Besmirched Pinellas County sheriff’s deputy John Hubbard is vying hard to be reinstated to the sheriff’s department after being vacated from his post for systemically botching DUI investigations and arrests. According to Bay News 9, Hubbard was transferred from patrol to bailiff last year after an extensive internal affairs investigation reported that the DUI investigations he conducted routinely “lacked important/sufficient information to prosecute the cases.”
The internal affairs investigation covered 38 arrests executed by Hubbard between January 2010 and June 2011, of which 27 were for DUI. In a startling 24 of those cases (nearly 90%), the original DUI charges were either reduced or dropped entirely. This usually happened because the suspect’s BAC was found to barely reach or be below the legal limit of .08, or the suspect refused chemical testing after interacting with Hubbard.
In the latter case, on review of several videos of Hubbard’s DUI arrests internal affairs found that Hubbard was “found to be demeaning and abrasive towards citizens.” Prosecutors were uncomfortable presenting these videos to a jury because they worried that the public would take significant issue with Hubbard’s comportment during the investigations and arrests.
The report also found that Hubbard relied almost solely on the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test to provide justification for his DUI arrests. The HGN test involves the officer asking the suspect to keep their eyes on an object (usually a pen) while the officer waves the pen back and forth. During the test, the officer looks for involuntary jerking or unfocused eyes. The HGN comprises only one of the three standard Field Sobriety Tests relied upon to provide basis for a DUI arrest. Further, the report found that Hubbard was not performing even the HGN correctly, noting he moved the pen back and forth too quickly for an accurate result.
Hubbard has appealed his transfer. His hearing will be held tomorrow before a judge for the Division of Administrative Hearings.
Hubbard’s case highlights the dubious basis for some DUI arrests, and the disconnect between on-the-ground law enforcement conducting investigations and the actual chance of prosecutorial success. Poor training, improper protocol and faulty equipment are all things that can contribute to a false DUI arrest.
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