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http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03...stroke-victim-diann/

Don't be guilty of being in Dallas after you've suffered a stroke or you could end up in jail!

This is the sad state our country has sunk to, this story could be true in ANY city in the US, even here in the Shoals area. The police departments in this country are becoming more of a threat to our civilization than the criminals they are susposed to protect us from. It seems like their primary job has become writing speeding tickets and arresting people for high profit violations (like public intoxication in this case) in order to raise money for their city.
An optimist sees the glass as half full while a pessimist see the glass as half empty.... Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi simply looks upon your glass as being too big.
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The story makes it sound like the arresting officer was clearly told that she was a stroke victim several times. I wonder if this is really true? Did he just choose to ignore this information and just assumed she was drunk or on drugs? All good questions.

Cops are just people and people make mistakes. If this is one of those times the best thing to do is to acknowledge it and apologize and move on.

It is sad she had to go through this though.
Last edited by dark dreamer
It feels like another media report thats just stirring the shhh. Doesn't pass the smell test. Police don't normally walk up into your house and arrest you for being drunk. I have a feeling she was probably being disorderly and the cops added that with her slurred speech and assumed she was drunk.

Idea: Don't act disorderly when you call the cops and they show up.
"The arrest came last month, after Irons told her nephew he could no longer continue living at the home she had inherited from her mother -- she said he called police to report he had been kicked out of the house.

The officers responding to the call checked a box on their report indicating that Irons' speech was slurred and she was a danger to herself. The handwritten report says the officers "could not understand what she was saying."

Irons said the officers spoke with her inside her house, then asked her to step out onto the front porch, where she was arrested."


Here are the problems I have with this:

1. Why would the police respond to a complaint that someone had been kicked out of someone else's home? If my nephew comes over for a visit, spends the night and decides he's gonna just move in but I say no and make him leave. Are the police gonna show up to investigate? Do they not have more pressing cases to investigate?

2. The officers ask her to step outside her home. I see this as a way to arrest her for "PUBLIC" intoxication since she is outside her home, but she is still on her front porch. And what if she had said "No" to their request to step outside? Would they then arrest her for failure to cooperate, since she wasn't "Intoxicated in Public"? My guess is the "Public Intoxication" charge carries a higher fine than "Failure to Cooperate".

Here's an idea, next time your stopped by the police for whatever reason, intentionally slur your speach, talk like you have a "thick tounge" and see where it lands you. Do everything else like you normally would just talk with a slurred speach. Don't tell the officers you normally talk that way. See if you end up arrested for DUI, odds are you will. Then demand a blood alcohol test. When it comes back negative, sue the city and the police officer involved for false arrest.
quote:
Originally posted by im4uhonee:

2. The officers ask her to step outside her home. I see this as a way to arrest her for "PUBLIC" intoxication since she is outside her home, but she is still on her front porch. And what if she had said "No" to their request to step outside? Would they then arrest her for failure to cooperate, since she wasn't "Intoxicated in Public"? My guess is the "Public Intoxication" charge carries a higher fine than "Failure to Cooperate".


I didn't really understand this part either. She was inside her home until THEY asked her to step outside. How can she be arrested for "PUBLIC" intoxication when she was initially inside her home? Don't really see how that could ever stand up in court anyhow.

One other thing. I guess they don't give you a breathalyser or a blood test unless you are arrested for DUI. I never knew that. I guess I just always assumed that if you were arrested for intoxication of any kind you would be tested.

I bet she thinks twice about calling the cops for any reason next time. I know I would if I were her.
quote:
Originally posted by im4uhonee:
1. Why would the police respond to a complaint that someone had been kicked out of someone else's home? If my nephew comes over for a visit, spends the night and decides he's gonna just move in but I say no and make him leave. Are the police gonna show up to investigate? Do they not have more pressing cases to investigate?

2. The officers ask her to step outside her home. I see this as a way to arrest her for "PUBLIC" intoxication since she is outside her home, but she is still on her front porch. And what if she had said "No" to their request to step outside? Would they then arrest her for failure to cooperate, since she wasn't "Intoxicated in Public"? My guess is the "Public Intoxication" charge carries a higher fine than "Failure to Cooperate".

Here's an idea, next time your stopped by the police for whatever reason, intentionally slur your speach, talk like you have a "thick tounge" and see where it lands you. Do everything else like you normally would just talk with a slurred speach. Don't tell the officers you normally talk that way. See if you end up arrested for DUI, odds are you will. Then demand a blood alcohol test. When it comes back negative, sue the city and the police officer involved for false arrest.


If you call 911 the police are required to respond regardless of how trivial the call.

If she had not stepped outside there could not have been an arrest for DIP. No, peace officers don't carry around a list of fines and pick the most expensive one.

In order to make an arrest for DUI the officer must have probable cause. This consists of a seris of observations and field sobriety tests that they must be able to articulate in court. Slurred speech alone would not be enough for a DUI arrest.

If a person arrested for DUI passes a breath, blood or uring test the charges are not filed.

If a person decides to sue for false arrest after passing a breath,blood or urine test they must prove the officer knowingly ignored all evidence to the contrary and arrested them anyway.

This was a civil matter. The homeowner wanted a resident in her home removed, the police don't have the power to do that. I imagine both the homeowner and the resident both refused to budge and it went downhill from there.
They may not carry around a list of fines with them but I'm sure they know exactly what many of them are. I do wonder if, when the police ask her to step outside if she had just said "NO" and slammed her door on them what would have happened? I'm guessing at that point SWAT would be called and tear gas and a battering ram might come into play. I doubt they would have simply walked away.

And I'm thinking if some officers pulled you over and your speach was slurred their mind would be made up at that point that you must be intoxicated and it wouldn't matter what else transpired you'd be arrested and took to jail. That was the case with this woman. She, her son and her nephew was telling the officer that she was a stroke victim.

I'm just thinking in today's economy, if someone was looking for a good payday that suing the city over a false arrest might be the ticket to easy street.
In spite of your opinion most officers could care less what a fine is for a particular cite.

If she had said "No" and the problem was resolved they would have turned around and walked away. Dont be so melodramatic.

As I said before, simply having slurred speech is not enough probable cause to arrest someone for DUI, the same applies for a DIP arrest.

As far as a ticket to easy street remember, those settlements come out of taxpayer money. I'm sure your family, friends and neighbors would appreciate that.

I saw an artcile in the TD recently that FPD was going to offer a Citizens Acad. You might consider going and learn first hand what is involved in law enforcement.

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