Anonymous DUI Tip Could Result in a 15-Year Sentence
Scott Caulfield faces up to fifteen-years in state prison and up to $100,000 in fines for felony charges of possessing a controlled substance and misdemeanor DUI…charges that were based on an anonymous caller’s tip.
The caller reported that Caulfield almost hit her and her husband head-on, causing them to swerve into a ditch to avoid the accident. The caller provided a description of Caulfield’s car as well as his location. With that, officers stopped Caulfield’s car and began a DUI investigation.
This type of investigation seems to go against the reasonable suspicion or probable cause standard that police must otherwise follow before they can initiate a traffic stop. The United States Supreme Court held long ago in Terry v. Ohio that an officer’s “good faith or inarticulate hunches” simply aren’t enough.
Caulfield’s DUI defense attorney will have to investigate how the events unfolded that led to Caulfield’s DUI investigation as well as the search that exposed the drugs. If his DUI defense lawyer can prove that the officer didn’t have the probable cause required by Terry v. Ohio to stop, detain, and/or arrest Caulfield, Caulfield’s charges could be reduced or possibly even dismissed.
As Los Angeles DUI defense attorney John Murray explains, “In order for these types of DUI and possession charges to stick, the judge must believe that the probable cause standard set forth under Terry has been met. If it hasn’t, the state has no case.”
