Officer's Testimony Falls Apart in Court — Judge Dismisses DUI Case After Shocking Cross-Examination

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: when you said that you found multiple bottles a majority of them were almost empty that was not true correct yes sir mike so you have no idea why miss salinas had those bottles at the moment i cannot recall you also said that you smelled alcohol on miss salinas's breath i would like you to go through and find where you put that you smelled alcohol on miss salinas's breath in your report i would keep a call officer brown to the stand good afternoon officer will you please raise [00:00:23] Speaker 2: your right hand you saw me swear or affirm at a penalty of perjury that the testimony about to give to the score will be the truth the old truth nothing but the truth thank you sir we can [00:00:31] Speaker 3: have a seat good morning officer brown good morning how are you doing this afternoon i'm doing well how are you good thanks for asking uh we say your full name and spell your last name for the record yes ryan brown v-r-o-w-n and officer brown where are you a police officer at the city of thornton how long have you been a police officer at the city of thornton uh coming up on four years now on november 25th 2025 are you on duty yes at approximately around 303 pm did you respond to a dispatch call for a drunk driver yes sir what did you learn from that dispatch call um from what i remember uh a witness observed a vehicle i believe crashing into something um in a parking lot at a um at a store off 91st and washington um they called it in saying that the vehicle that left the park spot uh southbound through the parking lot did a dispatch give you a license plate for that vehicle yes sir what did you do after that uh once i got dispatched um i used our police resources um to locate that vehicle and i then observed the vehicle traveling eastbound on 88th avenue just past washington street was that in adams county colorado um i believe so yes sir did it have the same license plate that you received through your dispatch call yes sir now did you make contact with the driver of that vehicle yes sir uh do you see that person the driver in the courtroom today yes sir could you please point that person out and identify a piece of clothing they're wearing uh she's sitting down with the uh gray cardigan let the record reflect the witness identified the defendant miss salinas now when you made contact with miss salinas what did you observe um i observed her exiting the vehicle um she was from what i remember she was using the vehicle to assist her um as she did not appear very steady on her feet okay did you notice any signs of intoxication i did yes sir what did you observe um um i observed an odor of an unknown alcoholic substance on her breath uh as well as red bloodshot watering eyes did miss salinas make any statements about alcohol or drugs i cannot remember do you remember any statements at all the defendant made to you i cannot remember so when did you observe anything in the vehicle i did observe um some alcoholic uh i believe they were shooters as well as other bottles in the car these bottles full empty partially empty i cannot remember will you refresh your memory to look at the police report yes your honor permission to approach the witness so how many bottles did you observe in that car and what was the condition of those bottles approximately three bottles and the majority of them were um almost empty they appeared to be drunk from do you remember any statements uh miss salinas made about those bottles i cannot remember did you tell you she took anything else um i cannot remember uh permission to push the witness your honor did miss salinas make any statements about consuming alcoholic drugs uh she stated that she did consume some cbd gummies what did you do after miss salinas told you that she had eaten a weed gummy um i asked her i'm going to object to use of the word weed gummy oh my apologies just saying um what did miss salinas what did you do after miss salinas informed you that she had consumed a um tac edible i'm going to object to that too that wasn't the testimony just saying what did miss salinas mean when she said she took an edible um she advised me that it was from a dispensary in commerce city um and it was to assist her in sleeping as she was not sleeping very well this was a cbd gummy that you stated yesterday and so after you made she made that statement what did you do next um from what i remember um i asked her if she would be willing to approve perform some voluntary roadside maneuvers and how did miss salinas respond uh she stated that she did not want to did she give you a reason why she didn't want to um i believe that she said something about her legs hurting what did you do after the roadside tests um because i didn't perform any roadside maneuvers on her i placed her under arrest based off of my findings did you read the colorado express consent yes so what happened after you advised miss salinas at the colorado express consent statute she did not want to provide a blood sample and what did she do after that um i booked her through the thornton police department where she was released on a summons for the doi do you observe anything anything else that was odd about um miss salinas salinas demeanor or her statements from what i remember she was just very um flat lack of expression um her split speech was a little bit slow thank you officer pass the witness your [00:05:33] Speaker 1: honor good afternoon you testified just now that somebody called in and said they saw a crash correct correct okay uh you wrote a report in this case right correct okay uh obviously if somebody had called in and said they had seen a crash that would be an important thing to include in your report correct correct correct correct correct correct yes sir i would like you to look through that report and find where you say that somebody called in and said there had been a crash there's not anywhere okay officer you also uh dispatch keeps frons correct yes sir you look at those crons right uh yes sir and when somebody calls in dispatch reports what they're saying in the crons correct yes sir okay you're on a permission to approach you may these are the crons from this case correct correct okay scroll through those tell me if you find anywhere somebody says they saw a crash it does not appear anywhere and officer the reason it doesn't appear anywhere in either the prongs for your report is because nobody called in and said they saw a crash i need a verbal answer okay [00:07:07] Speaker 3: i don't know how to respond to that sorry it's a yes or no question so can you say it one more time did anyone call in and say that there was a crash um i believe at one point there was but i don't know [00:07:19] Speaker 1: if it was associated to the same call okay so you think that that somebody at some point that day called in and reported a crash in general probably yes sir okay so somebody probably at some point that they called in and reported a crash that's that's your testimony yes sir okay and you don't know if the report of the crash had anything to do with miss salinas correct i cannot remember okay but you'd agree that in your report you didn't write anything about a crash correct correct and you would agree that in the fronds that dispatch provided you associated with this case there's no mention of a crash correct correct okay and so fair to assume that based on those two things there was not in factor report of a crash associated with miss salinas correct correct okay um you also told the court uh that you found several bottles and they were all essentially empty correct um i believe i said the majority of them were yes sir okay all right let's talk about that uh you took a picture of those bottles didn't you yes sir okay i'm showing opposing counsel the photograph the officer took officer this is the photograph you took of the bottles you found in this lane is this car correct yes sir i want you to look at this carefully have enough time to look at it yes okay you found three bottles right yes of those three bottles two were fully they were full correct yes sir and they were sealed correct yes sir okay and the third one uh appears to be over half full correct yes okay so when you said to the court just now that you found multiple bottles and they were the majority of them were almost empty that was not true correct yes you're my fault okay um and you did ask miss salinas why she had those bottles correct uh i believe so yes i can't remember i can't remember yes sir okay so you have no idea why miss salinas had those bottles at the moment i cannot recall okay so based on your recollection there could have been a totally innocent explanation for her having those bottles alcohols correct potentially yes okay um you also said that you smelled alcohol on miss salinas's breath correct i believe so yes sir okay um now you were doing a dui investigation right yes okay and you'd agree that alcohol that's a pretty important clue during a dui investigation don't you the majority of the time yes sir and you're trained to write reports correct yes sir okay and when you're writing a report especially in a dui investigation you want to include every sign of dui impairment in your report correct yes sir so if you had smelled alcohol on miss salinas's breath you would have put that in your report correct yes sir okay you've got your report up there still correct yes sir i would like you to go through and find where you put that you've got alcohol on miss salinas's breath in your report no one you didn't put it in your report no sir you didn't smell alcohol miss salinas's breath i i guess not sorry okay um miss salinas told you she had one cbd gummy right yes sir okay and you would agree that cbd is not a substance that can impair a person correct i believe that a lot of substances can impair a person's ability to drive yes sir okay and i actually wanted to follow up with that because you did tell miss salinas on the scene that uh caffeine can give someone a dui correct yes sir so it's your personal belief that caffeine can give a person a dui correct yes sir it can impair somebody's ability to drive a motor vehicle okay um and you talked on the phone with miss salinas's son didn't you i believe so okay and he asked you how impaired his mom was right i believe so and you said not substantially didn't you i cannot remember okay you don't remember that part correct okay you did arrest miss salinas correct yes sir all right and when you arrested her you never you never read her her miranda rights did you correct okay you did ask her questions about the case though correct i probably did i can't remember and she probably responded to that didn't she yes okay um and you only gave her a choice of taking a blood test correct yes sir and the reason you only gave her a choice of taking a blood test was because she had said she had one cbd gummy correct yes sir okay uh you're aware that a blood test wouldn't detect cbd correct i'm not aware you didn't know that they when they when they do a blood test they don't test for cbd i am not aware okay did you know that the reason the blood tests don't test for cbd is that cbd doesn't impair people i was not aware okay let me ask you this if a person said that they drank an energy drink you believe caffeine can impair that correct yes sir okay so if a person told you that they drank an energy drink would you only offer them a blood test probably yes sir okay so if a person pull someone over they had an energy drink you're invoking colorado express consent because of the energy drink um they can only do a blood test that's that's your opinion yes sir okay john i have no questions officer brown why did you stop the vehicle um i believe it [00:12:37] Speaker 3: was because i observed on the rear of the vehicle the um number tabs to be expired because the tabs [00:12:45] Speaker 2: expired tabs yes sir just so i'm clear officer brown it's your testimony that the defendant was not involved in any accident prior to you making contact with her is that correct correct and it's also your testimony that you did not smell any alcohol on her breath when you made contact with her is that correct correct thank you officer thank you people's next witness uh no for the witnesses [00:13:09] Speaker 3: from people your honor any witnesses from the defense no argument yes your honor we'll start with the um probable cause motion here uh we just heard testimony that uh officer brown uh see this past call from the reporting party stating they observed a vehicle had the driver in it taking a shot of a shooter um officer stated that when we did not hear that testimony i did not hear that testimony [00:13:38] Speaker 2: okay um i did not hear that testimony his testimony initially was already or witness observed the vehicle involved specifically the defendant's vehicle was involved in an accident he got the license plate and located and observed the vehicle and contacted the defendant [00:13:57] Speaker 3: officer brown could have assumed that i could suspect that miss salina is also on uh marijuana or thc um wow that's similar effect he didn't testify that [00:14:09] Speaker 2: he did not testify he thought that she was under the influence of marijuana argument your honor i'm sorry [00:14:13] Speaker 3: this is just argument it is argument but that wasn't the testimony i didn't say that he said that your honor i said cbd has similar effects to thc but that wasn't i wasn't saying that he ever said anything about thc r okay i was making a reasonable inference but based on those observations that mr brown testified here to today uh he did have a reasonable position and probable cause to proceed to roadsides and with that probable cause he had probable cause to proceed to uh expiro colorado express consent and then regarding the miranda motion that people conceived the miranda motion on it probable cause is only [00:14:49] Speaker 1: established when the facts available to a reasonably cautious officer would warrant their belief that a crime is being or has been committed that's a well-established principle in case law the officer testified uh that miscellaneous had expired tabs that was the reason for the stop there's no evidence of bad driving no suggestion of bad driving no suggestion of bad driving the stop was predicated on expired pads for the officer's testimony in the absence of other evidence that would suggest a consumption of alcohol the officer did not have probable cause turning to express consent in order to only offer a blood test the officer does have to have probable cause to believe that a person was using drugs i think the testimony outlined pretty clearly that the officer's opinion of what constitutes potential drug use does not fall in line with what the statute is meaning by potential drug use cbd and thc are two different things they just are and so i think under the totality of the circumstances the officer didn't have uh probable cause to have arrested miscellaneous for dui in the first place he did not have probable cause to offer only a blood test defense counsel is requesting that the court suppress the blood test just over clear there is no blood test sorry i meant suppress the refusal i apologize i misspoke [00:16:17] Speaker 2: uh so that's my record for that i hear the court heard testimony from officer brown of the thornton pd testified that on on the alleged date of offense here he responded to a call regarding a witness observing a vehicle involved in an accident he observed the vehicle driving he contacted the defendant officer brown then later testified that he was not in fact given information about the defendant's vehicle being involved in the accident officer brown testified that when he contacted or made contact with the defendant well he testified that he stopped the defendant for expired tabs when he made contact with the defendant he observed that the defendant was getting out of the vehicle that she was not steady on her feet he could smell an odor of unknown alcohol coming from the defendant's breath the defendant admitted to him that she had consumed cbd gummies officer brown later clarified that specifically said i guess not when he was asked about whether he did in fact smell any alcohol on the defendant's breath given that was not was that was not stated in his report as it relates to the shooters in the vehicle the officer initially testified that uh there were shooters in the car and other uh there were two bottles that were not only three bottles found in the vehicle that he saw and two of them were unopened uh the other was open uh but it was approximately half full officer brown testified that he said based on his observations and the defendant's statement about consuming cbd gummies he did offer the defendant voluntary roadsides uh the defendant declined specifically she stated because of her leg officer brown testified that at this time he advised he placed the defendant under arrest advised the defendant of express consent and the defendant refused blood tests should back up he only offered the the defendant a blood test specifically because he believed um that cbd can impair an individual there was no testimony about thc he also believes that caffeine can impair someone so he only offered a blood test because he believed uh cbd impaired the defendant probable cause exists on the fact and circumstances within the of the officers knowledge is sufficient to warrant a person of reasonable caution to believe in offense has been or is being committed the totality of the circumstances must be taken into account here based on the totality of circumstances that the reason the defendant was stopped was expired tabs not because of a ready report indicating she was involved in an accident the officer noting that the defendant was unsteady on her feet and had red bloodshot eyes the defendant did explain that her leg hurt there was no odor of alcohol on the defendant's breath the defendant did not admit to consuming any alcohol or drugs there was an admission of cbd gummies the court finds that based on the totality of circumstances there was not probable cause to place the defendant under arrest for driving under the influence based on the totality of the circumstance the court finds that there was not probable cause to request the sfsts based on the totality of circumstances the court finds that there was not probable cause to invoke express consent as it relates to the violation of express consent only offering blood tests as i stated the court finds that there was not not probable cause to invoke express consent to request only a blood test the court understands that the prosecution concedes the motion and by the motion alleging violation of miranda according to the court grants defendant's motion to suppress based on lack of probable cause and violation of express consent the court grants defendant's motion to suppress the refuse of the roadsides again finding there was no probable cause or the arrest or probable cause even requests the sfsts or grants the motion to suppress statements based on violation miranda as conceded by the prosecution how the prosecution decide how it wants to proceed given my rulings today is that right now your honor if you're if you're ready you can talk to your [00:20:55] Speaker 3: supervisor if you wish but we can dismiss the dui your honor we'll keep the dur and the license plate as well so i guess it's become a traffic case but i can dismiss it on record i can fill out a so granted [00:21:06] Speaker 2: the remaining charges are uh the license plate tabs and driving after revocation this matter proceeds at the status conference august 19th at 8 30 in church house september 3rd 8 15. anything [00:21:19] Speaker 4: further on this matter i'm not going to be on it all right a routine dui stop took an unexpected turn when courtroom testimony exposed major inconsistencies in the officer's statements missing evidence conflicting reports and questionable probable cause shifted the case dramatically as the judge reviewed every detail critical legal protections prevailed leading to suppressed evidence and the dismissal of the dui charge