Questions are being raised about the handling of a Bartlett, Tennessee police officer who was found off-duty in an accident where she rolled over her jeep, which contained an open liquor bottle. EMTs reportedly smelled alcohol and Officer Teresa Brignole refused a sobriety test. However, the officers at the scene supported her in saying that they did not smell alcohol and she was not charged with DUI.
The internal investigation was unable to be completed bevause Brignole, 43, is on medical leave. Police Chief Gary Rikard has indicated that they may allow a grand jury to look into the matter to clear up public misgivings.
Brignole suffered a laceration on her head and several broken vertebrae in the crash of her Jeep. Two of three officers said that they did not smell alcohol. It is not clear what the third officer stated from news reports.
While she could have crashed the Jeep without the influence of alcohol, the refusal of the test is a bit off-putting for an officer.
This is only the latest controversy over officers in a slew of recent cases involving alleged DUI, here and here and here and here.
For the full story, click here.
Bdaman,
so you admit it??! Do you have to change clothes when you blog as Ella?
Yep thats me Ella, Duh, Wayne, Jim Burns, Buena Vista Mall, Flash, Bdatroll, Bdalier, Bdaloser, Bdabigot, Give me a little bit I think of some more.
ETS,
In some cases that is a correct statement.
What’s the difference between the police and an organized crime gang?
The uniforms.
Wow! What a thread this was! Buddha, I think Bdaman and his new friend are going to goad you into coming out of retirement from the Bar. I agree with yours and AY’s take. Bdaman is your new name Ella?
Duh,
To answer your question…..It is illegal to transport beverage alcohol in a motor vehicle, a motorized snow vehicle or a boat unless the beverage alcohol is in a container that is unopened and the seal unbroken, or unless the beverage alcohol is packaged in baggage that is fastened closed or is not otherwise readily available to anyone in the vehicle. I work often with Police, and have been told that alcohol, during transport in a motorized vehicle, must be in the trunk as this is the only way that it is aboslutely not accessible to anyone in the vehicle. If you’re interested, our laws with regards to alcohol and transport, also prohbits the transport of alcohol on a personal watercraft unless the craft is considered a ” house boat “.
Most importantly, with regards to blood/alcohol testing, it is illegal here to refuse to blow into an approved screening device, although you do have the right to refuse a roadside sobriety test and to divulge the amount of alcohol that you have had before driving.
I don’t know where in Canada you were driving when you showed the officers your bottle….Quebec perhaps, but the above is Canadian / Federal law. It is taken seriously in Ontario.
Canadian Eh! “…in Ontario, being stopped by police with any alcohol within reach while driving will buy you a fine.”
******
I don’t have a problem with that kind of law at all. I always store bottles of any kind in the ‘trunk’ or, if I don’t have the passenger/storage partition up, under a big old comforter I keep in the back of the car as a safety measure- I don’t want pickle jars or beer/liquor bottles flying around the car in an accident. I’d hate to be killed by a flying jar of bread and butter pickles or Bailey’s Irish Cream.
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“The question to ask is why this officers’ blood/alcohol levels were not tested during her hospital visit. That should be standard procedure when one is suspected of DUI”
*******
That’s the real question that needs to be answered.
“You are absolutley correct BIL, in fact in Ontario, being stopped by police with any alcohol within reach while driving will buy you a fine. This is the case whether the bottle has been opened or remains in the bag that it left the store in.”
Does the law in Canada prohibit the transportation of alcohol, sealed or unsealed, in the passenger compartment? What province do you live in? I’ve transported sealed alcohol in the passenger compartment. I even showed them the bottle. No problem.
Canadian Eh! this is America. What happens in Canada stays in Canada.
Speaking of which, for all who likey, you can now go to a brothel in Vegas and pick the man of your choosing.
That is correct
Simple it was sold as an economics bill of goods for the merchants and wine industry.
You are absolutley correct BIL, in fact in Ontario, being stopped by police with any alcohol within reach while driving will buy you a fine. This is the case whether the bottle has been opened or remains in the bag that it left the store in. The question to ask is why this officers’ blood/alcohol levels were not tested during her hospital visit. That should be standard procedure when one is suspected of DUI, it certainly is here, unless one is fortunate enough to have many alies wearing blue!
On a side note, I think it is incredibly admirable for one to walk away from a career that one has worked so hard to build on principle and moral belief.
When is a donkey spelled with 1 letter?
When it’s “U” Jackass
LK,
Responding LEOs.
That lied and obstructed.
Trier of fact.
Two days in a row Lottakatz, very well said, three cheers mate
Michigan passed a statute to allow for open bottles of wine to be exempted from the laws pertaining to Open Containers.
Several states did, anybody know why?
Not you Buddah you know everything.
The wording is IMO plainly conditional on the judgment of the LEO responders.
“(A) “Open container” means any container containing alcoholic beverages or beer, the contents of which are immediately capable of being consumed OR the seal of which has been broken;”
The likely-hood of an accident victim to immediately consume an alcoholic beverage from a broken bottle (if the seal is not broken) is a judgment that has to be made in the affirmative by the responding LEO before a citation is written. A beer can, opened by a gash in it’s side in an accident but with its tab intact may be immediately drinkable but is it reasonable to assume that the driver has been drinking or would drink a beer in that fashion? It’s entirely a judgment call.
The totality of circumstances regarding the beverage container at the accident site has to be assessed and a judgment drawn by the LEO’s on the scene. It must pass the common-sense test at the time of the accident to the satisfaction of the LEO responders on the scene. Thereafter it has to pass the common sense test to a judge or jury to be upheld.
IMO a citation for a broken bottle with seal intact, as with a can, gashed or torn but with an intact tab, should not result in an automatic citation due to the conditional nature of the statute if the responding LEO doesn’t judge it to be warranted.
AY,
Michigan passed the law to exempt bottles that were open (the seal was broken). You should ask them why they didn’t create an exception for bottles that were accidentally broken open.
The open container laws pertain to open bottles of consumable alcohol. Break the seal, pop the cork, pull the tab. It’s considered to be open. Your beginning to sound Woo-ish. It is ridiculous to consider a bottle broken during an accident to be an open bottle in violation of the statute.
Scenario: An earthquake, and $10K in bottles of wine were destroyed. Insurance company will only cover unopened bottles of wine. Are the broken bottles of wine considered to be open bottles of wine?
“You know the score, pal. You’re not cop, you’re little people!”
Bryant – Blade Runner
“90% of the men in the United States masturbate in the shower, 10% sing, do you know what they sing?”
“Hold my beer and watch this” ?