytime an officer gets arrested for anything it’s disappointing, but DWI is just so, so preventable, and there is really no excuse for it.”
The smear on the SAPD comes just months after one of its deputies made headlines for offering a feces filled sandwich to a homeless man. Matthew Lockhurst, was fired from his position as a law enforcement officer after the prank, which was really no prank at all. A fellow officer forced Lockhurst to return to the homeless man and dispose of the feces sandwich, but it didn’t stop Lockhurst from continuing to smear the name of good police officers everywhere.
While working at a duty station, he reportedly used feces to smear a streak all along the toilet seat inside the female officers’ restroom, after a fellow female officer requested the sanitary services remain clean at all times. The ‘joke’ was apparently in retaliation for her insistence on bathroom cleanliness.
As TFTP reported, Lockhurst now realizes he made a mistake saying, “This has taught me to stop acting childish and making stupid baseless jokes,” Luckhurst wrote in a statement to investigators. “I need to stop the pranks and juvenile jokes to get arise (sic) or reaction from fellow officers and friends.” He was fired after the second stain on the SAPD.
SAPD cops have a terrible track record when it comes to corruption and abuse.
Previously, the Free Thought Project brought you the story of SAPD officer Serena Botello whose GPS was also used to show her negligence, exposing the fact that she had refused to do her job, not once, not 5 times, not 15 times, but 23 times in just a two-month period.
READ MORE: BREAKING: Supreme Court Rules Warrantless Forced Blood Draws for DUI Unconstitutional
One of these 23 incidents was even caught on Botello’s dashcam as well. She was seen driving away from a shooting in which she could have possibly saved the victim’s life.
Also, a former SAPD officer was sentenced to 18 months in jail for gruesomely stabbing and shooting his family’s dog.
Also, it was the SAPD who brutally beat a 16-year-old boy because they smelled marijuana.
Yet again, it was 2 SAPD officers who brutally beat a 70-year-old man because they thought he was drunk. He was actually having a diabetic attack.
These are just the tip of the iceberg. For a full rap sheet on SAPD corruption, you can visit this link, here.
It’s unclear why the SAPD continues to have such trouble employing quality police officers. Maybe, as TFTP has contended, police departments like SAPD are having so much trouble because the employment qualifications for police officers is so low.
Think about it. If it takes 2 years for a person to become a nurse, and four years for someone to become a teacher, then why do we continue to employ individuals for one of our most crucial public service positions, police officers, after only giving them four months of basic law enforcement training, also known as the “Academy.” It appears that the time spent in the academy needs to be much, much, longer.
San Diego, CA – On St. Patrick’s Day, California’s southernmost metropolis decided to debut a roadside test for those suspected of driving under the influence of cannabis. Several “sobriety checkpoints” were set up throughout the city with the standard invasions of privacy, but this time they added a mouth swab test known as the Drager 5000.
If a cop suspects a driver of being high, they request that he or she take the mouth swab test, and perhaps a field sobriety test as well. They’re trying to gather evidence to incriminate you, although the mouth swab test is not mandatory.
The Drager 5000, already in use in other countries and cities such as Los Angeles and New York, detects the presence of various substances, including THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. The problem is, this test has absolutely zero ability to test actual impairment or level of intoxication.
But a positive reading can give cops the excuse for the more invasive procedure of a blood test. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune:
“Officers trained to recognize the symptoms of drug impairment will first look for various indicators that a driver is high, from an unsafe driving maneuver to bloodshot eyes to the odor of marijuana to blank stares, San Diego police Officer Emilio Ramirez said. Once there is ample suspicion of drug use, the officer can then request to perform field sobriety tests or for a driver to take the Dräger 5000 test.
If the driver refuses at that point, the officer can force the person to submit to a blood test.
To use the machine, the driver is handed a mouth swab and instructed to run it around the inside of the mouth for up to four minutes. The swab is then placed into the machine, along with a vial of testing solution, and the machine does its work. It takes about six to eight minutes for results to print out on a receipt.
A positive result will likely send the driver to a police phlebotomist for a blood test to determine precise drug levels.”
Even a negative result could lead to a mandatory blood test if the officer still suspects impairment.
“If the mouth swab test is negative but the officer still has a suspicion of impairment, then a blood draw might still be mandated, because the Dräger 5000 only measures for seven kinds of narcotics, Ramirez said.”
And if you can’t make bail, you’ll be sitting in jail for weeks or months awaiting the blood test results. For many people, this would mean being fired from their job, or being ripped away from their family, or some other life-altering repercussion – all because a cop invaded your privacy at an unconstitutional roadblock.
READ MORE: Autistic Teen, Raided, Strip Searched, & Jailed for Drawing a Superhero with a Flaming Hand in Class
The Drager 5000 can give positive results for THC even if the person did not even use cannabis that day. If it’s legal to use cannabis – as in California – and the swab test can detect THC from days prior, there is absolutely no rationale for deploying the machine. Despite the fact that someone can be perfectly sober and still test positive, this “evidence” is admissible in court.
San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman played on fears over legalization to justify their fancy new $6,000 machines, saying, “It’s a huge concern of ours with the legalization of marijuana that we’re going to see an increase in impaired drugged driving.”
The funny thing is, results from St. Patrick’s Day field sobriety checkpoints showed a decrease in the number of DUI arrests. At one checkpoint, six people were arrested, down from nearly a dozen the year before.
One person was going to submit to the mouth swab test for cannabis, but the ordeal gave him an anxiety attack that required medical attention. The cops went ahead and arrested him for DUI afterward.
“We did have one person, who was going to submit a test, but unfortunately had some sort of anxiety attack in secondary to the point where we actually had to get medical attention for him and then later arrested him for DUI,” said Officer Mark McCollough.
Clearly, the Drager 5000 mouth swab test serves no actual purpose in addressing impaired driving but is just another tool of the police state being rationalized by the legalization of cannabis.
There’s a lot to be said for states that have legalized recreational and/or medical cannabis, but even Colorado and Washington have one problem – arbitrary blood-THC limits which imply a driver is impaired.
These numbers, such as Washington’s 5ng/ml, have no scientific basis for assessing the level of impairment. Despite this, six states with legal weed have per se limits for tetrahydrocannabinol; being over that number automatically makes you guilty of driving under the influence of drugs (DUID).
Oregon, however, is bucking the trend. In its DUI Legislative Report, the state’s Liquor Control Commission said it is recommending against a per se THC limit. By relying on the actual state of science, this welcome exercise in rationality should set an example for other states setting up their own regulatory framework.
Oregon’s Liquor Control Commission was tasked in 2015 with “regulating the recreational marijuana market in Oregon, with studying the question of THC-related intoxicated driving.”
“Due to restrictions on cannabis research and limited data, it is difficult to make definitive statements about the risk of THC-intoxicated driving. The body of evidence that does exist indicates that while attitudes towards driving after marijuana use are considerably more relaxed than in the case of alcohol, the risk of crashes while driving under the influence of THC is lower than drunk driving. Little evidence exists to compel a significant change in status quo policy or institute a per se intoxication standard for THC.”
A widely-reported study by the American Automobile Association in 2016 found no scientific basis for blood-THC limits and called on the six states using such laws to abandon them. Chemical tests for THC have not been shown to correlate to things like brake and gas pedal coordination, distance perception and general attention.
READ MORE: New Report Shows Colorado Cannabis Industry Contributes More to Economy Than All Other Industries
The only thing we know about blood-THC and driving is that it is not comparable to the tests for alcohol impairment. There is no THC breathalyzer test, and urine tests cannot detect it. Some blood tests can distinguish between THC and its longer-lasting metabolites, but these levels can vary widely depending on how often the person uses cannabis. Test results will also vary based on whether one smoked or ate the cannabis.
One person can feel impaired at 5ng/ml while another can function with no detectable impairment. In fact, many people charged with DUID based on arbitrary blood-THC limits have convinced juries they were not impaired when they were pulled over.
Even so, driving studies show driving while on cannabis is far less dangerous than driving on alcohol, including one finding virtually no driving impairment from cannabis. Other studies have found that speed is typically reduced while driving on cannabis, and people deliberately compensate for any impairment, although multitasking was somewhat affected.
In no way does this mean anyone can just toke up and get behind the wheel. Cannabis is psychoactive, and people unaccustomed to cannabis – especially teenagers – should certainly refrain from driving.
The Oregon Commission’s report also supports the premise that cannabis users are more responsible drivers than alcohol use.
“The rate of drivers tested by Drug Recognition Experts who are positive for THC intoxication rose between 2013 and 2014, but did not increase following legalization. Fatal accidents data is highly variable year-to-year, making trend analysis difficult. But in Oregon in 2015 there were only three more traffic fatalities involving a driver testing positive for THC compared to 2004. Moreover, the rate of THC-related fatal accidents is also considerably lower than such accidents involving alcohol intoxication. Finally, while overall traffic fatalities and alcohol-related fatalities spiked in 2015, THC-related fatalities did not.”
As a spokesman for AAA noted when their study was published, the increased risk from driving on cannabis is about the same as driving with a “noisy child in the back of the car,” and only half as dangerous as talking on a hands-free cellphone (legal in all states).
READ MORE: Federal Cybersecurity Director Convicted of Child Porn Charges
While thankfully avoiding an arbitrary blood-THC limit recommendation, the Oregon Commission still felt compelled to offer advice on cannabis and driving. It recommended increasing the use of “Drug Recognition Experts” who administer lengthy sobriety tests specific to cannabis, as well as implementing a voluntary oral swab test to collect data.
Thanks in part to public exposure brought about by alternative media sites such as The Free Thought Project and others, Joseph Schwab of Fairfield, CA, will not face felony driving under the influence (DUI) charges for operating his vehicle while under the effects of caffeine. Yes. That’s right. Caffeine.
However, police note that they are still charging him with reckless driving.
TFTP brought attention to Schwab’s case on Monday in our first story. And on Wednesday, the Solano County, CA District Attorney Krishna Abrams, announced they were dropping the DUI charges against Schwab. “After further consideration, without a confirmatory test of the specific drug in the defendant’s system that impaired his ability to drive, we do not believe we can prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt,” the press release reads.
Despite their best attempts to charge this man with a DUI, they were unable to find anything other than caffeine in his system.
According to KCRA, Abrams still believes some drug other than caffeine was in Schwab’s system, but that testing didn’t reveal it.
“Do we wish that it could test for more drugs?” Abrams said of their testing system. “Absolutely, because then we would know what was in his system.”
So, for 16 months these charges lingered over Schwab’s head — based solely on the hunch of a DA.
On Wednesday, Snopes attempted to ‘debunk’ the story by claiming that the Free Thought Project “(implied) his legal troubles were the result of merely drinking too much coffee.”
However, that is not at all what was reported. In fact, the Free Thought Project simply covered the police department’s own admission that Schwab was charged with a DUI and the only drug in his system at the time was caffeine. These two facts are indisputable. However, the supposed arbiter of ‘fake news’ insisted on slandering the Free Thought Project anyway.
John Vibes of TFTP described the arrest which took place in 2015, “Schwab was driving home from work when he was pulled over by an agent from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, who was driving an unmarked vehicle. The agent said Schwab had cut her off and was driving erratically. The officer claims that Schwab cut her off and she gave him a breathalyzer which showed a blood alcohol content of 0.00%. Unfortunately, the officer was still not convinced. So, she arrested him and took him to jail so his blood could be drawn for other drugs. His blood tests came back negative for all illegal drugs. But he did test positive for caffeine. For some reason, this was enough to charge Schwab with a DUI,” Vibes wrote.
Neither a highway patrolman, a county, nor a city police officer arrested Schwab, but rather an Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) agent made the arrest. According to the Daily Republic, Michelle Ott, was the ABC agent who arrested him.
Ott is assigned to the Bay Area field enforcement office and reportedly made 54 arrests in 2014 for “crimes related to underage drinking and 36 other arrests, including for public drunkenness and sales to intoxicated patrons at and around businesses licensed by the ABC.”
While Ott did indeed conduct a field sobriety test, and felt strongly that Schwab was under the influence of some illicit substance, the toxicology report came back negative, and should have immediately resulted in all DUI charges being dropped. But Schwab had to fight the charges for over a year before ultimately not being charged with the crime.
Schwab’s case, once again, serves as further evidence that given a badge and a title, officers can get away with anything. These mistakes and missteps in policing are costing thousands of dollars for innocent people to defend against, needlessly clogs the court systems, and ultimately ends up solving no crimes.
If a man can be charged with a DUI for having caffeine in his system, no one is safe from police and their lawless quest to generate revenue from bogus charges.
Statham, GA – In a monumental twist of irony, a police officer’s dashcam – which caught another driver running over his legs – has led to the officer being exposed for victimizing several people with false DUI arrests.
As the video shows, when Officer Marc Lofton tried to arrest Jessica Fox after pulling her over, Fox fled the scene and Lofton attempted to cling to her driver side, resulting in his falling to the ground and having both his legs run over.
Lofton was able to get up and run back to his car. He was treated for a concussion and Achilles tear afterward. Fox was charged with a number of crimes related to the incident, including “aggravated battery” and “aggravated assault” on a police officer.
However, in the days that followed the video release, dozens of people began submitting complaints about Officer Lofton, and they all point to a corrupt cop using his badge to ruthlessly prey on everyone he can.
From other dashcam footage and the formal complaints, it appears that Lofton looks for the smallest excuse to pull someone over, such as “an issue with their tag,” and proceeds to ask them if they are on any medications or drugs.
Lofton isn’t asking about certain types of drugs that actually cause impairment, but any drug at all – including prescription medications such as antidepressants, and, according to one resident, “diabetes medication, for blood pressure medication, there’s a woman who has cancer medications.”
When people admit to being on a drug, even a perfectly safe one, Lofton makes them undergo a field sobriety test. This gives him a pretext for an arrest. The motives for such predatory behavior could simply be a power display, meeting some sort of quota, seizing cash and property under civil asset forfeiture, or a combination of all three.
The video report produced by Ben Swann and CBS46 shows Statham resident being targeted in just this way.
“Kelly Pickens was pulled over by Statham Police Officer Marc Lofton because of an issue with her tag. But then she said Lofton asked her if she was taking drugs. Pickens responded saying she takes prescription medication authorized by her doctor.
“Just because a doctor prescribed them doesn’t mean you can drive on them,” Lofton said on dash-cam video.
“I take it every day, none of them say you can’t drive on them, none of them,” Pickens said on dash-cam video.
Officer Lofton then initiated a field sobriety test and later arrested Pickens and charged her with DUI.”
Pickens voiced her disbelief in an interview with local reporter Adam Murphy: “It was like being on the Dukes of Hazard…I mean does this stuff really still happen today? Is anybody paying attention?”
Mary Williams had similarly strong words after her encounter with Marc Lofton. She was arrested for DUI after telling Lofton she took antidepressants which did not impair her ability to drive, and being subjected to a field sobriety test.
“They are unlawful, from the get-go, everything about them,” Williams said. “It’s almost like we’re living in Hitler’s Germany and they’re the Gestapo who can pull you out of your car and take you to jail for doing absolutely nothing wrong.”
The Mayor and City Attorney have promised that Lofton’s actions will be on the agenda at the next city council meeting. Meanwhile, nearly 200 others have signed a petition “calling on the district attorney to complete a formal criminal investigation into the actions of Officer Lofton.”
It appears that Lofton’s appearance on national television getting run over brought him a different kind of fame than he would have hoped, as even people from Canada have signed the petition.
Layton, UT — On July 25, 2106, Amanda Houghton was hit from behind in her vehicle by another motorist — so, she called 911 — for help. However, help was the last thing she would receive. Instead, she was sexually assaulted and falsely arrested.
After the accident, Houghton was naturally shaken up as she’d just been hit by a car traveling at 30 mph as she was sitting still. Her car was totaled.
Instead of realizing that Houghton could be in a mild state of shock, officer G Schatzman mistook her nervousness for intoxication.
Again, instead of providing the help Houghton called for, Schatzman began to treat her as a criminal. According to KUTV, a police report by officer G Schatzman indicates Amanda exhibited odd behavior and gave “short quick answers to questions and she was speaking rapidly. Amanda was unable to stand still and seemed to be making jerky movements,” when he came into contact with her.
Schatzman, who just knew that this innocent woman was a dangerous criminal, issued a field sobriety test. Houghton failed the field sobriety test, but this is common, especially among those who’ve just been in a dramatic accident.
Houghton was then placed in handcuffs and arrested for DUI. “I was shocked. Who arrests a sober person for DUI?” she said.
After being falsely accused of DUI and placed in handcuffs, Schatzman began to grope his victim. In the video, we can clearly see Schatzman prodding at the innocent woman’s breasts.
When Houghton pulls away in a natural reaction to being sexually assaulted, Schatzman yanks her around like a ragdoll. This pulling away by Houghton would later lead to a charge of resisting arrest.
In Police State USA pulling away from your armed captor who’s groping your private parts is a punishable offense.
“Don’t touch me!” says Houghton after this cop fondled her breasts.
“I can search you,” says Schatzman, asserting his state-granted power to legally sexually assault women in the name of falsely arresting them.
Naturally, the police department is standing behind their officer’s decision to grope Houghton too.
Lt. Travis Lyman said his officer did the arrest by the book and had reasonable suspicion that Amanda was DUI. He said the search around her breasts is taught in the police academy. Male officers do it when a female officer is not around, according to KUTV.
“That’s standard practice. Anytime someone gets arrested they are going to be searched,” he said. However, police had no reason to arrest her.
After being kidnapped by the armed man who previously sexually assaulted her, Houghton was given a blood test by police. No drugs or alcohol were found in her system. Just for good measure, Houghton was brought to the hospital and given a second blood test — also negative.
Houghton has since retained counsel and is pursuing legal action against her aggressors. In spite of the blood test showing this cop had no reason to arrest her, the city is refusing to drop the charges.
Jonathan Nish, Houghton’s criminal defense attorney, is pushing for the charges to be dropped.
“I don’t’ believe they should have administered the field sobriety tests at all in this case,” he said.
Houghton also retained another attorney to help her seek legal action. Attorney Robert Sykes, who has put the City of Layton on notice that they are seeking legal action, said the officer had no basis for the DUI suspicion in the first place, and the search of her person was a violation of Houghton’s constitutional rights.
“I think this amounted to an unconstitutional search of a woman without a necessity to do so,” he said.
As you watch the video below, remember that this woman had committed no crime. She had harmed no one. And, she was the one who called the police for help.
