
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 11, 1990                   TAG: 9004110621
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

DUI CASE REVERSED BY VA. APPEALS COURT

The Virginia Court of Appeals said it threw out the drunken driving-related convictions of a Pulaski County man because the jury heard testimony from the arresting officer that the man refused to take a field sobriety test.

Michael J. Barbour, attorney for Michael Larry Farmer, said it was the first time a Virginia court had addressed the question of whether refusal to take a sobriety test could be admitted into evidence.

State law does not permit authorities to show that a defendant refused a formal blood or alcohol test when being tried for driving under the influence.

Field sobriety tests, which vary from officer to officer, include having a driver touch his nose or recite the alphabet. The field tests can be used to determine if a driver will be arrested for driving under the influence and then asked to take a scientific breath or blood test.

- Associated Press

by CNB