COLUMBIA, SC (WBTW) – There’s an attorney out there who says you can show a flyer that you print off the computer to police when you’re pulled over or stopped at a checkpoint that prevents you from having to roll down your window.
The idea is that by avoiding rolling down the window, officers are not able to claim they smell alcohol on the driver.
Warren Redlich is an attorney out of Florida, and he says requiring people to roll down their window is an invasion of the their fourth amendment right.
“Innocent people get arrested, innocent people get prosecuted, and innocent people get convicted, and after seeing a fair number of people go through this, I thought how can I help innocent people protect themselves,” said Redlich.
Redlich says that’s what led him to create the Fair DUI Flyer.
According to South Carolina law, you’re required to show documents like your driver’s license and car registration, but you’re not required to hand them over.
That’s why some attorneys are saying to keep your window rolled up, take your documents and the Fair DUI Flyer, and press them up against the glass of the car.
Redlich says this shows the officer you want to remain silent, you don’t agree to any searches, and you want to wait for your lawyer. Redlich tests his approach in Miami, FL in the below video.
Donald Rach is a traffic instructor at the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy and says while you’re not legally obligated to talk to an officer, he says he can take you out of your car if he thinks you’re drunk.
“On a traffic stop, I’m not waiting on an attorney. I have reasonable suspicion to do this traffic stop right here. We’re not in court. So, there’s not going to be any reason for an attorney right here on the side of the road. I’m not going to be asking you questions. It’s going to be pretty up front,” said Rach.
Redlich says his mission is not to help drunk people get away with DUI. Instead, it’s to avoid communication with the officer altogether.
“If you had two beers three hours ago, you’re not drunk, but the problem is breath testing is not reliable, the police methods are not reliable, all kinds of bad things can happen. All of a sudden, you can find yourself facing a DUI charge when you were sober,” said Redlich. The video below shows Redlich testing the Fair DUI Flyer in Ocala, FL.
At the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, officers go through several weeks of training, with a strong focus on DUI traffic stops, but Redlich says that doesn’t make them scientific experts.
Redlich has tested this method at DUI checkpoints and says for the most part, he’s had no problem.
That is until last August of 2015 when he was arrested at a DUI checkpoint in Florida after police say he refused to hand over his driver’s license.
Still, there’s one piece of common ground.
“It’s not a pleasant experience seeing blue lights in your rear-view mirror, and we’re both trying to survive through it, you know. It’s not just dangerous for the driver in the vehicle that we’re stopping; it’s a danger to us as well because we don’t know what we’re walking into either,” said Rach.
Attorneys and officers both say it’s safer for everyone if you just comply.
Redlich says if you plan to use his method of the Fair DUI Flyer, you should first talk with your lawyer to be sure they know how to best represent you in case you are arrested. In the video below, Redlich attempts to use the Fair DUI Flyer in Coral Gables, FL, but it did not go as well as the other checkpoints.