Nearly every OUI police report contains the same exact language.
The officer encounters the defendant, begins to speak with him, and then notes that:
- The defendant’s eyes are bloodshot and glassy,
- His breath smells of alcohol, and
- his speech is slurred.
Cops use no poetic license here. The words and phrases they use to describe the average OUI suspect are exactly the same in every report.
And I suspect–without any hard evidence–that cops simply copy entire sections from old reports and paste them into the paperwork for their latest OUI.
The frustrating thing–from a defense attorney’s prospective–is that the prosecutor and, at times, even the judge will parrot the cops’ recycled language.
So if you’ve been arrested for an OUI, no matter what condition you were in when the police first encountered you, count on the police report noting your bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and alcoholic breathe.