Driving under the influence involves drugs as well as alcohol intoxication. When pulled over for speeding this summer, a Tennessee freshman football player ended up facing DUI charges. Marijuana was the suspected intoxicant according to police at the scene.
The football player was initially pulled over for going just shy of 80 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone on the interstate. The police officer at the scene said there was a smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was searched by deputies. Those deputies allegedly found marijuana residue on the seats of the vehicle.
The 18-year-old football player told the police he did not engage in smoking marijuana. He said he was headed back to campus from a hotel room where his friends were smoking. He was taken to a detention center to have his blood tested for intoxicants. He has a court date for the DUI charge against him.
When someone is pulled over on a Tennessee highway, police may initiate an arrest based on impressions at the scene, such as the smell of alcohol or drugs. When those authorities pursue DUI charges, they may rely on blood work, field sobriety tests or other purported evidence at the scene of an incident. How that purported evidence is gathered, such as through a search of a car as in this case, can impact a defense strategy as a search of the vehicle may not have been conducted in a legal manner. Also, blood tests and breath tests can be disputed based on certain circumstances, such as when and where the tests are conducted and the qualifications of the individuals giving the tests.
Source: wate.com, "Vol football player expected in court after DUI charge", Oct. 15, 2015
