Sober driver files federal lawsuit against sheriff’s department after arrest for DUI
This lawsuit is the latest development in WSMV4′s “Sobering Problem” investigations.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WSMV) - Nearly exactly a year after David Dutton was arrested and charged with DUI while sober, the 76-year-old driver is suing the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department.
A federal lawsuit, filed this week, against the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department claims 76-year-old David Dutton was unlawfully arrested for DUI while he was sober.
WSVM4 Investigates
It’s the latest development in our “Sobering Problem” investigation exposing how sober drivers say their lives were ruined when they were arrested for DUI.
The lawsuit comes 17 days after WSMV4 Investigates exposed how Dutton was arrested, and it took five months for the blood work to come back proving his sobriety.
Our investigation found despite Dutton explaining his health problems that could influence how he would perform on a field sobriety test, from having a slipped disc to not taking insulin that night for his diabetes, he was still arrested and charged with DUI.
In the lawsuit, Dutton points out something that even WSMV4 Investigates missed when we reviewed the body camera footage of his arrest: that he had a disabled driver placard on his car that night.
The federal lawsuit cites a DUI detection instruction guide by the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration for advising that people over 65 years old with back problems have difficulty performing the field sobriety test.
In the body camera footage, Dutton tells the deputy that he’s suffered from a slipped disc for 45 years.
Dutton was also 75 at the time of his arrest, well over the age NHTSA advises about in their training.
The lawsuit accuses the sheriff’s office of not providing training on how to distinguish between medical conditions and alcohol or drug impairment.
A spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office said they do not comment on pending litigation, but in an earlier email about Dutton’s arrest wrote, “We understand that in some rare cases, blood tests return indicating no drugs or alcohol. In those cases, the charges are dismissed, but that does not mean that probable cause did not exist at the time of the arrest.”
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