314)  What if I refuse to take Field Sobriety Tests / FST’s? #HaberPA Criminal Defense DUI Lawyer
Channel: Michael Haber
Date: 18/05/2019

Thanks for asking me “What happens if I refuse to take FST’s?”

Interestingly, when they ask you to blow into a breathalyzer the cops not only have to tell you that you have a right to refuse but they actually have to fill out a notarized form indicating that they provided you with “Implied Consent”... but that IS NOT the case with FSTs... meaning, you have an absolute RIGHT to say NO to taking FST’s even though the cops have an absolute right NOT to tell you so.

Still, just as Sir Isaac Newton pointed out in his 3rd Law of Motion:  “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”, there are consequences and of course consequences can, and do, cut both ways...  
If you agree to take FSTs then, based upon nothing more than the officer’s subjective assessment of your performance you’ll either be handcuffed and taken for breath testing or, theoretically anyhow, you’ll be cut loose, permitted to get into your car and drive away.

If you refuse to take FST’s then there’s an excellent chance that you’ll simply be ‘cuffed, thrown in the back of a squad car, transported to the station and offered a breath or possibly a urine test.  Why?  Because if a cop asks you to take FST’s then, for whatever reasons - right, wrong or indifferent - they’ve already got it in mind that you’re DUI, and so your refusal to take FSTs is probably gonna result in your arrest.  

Significantly what your refusal WILL NOT result in is that it will not arm the cop with sworn rhetoric about how you couldn’t follow “simple” instructions, or how miserably you failed the exams.  Also, unlike a refusal to submit to breath testing (which allows the State to argue your “consciousness of guilt” - meaning the State can argue to your jury that the reason you didn’t blow was because you knew that if you had then the jury would have a breath card proving your legal intoxication), there is no such inference from your refusal to take FSTs.

Thank you for your question, I appreciate your having asked it and I invite you to ask me more.  Remember, at #HaberPA it’s all about reasonable doubt!

At Michael A. Haber, PA "it's all about reasonable doubt"!

Please note that no attorney-client relationship with either Michael A. Haber, PA or Michael A. Haber, Esq. exists as a result of your watching this Webisode series.  Further any and all information which is both contained in and may be construed from this Webisode series is generic in nature and should only be considered as informational and not as actual legal advise in any specific case.  Should you wish to seek actual legal advise then please feel free to contact Michael A. Haber, Esq. as follows:

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