The Billings Gazette, from Helena, has reported that a mistrial was declared on July 29 in regards to a DUI case involving a Billings police officer and a possible faulty breath-testing.
A four-man, two-woman jury convicted the officer, S.P., on a speeding charge only.
The case was declared a mistrial by Municipal Judge Bob Wood.
Thomas Jodoin, the Deputy City Attorney, stated that it was too soon to know whether the city would retry the case.
Bradley Finn, S.P.'s attorney, said that his client has returned to her job as a police officer. She had completed a brief period of leave following her December 10 arrest.
The city's Human Resources Department could not confirm S.P.'s current status of employment - as the person reached said that they were unable to comment. Officials from the Billings Police Department failed to return phone call queries for comment as well.
S.P.'s breath-alcohol content was above .10 percent on the night of her arrest per Helena police.
The legal driving limit is .08 percent.
The weight of the test was challenged by P.M., an expert witness for S.P.
P.M. has a Ph.D in chemistry for the University of Montana. The Thompson Creek Mining Co. in Ohio currently employs him as their senior metallurgist.
He has also had some training in breath-testing.
P.M. told the court that he had been called as an expert witness between eight and 10 times.
In his argument for the defense, P.M. said that variables such as elevation and the suspect's body temperature, among other factors, can cause test results to vary. He further claimed that after viewing the video taken at the arrest, S.P. performed well on two out of the three
field sobriety tests that officers administered.
Based on his findings, P.M. said that his belief was that S.P. was below the state's legal DUI maximum.
When questioned by Jodoin, P.M. admitted that he had no training in the analysis of field sobriety tests.
Instead, P.M. told of his own experiences - with friends that had over indulged and a tale about his sister-in-law that fell off of a stage while singing at a bachelorette party. P.M., in regards to the latter instance said, "I'm pretty sure she's above a .08."
The arrest occurred as follows: J.Z., a Helena Police Department Cpl., witnessed S.P. speeding southbound at the intersection of North Montana Avenue and Cedar Street. He caught up to her - driving alongside of her long enough to note a speed of 45 mph in a 30 mph speed zone - and then pulled her over.
J.Z. trains other officers on how to conduct field sobriety tests.
J.Z. testified that besides speeding he detected the odor of alcohol in S.P.'s car. While performing the field sobriety tests, J.Z. testified that S.P. admitted to consuming four beers - in a trip that included stops at three bars - and that she had only eaten some beef jerky and a protein bar that night.
There is a 20-minute interval, as required, between when an officer pulls someone over for suspected DUI and breath testing. During this waiting period the two officers discussed police matters - including a recent funeral of a patrolman that was killed at a traffic stop.
During this verbal exchange, J.Z. is seen on the video tape stating, "It's a bad situation for me, too. This is the last thing I want to do."
If you are being charged with DUI, DWI, OUI or OWI, contact a DUI attorney today to get the best defense possible!