Is the Smell of Alcohol Enough Evidence in a DUI Case ?
Most DUI arrest warrants in Tennessee have somewhere in the affidavit that the police officer smelled alcohol . The question is whether the smell of alcohol enough to make a DUI case. Tennessee has held that the smell of alcohol alone is insufficient to establish probable cause to arrest for for driving under the influence. However , the smell of alcohol even if not strong constitutes reasonable suspicion to justify a brief detention to ascertain a driver's level of sobriety . Tennessee courts have held that a detention up to ten minutes was a reasonable time to detain one accused of drunk driving. Once out of the car , the police officer starts to request you to do field sobriety tests which you can refuse. The field sobriety tests becomes the basis to establish probable cause to make the DUI arrest.
