We’re back with another installment of Whiteboard Talk! If you missed some of our previous Whiteboard Talk videos, click on some of these links to see old episodes. In this talk, we answer the question, “Do I have to take a breathalyzer if I am pulled over for DUI in Minnesota?” Avery Appelman explains the answer in the video below. We’ve also attached a transcript of the video below in case you’d rather read the answer.
There are two types of breathalyzers that people often get confused. There is a portable breathalyzer that police officers use as a screening device as part of the field sobriety tests at the time of the driver’s arrest. That is a test that you do not EVER need to take. That goes for other field sobriety tests as well – the walk heel to toe, touch your finger to your nose, horizontal gaze nystagmus, etc. Nobody needs to take those tests, and I encourage people not to.
However, if you refuse to take those tests (which is your right), chances are that you are going to be arrested, handcuffed and taken down to the police department, where they will ask you to take some form of chemical testing – either a breath, blood, or urine test. It’s that test (breath, blood or urine) that drivers have to take. There is no choice. It is against the law to refuse this test.
So remember, you don’t have to take the breathalyzer test at the scene, but you do have to take the test at the police station.
