Audio from Intoxilyzer room admissible in DUI case
Be careful what you say when you are at the police station. Even if you think you have privacy, you may not. The best way to conduct yourself is to assume that everything that you say is being recorded, and everything you do is being filmed. In a Maine DUI case, the Defendant, Mr. Dominique, learned the hard way. The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine just reversed a suppression order, admitting incriminating statements he made in the Intoxilyzer room during a DUI arrest.
The Cite: Maine v. Dominique, Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, Decided on December 9, 2008
Quote from the opinion:
There is no basis from which to conclude that the police officer attempted to circumvent Dominique's Sixth Amendment right to counsel by inducing him to make incriminating statements to a third party and then secretly recording it.
Analysis: Should you expect privacy in the police station during an arrest? Maybe when you are talking with an attorney, but apparently not when you are talking to a non-lawyer family member. It is safe to assume that everything these days is recorded.
Practical observation: Is it just me, or do other defense attorneys notice that when our clients say that an officer made a statement that was abusive or would reflect negatively, there never seems to be a recording?
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