The Appellate Division recently held in State v. Bernokeits, A-3150-10, that a field sobriety test is similar to an investigatory stop and only requires a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the defendant is under the influence of alcohol. The defendant in Bernokeits argued that the standard should be “probable cause”, a higher standard of proof, and the Appellate Division rejected that argument. The court held that the administration of field sobriety tests “is more analogous to a Terry stop than to a formal arrest, and therefore may be justified by a police officer’s reasonable suspicion based on particularized, articulable facts suggesting a driver’s intoxication.”…
Continue Reading Legal Standard for Field Sobriety Testing is “Reasonable Suspicion”