Brickbat: 'Attack Mode'

When Tennessee state troopers arrested Keith Van Soosten for DUI and reckless driving, he acknowledged he'd been drinking but said it was not enough to be impaired. It took two months to get the results of his blood test back, but it showed his blood alcohol level was .067, sober enough to drive in Tennessee. Trooper William Yates-Matoy arrested Van Soosten when he refused to submit to a field sobriety test; Yates-Matoy can later be heard on body camera footage telling another trooper, "as soon as they tell me no, I go into attack mode." Since December, Van Soosten is the second person arrested or assessed by Yates-Matoy for DUI whose blood test showed he was not legally impaired. Nashville TV station WSMV reports that many Tennessee law enforcement agencies do not use breathalyzers, claiming blood tests are more accurate, but it can take months to get the results back.

 

Comments

[Commenter_XY]

Trooper William Yates-Matoy needs counseling.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Perhaps the cop should be suspended without pay until the blood test comes back.

[mad.casual]

I've seen video of people shot by cops in attack mode. I've seen footage of innocent people beaten by cops in attack mode. I've seen footage of female cops getting whipped while in attack mode.

The 'attack mode' that detains a driver for 0.013% below the legal limit is a nothingburger.

Especially given that, for quite some time around here, the notion was that alcohol and BAC aren't the issue, impairment from any cause is.

[MatthewSlyfield]

Trooper William Yates-Matoy needs a new career.

FTFY.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ah, yes. DUI, where you are arrested for failure to participate in self-incrimination. I wonder how much of their budgets comes from DUI cases.

[Chumby]

In at least some states, failure to participate in such testing can result in loss of driving privileges though he did have a blood test performed.
A trick amongst the drunks is to delay for the blood test so that the body breaks down more of the alcohol in the system between the time they were pulled over for ostensibly being drunk and when they actually test. Have seen a few bodycam videos of drunken cops being pulled over and that was their tactic.

[defaultdotxbe]

I've also heard the opposite, which I guess could be true under some rare circumstances. E.g. you pound 5 shots then immediately get in your car for a 5 minute drive back home. You'd get home before the alcohol kicks in but if you sit around for an hour or two waiting for a blood draw you'll be drunk.

[the-machine]

This is true in Tennessee. Outright refusal will result in a suspension of your driving privileges, at least according to the paper I was forced to sign, giving permission for the blood draw. It hadn’t even occurred to me to DELAY the inevitable blood draw…
Edit : As I'm sure is true in many states, cops in rural TN will target you if you have tags from Shelby or Davidson counties (Memphis and Nashville, respectively)
This was quite a long time ago and, in retrospect, I had absolutely no business operating a vehicle. However, the circumstances of my getting pulled over were shaky (I was dropping off a friend in a rural neighborhood and explicitly told to “just park in the yard”. The deputy pulled me over FOR “driving through that yard”, yet apparently didn’t see my friend go into her house, which would have answered his question)…
At any rate, they do NOT play with DUI in Tennessee. They even tried not giving me my phone call on the basis that I was allowed to use the phone at 3 am, so naturally nobody answered. It was on a Friday night so it took damn near the entire weekend.. Needless to say, I’m never doing THAT again lol)

[Bubba Jones]

"it can take months to get the results back."

Something, something speedy trial.

Texas has "no refusal" weekends for holidays and they'll station a judge and a phlebotomist at fire stations where they can haul you in and get a warrant and a blood test before the alcohol metabolizes.

[diver64]

Speedy trial? I wish people would care that much about those arrested for the little get together on Jan 6 who are still sitting in a cell awaiting a trial

[Crackers Boy]

"Issue a citation if you must. If you have any questions, I'd like to have an attorney present."

CB

[Longtobefree]

"Very well. Just sit down in this cell until we can contact your attorney."

[the-machine]

Annnnnd your driving privileges just got automatically suspended for a year, whether you'd been drinking or not

[the-machine]

Annnd they're going to draw your blood anyways, just as soon as they get some judge's clerk to autopen the warrant.

[the-machine]

Annnd there's absolutely nothing your attorney can really do about it

[creech]

Yet your doctor can order all sorts of blood tests and the results are back in a day or two.

[jimc5499]

Breathalyzers are inaccurate. In some States they are Judge and Jury. You are not allowed to challenge them. The manufacturers won't provide the computer code to show how they work. A blood test is the only true way to determine the alcohol level.

[IceTrey]

Always refuse an FST because it's just a way for them to gather evidence against you. If you're pulled over for a DUI you're getting arrested no matter what.

[AT]

When Tennessee state troopers

Why is your graphic a car with Vermont plates? Are those cops working a DUI checkpoint, or is that traffic control? Looks like it’s the middle of the day. Are they coming back from tailgating perhaps? For all we know, they’re directing parking to the county library’s theater troupe’s performance of Shakespeare.

Why would you use that graphic? Why would you not put any thought into it …. oh, oh, course… no thought. OK, ACAB. Got it.

Trooper William Yates-Matoy arrested Van Soosten when he refused to submit to a field sobriety test; Yates-Matoy can later be heard on body camera footage telling another trooper, “as soon as they tell me no, I go into attack mode.”

What does “attack mode” mean? Did Yates attack this man?

Because otherwise, this seems like Chuckie is phoning it in. "Some guy somewhere gets stopped for DUI." OMG THOSE DARNED COPPERS.

So, anyway, what we’re seeing here is a cop whose brain is going, “if you’re not guilty you have nothing to hide.” Not OK, and I’m frankly wondering why the PBT wasn’t an option at that point.

I’m also wondering if Van Soosten was a clever fellow who may or may not have taken one of my classes.

So, something you knuckle-dragging ACAB cop-haters probably don’t know is that most State DMV’s condition your license on implied consent requirements. Simply put, refuse the FST and you automatically lose your license. Yep, they can condition your legal permission to drive on you submitting to those tests. It’s an administrative punishment (as opposed to a criminal offense). Tennessee, based on a 20sec google search, is a State that does this. And it makes me wonder, if he knew this, whether he intentionally took the administrative punishment rather than the criminal one.

Because that’d be a clever play. Reckless and dangerous to other motorists, but still clever. Slow the process down until it’s a blood draw, get some time to pass, oh gosh we’ve sobered up enough to get under the limit. Can’t do anything with that, can you prosecution.

Of course, you still lose your driver’s license. But maybe that’s an acceptable tradeoff (especially in 2024, what with all the criminal border jumpers behind the wheel that we don’t see fit to stop, arrest, and prosecute – honestly, I don’t know why I even register my car or submit to smog nonsense anymore).

Does anyone know if he had his license suspended for non-compliance? ACAB’s (and Brickbat’s especially) never look that kind of thing up, but ngl I’m kinda curious.