Legal Question in DUI Law in South Carolina

Reasonable doubt vs. under illegal intoxication limit leads to arrest

My boyfriend was pulled over and arrested last night after a police officer was following another vehicle. He was on his way home from a local bar, and his friend was following behind him to make sure he arrived home safely. Initially, the police officer spotted his friend's vehicle and began pursuing(following) his friend and then the police officer noticed my boyfriend was swerving who was in front of them both. He then pulled over my boyfriend and informed him he was arresteed and was going to be taken in. The police officer also stated that he noticed the red car was following him. He had been following them both for over 15 miles.

He was then given a breathalizer which registered at 0.079. This is under/close to the 0.08 limit. Can he be convicted? What are the pretenses? Are police officers allowed to simply follow vehicles for over 20 minutes?


Asked on 8/15/05, 12:05 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Johnston Law Offices of Robert J. Johnston

Re: Reasonable doubt vs. under illegal intoxication limit leads to arrest

As to whether he can be convicted, we have two DUI statutes in SC. One involves blowing 0.08 percent and impaired driving. The other is called Unlawful Concentration has no impaired driving requirement. Its hard to tell you if he can be convicted or not. I don't have enough information from your question, such as field sobriety tests, video results, etc. I'm not sure what you mean regarding "pretenses." As to the police officer following, that is allowed. Bowing 0.079 is not a very high reading. Most people who blow that low look good on the video. How did he look? Robert Johnston (843) 828-1137

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Answered on 8/15/05, 8:18 am


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