Goodlettsville pays thousands to ‘sober driver’ after problematic DUI

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — An ongoing FOX 17 News investigation has done just that found a number of Middle Tennessee drivers charged with drunk driving even though they were stone cold sober. Now several of these drivers are taking action after they say their lives have been seriously ruined.

“Sir, I don’t drink,” Jeff Adams told the Goodlettsville police officers who stopped him in September 2023.

Another Goodlettsville officer recorded the stop on his cell phone, as both officers were off duty that morning. It was before 6 a.m. and the officer said he saw Adams swerve out of a lane onto the shoulder of the road at an exit.

But the Brentwood Middle School teacher’s pleas that he was indeed sober didn’t help. Adams also did not tell investigators later during interrogation about his hip replacement, which causes him to falter in walking in a straight line.

Adams, a Navy veteran, tells FOX 17 News he doesn’t drink at all. In fact, Adams initially offered to take a sobriety test, confident he would pass.

“I didn’t know that as soon as I got out of the car I was going to go to jail because he (the officer) seemed very excited that I was offering to take a field sobriety test,” Adams said of the officer who questioned him during the meeting. traffic jam.

But Adams misjudged his own abilities. As the officers began to handcuff him, Adams asked for a breathalyzer test, hoping it would clear him on the spot.

However, an earlier FOX 17 News report revealed that the majority of law enforcement agencies in Middle Tennessee no longer use on-site breathalyzers, including the Goodlettsville Police Department.

Most departments responded to FOX 17 News saying blood draws are more accurate and breathalyzers don’t detect drugs anyway.

“The reason you’re being arrested now is probable cause. You showed sufficient signs of impairment during the test to make an arrest,” one of the Goodlettsville officers told Adams in the cell video.

Adams immediately lost his part-time job as an Uber driver and feared damage to his reputation as a teacher and youth coach.

“I’ve had less than five traffic violations in my entire life,” Adams said. “And then getting arrested for drunk driving, and having to explain that to your own children, and worrying about it getting into the school system.”

After what felt like five interminable months, Adams’ alcohol and drug tests came back negative, and a judge dismissed or dismissed the case. But Adams said the emotional and financial toll was far from over.

“It was the most stressful, most traumatic experience I’ve ever had,” he said.

New figures from TBI show that it is a bigger problem than you might think. TBI laboratories analyze the majority of alcohol and drug tests for law enforcement agencies across the state. The data shows that since 2017, more than 600 people have been charged with drunk driving who ultimately tested negative for alcohol or drugs (609 in total). A TBI representative notes that the tests identify the presence of medications within the equipment’s capacity. TBI said it regularly upgrades its technology to be even more precise to detect more substances and newer types of drugs in circulation.

While 609 is a substantial number, this represents less than 1% of all DUI arrests analyzed by TBI. The vast majority of drivers arrested for drunk driving show alcohol or drugs in their systems.

Adams decided to take legal action. His attorney sent a letter to the Goodlettsville city attorney, stating that Adams’ constitutional rights had been violated. Adams demanded a $75,000 settlement. The city eventually paid Adams $5,000 to avoid a lawsuit.

Adams told FOX 17 News he accepted the amount so he could quickly put the crushing ordeal behind him.

If the situation had been fought out in court, it wouldn’t necessarily have been an open-and-shut case, even though Adams’ alcohol and drug tests showed he was sober. Goodlettsville police said officers still had probable cause to arrest him because they said he performed poorly on the field sobriety test.

“It ruins their lives,” said Scott Kimberly, an attorney who represents DUI clients in Rutherford County.

Kimberly believes officers need more training to consider other factors that could affect a field sobriety test, medical issues, age or even exhaustion.

“People look at me and ask, ‘How could this happen?’ And my answer is: it happens all the time. What we need to do as a community is ask for more accountability and stronger training,” said Kimberly.

“There is no repercussion, no consequence (for police),” Adams said. “There’s a problem here. There’s a pattern, especially when I found out I wasn’t the only one (sober driver charged).”

The Goodlettsville Police Department sent FOX 17 News a statement that read in part: “DUI and standardized field sobriety testing are not an exact science…We would like to be perfect, but we are not, the process is not, and this world is not.” “We trained both last year and this year to try to be the best we can be.”

In a similar case, a 76-year-old man, Kelly Avellino of FOX 17 News, interviewed in Rutherford County, was also charged with driving under the influence when tests showed he was not drinking. David Dutton is now suing the province for $400,000 in federal court.

For more reports like this from FOX 17 Investigates, click here.