It is rare for this author to write about celebrities or other persons who are arrested for DUI. Nonetheless, it is important for the public to know that not everyone arrested for DUI is, in fact, guilty.
The story about a longtime minister, William Rose is detailed in a report from WZTV in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. In this case, Mr. Rose admits he was likely at fault for a minor accident. After recently applying hand sanitizer, the officer alleged that Mr. Rose smelled like alcohol. Due to health issues and anxiety, Mr. Rose did not meet the officer’s expectations during field sobriety testing. Mr. Rose requested a breath test, but like many other law enforcement agencies, the Murfreesboro Police Department only draws blood to test for potential intoxicants.
Months later, the blood sample taken from Mr. Rose was returned. The report was negative for alcohol or any other drug. Furthermore, Mr. Rose was diagnosed with a balance disorder, but was still deemed safe to drive by his physicians.
Eight long months after being charged, the case was dismissed and then later expunged (erased from public record), but the consequences of the arrest alone have continued to create major problems for him.
Accordingly, it is extremely important for police officers to be well educated in detecting truly impaired drivers and recognizing that not everyone who fails field sobriety tests is actually under the influence. That is why this author continues to lecture to various law-enforcement agencies. It also underscores the need for persons suspected of DUI to retain a well-qualified lawyer to assist them.
About the Author: Steven Oberman has been licensed in Tennessee since 1980, and successfully defended over 2,500 DUI defendants. Steve was the first lawyer in Tennessee to be Board Certified as a DUI Defense Specialist by the National College for DUI Defense, Inc. (NCDD). Among the many honors bestowed upon him, Steve has served as Dean of the NCDD and currently serves as chair of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers DUI Committee.
He is the author of DUI: The Crime & Consequences in Tennessee, updated annually since 1991 (Thomson-West), and co-author with Lawrence Taylor of the national treatise, Drunk Driving Defense, 9th edition (Wolters Kluwer/Aspen). Steve has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee Law School since 1993 and has received a number of prestigious awards for his faculty contributions. He is a popular international speaker, having spoken at legal seminars in 30 states, the District of Columbia and eight foreign countries. After being named a Fulbright Scholar, Steve was honored to teach as a Visiting Professor at the University of Latvia Faculty of Law (Law School) in the capital city of Riga, Latvia during the Spring Semester of 2019. During the Spring Semester of 2023, Steve taught as a Visiting Professor at Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Law in Budapest, Hungary. In the Spring Semester of 2024, Steve was designated a Fulbright Scholar for a second time and taught American Criminal Law and American Trial Advocacy at The University of Ljubljana Faculty of Law in the capital city of Ljubljana, Slovenia. If you would like to contact the author, please visit his website at www.tndui.com.
