State trooper fired for falsifying dozens of DUI arrests by PIRATENEWS

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State trooper fired for falsifying dozens of DUI arrests

POSTED BY: PIRATENEWS
UPDATED: Friday, January 4, 2013 01:02
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Friday, January 4, 2013 1:02 AM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!

Busy bee busted 100s of innocent motorists...what would YOU do?

Quote:
"Strictly speaking, a driver can register a BAC of 0.00% and still be convicted of a DUI. The level of BAC does not clear a driver when it is below the 'presumed level of intoxication.'"
—Tennessee Driver Handbook and Driver License Study Guide
http://www.state.tn.us/safety/dlmain.htm

Anyone who's ever been pulled over by a cop for something they didn't do will find reason for both fury and comfort in the story of Utah Highway Patrol Trooper of the Year Cpl. Lisa Steed. Steed, a cop celebrated for her diligence, has now been fired amid allegations that she falsified dozens — perhaps hundreds — of DUI arrests. Steed routinely pulled over drivers she claimed were driving drunk or on drugs and arrested them, even if they were found to have no drugs or alcohol in their system, a lawsuit contends. "Her actions are so blatant," a plaintiff's lawyer says, "it is probable that she acted like this in an untold number of cases."

In several cases, those who were arrested did not drink alcohol, said Robert Sykes, one of the lawyers who filed the complaint, which names Ms. Steed and the Highway Patrol as defendants.

“We were all separately getting calls about Lisa Steed from people saying: ‘I was pulled over. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. She told me I smelled like alcohol, but I hadn’t been drinking,’ ” Mr. Sykes said.

“They would pass the sobriety test with flying colors. But Steed would say they were still impaired and arrest them.”

Mr. Sykes and the other lawyers involved in the case said that they have spoken with more than 40 people who also claimed they were falsely arrested by Ms. Steed. It was part of a pattern the officer engaged in to burnish her reputation with superiors, the lawyers said.

In all of the cases, according to the lawyers, the charges were dropped or reduced, but not before drivers paid bail, car impound or court-related fees that typically exceeded $1,000.

Ms. Steed is in the process of appealing her firing.

Last April, however, the Davis County attorney, Troy Rawlings, said he would dismiss cases where Ms. Steed was the primary investigator or witness. Sim Gill, district attorney for Salt Lake County, also said that he did not plan to prosecute cases involving Ms. Steed.

In a police memorandum from 2010, a Highway Patrol sergeant who reviewed 20 of Ms. Steed’s marijuana-impairment cases found she was indeed arresting drivers who had no drugs in their system.

In the memo, first reported by Salt Lake City news outlets, the sergeant said Ms. Steed would report that the drivers showed visual signs of impairment, and he worried defense lawyers would begin questioning her credibility.

In one 2011 case highlighted in the current lawsuit, Ms. Steed pulled over Thomas Romero in Layton, Utah, for swerving. According to the suit, Mr. Romero told the officer he had not been drinking and he passed several sobriety tests. But Ms. Steed arrested him anyway.

“I told her: ‘You’re making the biggest mistake of your life. I haven’t had nothing to drink,’ ” Mr. Romero recalled in an interview. “I couldn’t believe I was being arrested. I didn’t know what was going on.”

While being processed at the Davis County Jail, Mr. Romero passed a blood test. All charges were eventually dropped.

In another case, Ms. Steed pulled over Julie Tapia for speeding as she was driving home. Ms. Tapia was giving a ride to her ex-husband, who had been drinking, but Ms. Tapia herself does not drink, the suit said.

Ms. Steed claimed Ms. Tapia failed a field sobriety test and arrested her. But blood tests showed no presence of impairing drugs or alcohol in her system, according to the suit. The charges were ultimately dismissed.

Michael Studebaker, another lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said that he believes there are at least hundreds of additional tainted arrests involving Ms. Steed. “The 40 or so individuals that have contacted us have to be the tip of the iceberg because Steed arrested many other people,” he said. “Her actions are so blatant, that it is probable that she acted like this in an untold number of cases.”

A citizen review board is expected to hear Ms. Steed’s appeal over her firing in the coming months.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/03/us/lawsuit-accuses-fired-utah-troope
r-of-falsifying-dui-arrests.html

Quote:

"Shit's gettin way too complicated for me. There are white folks, and then there are ignorant mutherfuckers like you! You can put lipstick on a pig. Sorry ass mutherfucker's got nuttin on me. I inhaled frequently - that was the point. Pot helped, and booze. A little blow when you could afford it. Junkie, pothead. That's where I'd been headed. You ain't my bitch nigger, git your own damn fries!"
-Barack Hussein Obama Soetoro, Dreams From My Father, MP3:
http://www.archive.org/details/ObamaInauguralMashup/

"There's a report out tonight that 24-years ago I was apprehended in Kennebunkport, Maine, for a DUI. That's an accurate story. I'm not proud of that. I oftentimes said that years ago I made some mistakes. I occasionally drank too much and I did on that night. I was pulled over. I admitted to the policeman that I had been drinking. I paid a fine. And I regret that it happened. But it did. I've learned my lesson."
—Governor George W. Bush, CNN Larry King Live, November 2, 2000
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bushdui1.html

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