Another case of a judge returning driver's license following DWI stop

In a ruling handed down July 10, the Missouri Southern Disrict Court of Appeals reversed Dent County Judge J. Max Price's decision to restore driving privileges to a man arrested for drunk driving. Price said the Highway Patrol trooper who stopped Mark Bradford Jones did not have "reasonble suspicion" to make the initial stop.

Add Judge Price to the list of judges who want to play Russian roulette with our lives by allowing these drivers to return to the streets on the flimsiest of reasons.

To show why Judge Price's decision was overruled, consider this passage from the appellate court's opinion:

Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper Robert Creasey ("Trooper Creasey") was the
only witness called by the Director. Trooper Creasey testified that he was traveling
southbound on Highway 72 around 11 p.m. on a Friday night when he observed a red Dodge
pick-up truck directly in front of him. He stated the truck was traveling between sixty-five and seventy miles per hour in a sixty miles per hour speed zone, that it was weaving within its own lane of traffic, and that "it crossed over the . . . right side of the road on one occasion. . . onto the white line onto the rumble strips.[2]" Trooper Creasey could not recall how many times the truck weaved within its lane.

After making these observations, Trooper Creasey initiated a traffic stop and asked
Jones for his driver's license and proof of insurance. Jones had to be asked twice for proof of insurance, but he did produce it. Trooper Creasey told Jones the reason he had stopped him was because he had driven onto the rumble strip. Trooper Creasey did not provide Jones with any other reason for the stop. Trooper Creasey observed that Jones's eyes were "bloodshot and glassy", that an odor of intoxicants was coming from inside his vehicle, and that when Jones spoke, "he just kind of stared." Because of these observations, Trooper Creasey asked Jones to exit his truck and sit in the passenger seat of Trooper Creasey's patrol car.

From his patrol car, Trooper Creasey radioed for a computer check of Jones's driving
status. While waiting for a response to that inquiry, Jones stated: "I've had a couple of drinks but I'm okay." In response, Trooper Creasey asked Jones how many drinks he had consumed and Jones replied "four or five." Trooper Creasey then had Jones exit the patrol car and perform a series of field sobriety tests consisting of the horizontal gaze nystagmus,the one-leg stand, and the walk-and-turn. Jones failed all three. Trooper Creasey also asked Jones to recite the alphabet. Jones recited it correctly up to the letter L, but Trooper Creasey could not "understand the rest of the letters until he got to X, Y and Z." Trooper Creasey then had Jones blow into a portable breath tester ("PBT"). The PBT detected the presence of alcohol in Jones's breath.

From all of this, Trooper Creasey concluded Jones was intoxicated and placed him
under arrest. He handcuffed Jones and transported him to the sheriff's department. En route to the sheriff's department, Jones stated: "I knew when you turned the lights on I wasn't going to pass." At the sheriff's department, Trooper Creasey informed Jones of the implied consent law and asked him to consent to a chemical test of his breath. Jones refused to take the test. Trooper Creasey then continued to ask Jones standard questions from the alcohol influence report. When Creasey asked Jones what day of the week it was, Jones responded:

"I might be drunker than I think."

And Judge Price restored driving privileges to this guy?