Police are arresting Georgians for DUI even after they blow zero on the breathalyzer.
Officers relied on their training to charge a Georgia senior citizen.
Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray looked into how accurate that training is at identifying people under the influence of drugs.
The field sobriety tests were designed to spot people who are drunk.
Flip a coin – heads or tails – the most recent major study into marijuana and field sobriety tests found that the police officers in the test classified nearly half the sober drivers as under the influence – no better than the flip of a coin.
“Big deep breath, and then blow,” said a Kennesaw police officer to Lenny Daniel during a breathalyzer test.
Daniel thought this roadside police stop on his way home from a Kennesaw gig with his band would finally be over.
“I thought once I blew into that breath test, I felt like I’d be home within 30 minutes. That was not the case,” said Daniel.
Instead, second later it was this:
“Hey, one more thing. There’s a camera. If you can turn to that ground, don’t move. You’re being placed under arrest for DUI,” said the officer.
“Okay, really?” asked Daniel.
“Yes, sir,” responded the officer.
“Oh, my goodness,” said Daniel.
Those other evaluations are something called advanced roadside impairment driver enforcement or ARIDE.
It is a 16 hour course teaching police officers how to perform field sobriety tests.
“I believe that you’re under the influence of some kind of drug,” said the officer.
Daniel was charged by Kennesaw Police with DUI.
The 65-year-old widower spent the night in the Cobb County Jail.
“I’ve driven for Meals on Wheels for 28 years as a volunteer and I thought are they going to still let me drive?” said Daniel.
It wasn’t until six months later that an official blood test finally proved what he had been trying to say all along – there were no drugs in his system.
“I do support the police, but this was just such an unfair thing that it was done to me, and I imagine to some others too,” said Daniel.
Police arrested and charged Daniel based on how he did with things like touching his hand to his nose and maintaining balance.
“I did well I thought on the sobriety test. He did not think I did well,” said Daniel.
That word think is important because as much as the training materials we reviewed present this as “scientifically validated,” critics say it is not.
“I think that the hardest thing for any human is to go back and sit there and say, maybe I shouldn’t have arrested that person,” said Joshua Ott a former Roswell Police Officer for more than a decade and now a DUI expert witness.
Ott was also an instructor for both ARIDE and the even more advanced Drug Recognition Expert program.
Ott now believes there is no evidence that the roadside tests he taught are accurate for drugs.
“We are using supposedly scientific evidence that has very high false positive rates,” said Ott.
“But these officers don’t know that,” said Gray.
“They have no clue,” said Ott.
Why did Ott change his mind?
Data from studies including a 2023 University of California, San Diego study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that looked at field sobriety tests and marijuana.
“Basically, the officers could have administered al these tests or flipped a quarter and they would come out with the same statistical reliability of the test,” said Ott.
The study found after giving the roadside field sobriety test officers classified 49% of the placebo group – the sober group – impaired.
“You’re seeing a level of false positives that if we were grading in a classroom, you would not pass,” said Gray.
“Exactly. And that’s the problem,” said Ott.
With Daniel’s stop the officers followed their training.
We looked at the ARIDE training manual.
It teaches officers “Research has demonstrated officers are more likely to err on behalf of the defendant.”
“It teaches that it’s more likely that an error is going to occur by letting somebody go than arresting somebody wrongly. And that’s what you’re training,” said Ott.
“And that’s just flat out wrong,” said Gray.
“That the data proves 100% that’s wrong,” said Ott.
“What I always ask the jury is, have you ever made a mistake at work? And everyone raised their hand,” said Kim Keheley Frye a criminal defense attorney who used to prosecute DUI cases but now defends against them.
She said she asks police officers on the stand that same question.
“It’s always no, I have never made a mistake arresting someone,” said Frye.
Kennesaw Police would not sit down and talk to us on camera about any of this.
Instead, they sent us a statement that states in part:
“During the stop involving Mr. Daniel, officers observed three traffic violations: failure to maintain lane, improper turn, and stopping in a crosswalk. These violations established probable cause for the stop. Officers noted bloodshot, watery eyes and an admission of alcohol consumption. Mr. Daniel voluntarily participated in standardized field sobriety evaluations and ARIDE assessments, during which multiple clues of impairment were observed. Based on the totality of the evidence, including his driving behavior, physical indicators, and performance on evaluations, Mr. Daniel was arrested for DUI.
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A formal complaint filed by Mr. Daniel was investigated, and no policy violations were found. The investigation concluded that probable cause existed for the arrest. Once our agency was notified of the negative toxicology results, the DUI charge was dropped, and our agency assisted Mr. Daniel in filing expungement paperwork to remove the arrest from his criminal history. This case demonstrates that the review and legal process function as intended, ensuring accountability and fairness while adhering to policy.”
“It becomes a why are you going to believe the officer? Are you going to believe this person who’s charged with a crime?” said Frey.
“I feel like it’s sort of you’re set up to fail that if they want you to fail it,” said Daniel.
Six months after Lenny Daniel’s arrest the DUI charge was dropped.
But he still had to pay a fine for a traffic violation.
We asked the GBI for data on test results.
In 2025, of the 6,669 toxicology tests run in Georgia about half, 3,693 came back positive for marijuana.
That does not include positive tests for other drugs like cocaine and opioids, but pot is according to the GBI overwhelmingly the second highest DUI cause after alcohol.
In Cobb County, after a 2017 lawsuit by the ACLU the Cobb County Police Department changed its arrest policy for marijuana.
The new policy releases drivers with a citation if only marijuana is suspected and allows them to find an alternative means of transportation.
We also checked with Atlanta and DeKalb County Police Departments and both make arrests in marijuana cases just like they would for a DUI for alcohol.
Kennesaw Police Response
Kennesaw Police DUI Enforcement Policy
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