Date: May 13, 2020 at 2:00 pm EDT
Presenters:Judge Kevin Burke and Judge Mary A. Celeste (ret.)
Course Time: 1 hr

NOTE: If you attended the live webinar, see your post-webinar email or contact elearning@ncsc.org for instructions on obtaining your certificate.

Studies, reports, and developing case law on the issue of impaired driving are moving at a rapid pace. Judges at all levels of the courts preside over impaired driving cases. These judges handle over-loaded dockets and barely have the time to closely follow all the fast-paced information in this area of the law.

Standard Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) include Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, One Leg Stand, and Walk and Turn tests. Understanding the differences in these tests and the related law enforcement protocol is paramount to making educated decisions in impaired driving cases. With the recent increase in drugged-driving cases and new appellate case law and studies, courts are taking differing approaches to these long-standing SFSTs.

This webinar will offer judges a review and analysis of the current status of SFSTs in impaired driving cases across the country. Learning Objectives:

1) The participant will be able to identify the origin, types, and differences of standard field sobriety tests used in impaired driving cases;
2) Participants will be able to differentiate the varying approaches to the admissibility of SFSTs in both alcohol and drugged-driving cases across the country;
3) Participants will be able to analyze the developing case law related to SFSTs across the country; and
4) Participants will be able to explore and develop their analysis on the admissibility of SFSTs in the impaired driving cases they hear in their jurisdictions.

This online training course was developed under grant number SJI-20-E-018 from the State Justice Institute. The points of view expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the State Justice Institute.