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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBlood test shows woman charged with DUI/felony child neglect was sober at time of arrest
After working 41 hours in three days caring for COVID patients, Katie Slayton had the day off on Sept. 22, 2021.
A single mother of a five-year-old son, the Williamson County nurse had dropped him off at daycare that evening so she could run to the mall.
A few hours later, she picked him up and prepared to pull out of the parking spot when she saw police lights directly behind her.
What would happen next would result in devastating consequences: charges of DUI and felony child neglect, separation from her son for nine weeks, and an agonizing six months of waiting for blood test results.
A test that would ultimately show she was sober the entire time.
https://www.wvlt.tv/2022/06/20/blood-test-shows-woman-charged-with-duifelony-child-neglect-was-sober-time-arrest/
Please read the WHOLE article before commenting! Yes this happened in Tennessee, but it could happen anywhere. This is appalling.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,335 posts)I just had blood work done at noon and had results uploaded to my chart by midnight.
This is not the first case Ive seen where it took months for the blood tests to exonerate an innocent person.
mopinko
(70,197 posts)etoh is an automated test that every lab can run in an hour or less.
Jilly_in_VA
(9,994 posts)But it shouldn't take more than 6 weeks. Not 6 months! I think the cops realized they were wrong and dragged it out. The cumulative effects of exhaustion can do a serious number on you. And the cops did a power trip on this woman.
Sympthsical
(9,097 posts)He had been pulling double shifts for a week at a demanding job. He was driving home late at night after a long day, utterly exhausted. Apparently his driving appeared unsteady. He was pulled over. He explained where he was coming from, offered to have them contact his boss, etc. He failed the field sobriety test apparently. He insisted on a blood test.
He ended up having to go to court over the whole thing, but it was eventually dropped. He was out some lawyer's fees if I recall.
To be fair (with my buddy, not this story of child separation which is crazy), he probably shouldn't have been driving. Sleep deprivation can and has killed people on the road. Stories about truckers who haven't rested enough resulting in lost lives are more common than they ought to be.
Still, TF with these cops. Once you realize you're wrong, that should be the end of it. But no, they went full power trip.
exboyfil
(17,865 posts)Since she was not driving when approached.
gldstwmn
(4,575 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,157 posts)There have even been PSAs that tell people if they're going to sleep it off in the car, don't put the key in the ignition.
I don't recall for sure, but that PSA might have been paid for by the Distillers' Association.
Xolodno
(6,398 posts)Realized he shouldn't be driving and immediately pulled in to dark part of a gas station and turned of the ignition. And fell asleep on the steering wheel. Someone later noticed him there and was wondering if he was hurt or dead and called the police. They showed up and nailed him. Had he just took his keys out of the ignition and tossed them to the passenger floor, they would have left him alone.
But as one lawyer told me, "the police have one job...to arrest people and nothing more".
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,400 posts)Hav
(5,969 posts)for losing your kid for such a long time. I don't have great balance to begin with and it can vary from day to day, particularly after an exhausting day. And that doesn't even factor in the stress when dealing with the police.
While it's true that everybody has heard about enough cases when the state failed to protect a child and that they sometimes have to err on the side of caution, being separated for 9 weeks partially due to waiting so long for a simple blood alcohol test seems insane.
exboyfil
(17,865 posts)Make then take you to the station and blow the machine if they feel they have sufficient evidence for an arrest. Also don't answer questions.
Response to exboyfil (Reply #13)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
ck4829
(35,084 posts)Cracklin Charlie
(12,904 posts)Ill go read this.
irisblue
(33,019 posts)snip-"The call to the police came from the daycare from a worker worried that Slayton seemed off.
snip-"Slayton tells them she has no family in Tennessee, and her phone is dead, so she cant contact a babysitter."
snip-"Her son would ultimately remain in state custody for nine weeks as she awaited blood alcohol levels, which showed her not to be intoxicated."
snip-"Slayton said she was not suing but instead asked that her arrest be evaluated.
Slayton said she was told that no discrepancies were found in how the arrest was conducted." {AKA- We investigated ourselves and found no problems in our behaviors}
oldsoftie
(12,587 posts)irisblue
(33,019 posts)EndlessWire
(6,562 posts)I'd sue. There is too much jeopardy for her, from losing her licenses to the trauma they suffered. Plus, revelation of her medical condition should have been private. This will impact her efforts to get another job.
I would not be able to do those physical tests, even though I don't drive and drink. While reading the story, I was picturing how awful she must have felt. Also, it was the cops' fault that the kid was running around the parking lot, not hers. She couldn't have moved anywhere to get him for fear the cops might shoot her. So, THEY endangered the kid.
I don't see why she shouldn't sue the cops plus the daycare. Surely, she is not going to return to that particular daycare, anyway. If she doesn't want to put them out of business, have them write her an apology. She doesn't have to sue those defendants; she can just sue the cops.
Stuff like this just infuriates me. I think you can go almost 24 hours before you start hallucinating. I, myself, ahem, can go 33 hours. But after that, I am unconscious. She went to work 41 hours in 3 days--wow. A good mom, doing all the right things: a job, daycare, shopping. And, then this.
She should sue for false arrest and defamation. They have a lot of explaining to do. Fix it so she doesn't have to work 41 hours in 3 days.
IronLionZion
(45,514 posts)I can confirm that this combination can make someone appear intoxicated without a drop of alcohol. Sleep deprivation alone can do it.
exboyfil
(17,865 posts)Usually you have to blow at the station to maintain license.
There was no basis for an arrest without the field sobriety test.
Don't answer questions.
gldstwmn
(4,575 posts)cab67
(3,002 posts)The field kits were for drugs rather than sobriety, but the appallingly high falls positive rate became apparent after many dozens of people plead guilty to possession charges at the urging of public defenders. A couple of hundred convictions were later overturned.
TeamProg
(6,202 posts)LiberalArkie
(15,728 posts)Most doctors do that if you are on Hydro or drugs and they suspect that you are doing other drugs or too much.
MoriaeEncomium
(25 posts)....and you have to spend money/time repairing your life after you lose your apartment, car, job, insurance, spouse whatever because of punitive cash bail system. Innocent until proven guilty? NOT!
Snackshack
(2,541 posts)There are way too many LEOs like this on job they either lack common sense or think everyone is a crook trying to kill them.
Law enforcement is going to have a reset at some point. It cannot continue as it is with instances like this happening on one end where innocent people are arrested and their lives up ended or shot & killed because of zealotry and on the other end an entire department of LE standing around doing nothing for over an hour while a gunman casually executes 19 children and 2 teachers and wounding 17 others.
This cannot continue.
Old Crank
(3,616 posts)This is ridiculous. What happened to breathalyzer tests?
You can't balance like I think you should you go to jail until......
uponit7771
(90,359 posts)stopdiggin
(11,348 posts)---- --- --- ----
gldstwmn
(4,575 posts)uponit7771
(90,359 posts)flying_wahini
(6,641 posts)gldstwmn
(4,575 posts)She might think she and her son are okay but nine weeks away from your only parent is traumatic, not to mention the six agonizing months of waiting for blood test results. She needs to be made whole for that. I feel like the daycare should be at fault also as they are not trained to look for signs of impairment and their actions seem somewhat punitive.