Officers Arrest Woman After She Lies To Them

[Music] welcome to audit the audit where we sort out the who and what and the right and wrong of police interactions this episode covers signs of intoxication reasonable suspicion and firearm laws and comes to us from columbus police body cameras channel be sure to check out the description below and give them the credit that they deserve on september 4th 2020 after leaving a casino in columbus ohio several officers with the columbus police department approached 57-year-old kathy rushman's vehicle ms rushman had stopped her vehicle in the middle of the road and turned on her hazard lights documents relating to this incident list columbus police department officer ian wilkinson as the complaining officer but i cannot confirm with certainty that officer wilkinson's body camera provided the footage used in this episode hi how are you i'm just looking at my aspen where's your husband at man you talking to him on the phone right now yeah okay i was just wondering why you're stopped in the middle of the road oh i'm good you're good yeah who's your husband what's that is he supposed to be hanging out around here no no then if you're just if he's not supposed to hang out around here walking you're stopped in the middle of the road right here i lost him you lost him was he in the car yeah and he's not in the car don't put the car in park for me please outstanding so he was in the car and then he just jumped out and left okay where were you guys coming from the casino what wound you up down here in the bottoms i'm sorry here he is hi honey thank you okay it might be a 35 i can't tell we're at well before before you take off i need to ask you some questions go and hang up the phone for me please i just want you to be straight with me okay you said you came from the casino right okay did you do any drink at the casino no you feel okay to drive you're just you're acting really weird right now that's why i'm asking so sorry but it's scary the officer asks miss rushman if she has been drinking because she is acting quote really weird likely referring to the location of the vehicle as well as ms rushman's slurred speech delayed responses fidgety behavior and inability to clearly explain the situation with her missing husband according to the us department of transportation national highway traffic safety administration stopping a vehicle in a lane for no apparent reason is one of the most extreme dwi cues that officers are trained to look for and a national highway traffic safety administration handbook on detecting impaired drivers states that quote sometimes when you observe this behavior the driver will be just lost or confused but more than half of the time the driver will be dwi maybe even asleep at the wheel in addition to driving cues the handbook reviews various signs of intoxication that an officer should look for after stopping the driver such as fumbling with their driver's license or registration repeating questions or comments or balance problems however the handbook does not address the fact that sometimes quote unquote weird behavior is attributable to mental illness or other health issues rather than impairment in fact in a study published in 2018 researchers found that the signs of a mental illness can look so similar to signs of substance use that experienced emergency room psychiatrists frequently confuse signs of mental illness with those of substance use while this means that what an officer may view as cues of intoxication are actually symptoms of mental illness or even something as simple as a speech impediment police officers still have the authority to detain individuals exhibiting signs of intoxication in the 2002 case of state versus dicken the fourth district court of appeals in ohio held that quote the possible existence of an innocent or legal reason for the observed conduct does not negate a reasonable suspicion the possibility of an innocent explanation does not deprive the officer of the capacity to entertain a reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct indeed the principal function of his investigation is to resolve that very ambiguity and to establish whether the activity is in fact legal or illegal to enable the police to quickly determine whether they should allow the suspect to go about his business or hold him to answer charges simply because certain conduct may be construed as consistent with innocent behavior does not mean that this conduct cannot form the basis for reasonable suspicion similarly in the 2014 case of state versus greaves ohio's second district court of appeals found the quote the fact that innocent explanations could exist for the signs of impairment did not preclude reasonable articulable suspicion of intoxication when establishing a reasonable articulable suspicion of criminal activity the state need not exclude each and every possibility of innocent activity that might imply non-criminal behavior therefore even though an innocent explanation could have existed for miss rushman's behavior an ohio court would almost certainly conclude that the officers had sufficient evidence to continue to investigate the situation i'm in a neighborhood i've never been around yeah well that's why how did you guys end up down here i cut off the wrong exit you got off the wrong exit what exit did you get off at um were you guys arguing is that why you jumped out of the car no why'd he just jump out of the car in the neighborhood he doesn't know anything no idea no and now he says he's never been i don't know where i am you're in the bottoms right now but i know we have mount probably [Music] okay so how much did you drink in the casino two beers okay that's it because it's going from zero to one to two ms rushman admits to drinking two beers which is not necessarily illegal under ohio law but could be in some situations under section 45 11.19 of the ohio revised code quote no person shall operate any vehicle streetcar or trackless trolley within this state if at the time of the operation the person is under the influence of alcohol a drug of abuse or a combination of them while the statute does not define what it means to be under the influence of alcohol in the 1971 case of state versus hardy the ohio supreme court upheld jury instructions that defined the term as quote any abnormal mental or physical condition which is the result of indulging in any degree in the consumption of alcohol and which tends to deprive the one so using it of the clearness of intellect and control of himself which he would otherwise possess this means that an individual could be convicted for driving under the influence after drinking two beers if the effect on their ability was substantial enough however on its own an admission of drinking two beers would not give rise to a reasonable suspicion of driving under the influence and ohio courts require that police officers have a reasonable suspicion of intoxication to legally request that a driver perform field sobriety tests in the 1998 case of state versus evans the 11th district court of appeals in ohio held that quote once the officer has stopped the vehicle for some minor traffic offense and begins the process of obtaining the offender's license and registration the officer may then proceed to investigate the detainee for driving under the influence if he or she has a reasonable suspicion that the detainee may be intoxicated based on specific and articulable facts such as where there are clear symptoms that the detainee is intoxicated the decision also identified 11 different factors that an officer might consider and stated that quote cases considering an officer's decision to conduct roadside sobriety tests rely on the totality of relevant circumstances courts generally approve them only where the officer bases his decision on a number of factors all of these factors together with the officer's previous experience in dealing with drunken drivers may be taken into account by a reviewing court in determining whether the officer acted reasonably no single factor is determinative although miss rushman's admission to drinking two beers on its own would probably not be sufficient evidence to warrant field sobriety testing when combined with the other signs of impairment she was exhibiting a court would almost certainly conclude that the officers had the reasonable suspicion of intoxication necessary to conduct field sobriety tests but here let's let's start this over okay we're going to start this over clean slate it's going to be 100 honesty because honestly goes a long way with me right all right i swear i don't feel comfortable right now letting you drive off would you be okay with performing a few tests to make sure you're sober enough to drive is that okay with you yeah okay let's step out of the car where are you from deer valley view valley view yep okay all right let's uh let's walk over to the sidewalk you do have a broken foot okay that's all right well i'm gonna close your door that way nobody hits your car okay let's walk over just you see my bumper right there let's go have a seat on that bumper [Music] yeah that way you just have a seat on it that way you're not putting pressure on your foot wouldn't you break your foot dear um two weeks ago two weeks ago what you roll it or what yeah my files at work fell on it oh where'd you work at um okay so what i want you to do is i want you to look keep your head square for me okay i don't want you to move your head around do you see my finger all right i want you to watch the tip of my finger and nothing else are you wearing contacts right now by chance do you wear contacts okay i was just curious i saw him in there yeah okay the other two tests involve walking all right do you not feel comfortable walking with a broken foot that's okay all right i mean it's really spelled out see first yeah it certainly is do you have id in your car dear um or do you have it on you i do so you live up in valley view and you went to the casino for the night there we go do you have your gun in your car no no are you sure positive your gun's not in your car is it okay if we have a look because you have a ccw i'm sorry maybe in driving and any glove box in the glove box all right no i don't want you to pull it out all right is it my all right you do realize you have to tell us that yeah as soon as soon as you come into contact with us you did not do that ms rushman eventually admits to the officers that she has a firearm in her glove box and the officers inform her that she is required to tell them she has a gun in her vehicle as soon as she comes into contact with them under section 29 23.16 of the ohio revised code quote no person who has been issued a concealed handgun license who is the driver or an occupant of a motor vehicle that is stopped as a result of a traffic stop or a stop for another law enforcement purpose and who is transporting or has a loaded handgun in the motor vehicle or commercial motor vehicle in any manner shall fail to promptly inform any law enforcement officer who approaches the vehicle while stopped that the person has been issued a concealed handgun license and that the person then possesses or has a loaded handgun in the motor vehicle a violation of this requirement is a misdemeanor of the first degree unless any law enforcement officer involved with the stop had actual knowledge of the offender's status as a licensee at the time of the stop in which case the offense is a minor misdemeanor additionally improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle statute also states that quote no person shall knowingly transport or have a loaded handgun in a motor vehicle if at the time of that transportation or possession the person is under the influence of alcohol a drug of abuse or a combination of them violating this statute is a felony of the fifth degree so in this situation if the handgun was loaded ms rushman could face criminal charges for both failing to disclose the fact that she had a gun in her glove box and transporting the gun in a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol all right i didn't know okay that's fine is that all right if my partner grabs the gun for now just keep it in a safe spot okay where's it at in the clubhouse nope nope just we'll grab it um okay what kind of what kind of gun is it i don't know they'll know is it black silver chrome gold um i can't cussing all right but it's okay my partner looks through the car to find the gun okay glove box not outstanding he'll look for it i want you to do me a favor just sit right here okay i'm gonna check some of your information we'll go from there okay all right just stay right there kathy one more question i have for you okay just set this up right here remember honesty goes a long way with me right all right i want you to think on a scale of zero to ten zero being you are stone cold sober never had hold on just let me finish never had a drink before and ten being so sloshed you can't walk home on that scale where do you think you are a four okay that's real all right what i want you to have if you don't stand up for me okay right now you're gonna be detained oh my god the officers detain miss rushman and place her in handcuffs the footage does not show the conclusion of the interaction but on september 5th 2020 ms rushman was charged in the franklin county municipal court with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol under section 2133.01a1a of the columbus code of ordinances which mirrors the state ovi statute on october 2nd 2020 ms rushman pled guilty to an amended charge of having physical control of a vehicle while under the influence in violation of section 45 11.194 of the ohio revised code overall the columbus pd officers get an a-plus for maintaining a calm and professional demeanor throughout the encounter conducting a legitimate investigation into ms rushman's behavior and for remaining within the bounds of their authority as they conducted their investigation although many of the interactions featured on ata showcase officers who commit acts of misconduct it is important to bear in mind that there are tens of thousands of police interactions that occur every day that are warranted and legitimate and while there is no doubt that there are deeply rooted systemic issues within the american policing industry those issues cannot be quantified into catchphrase ideologies that assume that all police officers are bad or that all police officers are good the nature of the human condition does not allow for societal issues to be painted with such a broad brush and it is essential to step away from the statistical hearsay and politically charged mantra that often makes its way into mainstream media humans and the society that we have built are extremely complex and relegating your perspective on any societal issue to a one-size-fits-all structure is careless and lazy the columbus officers involved in this encounter were nothing short of patient and professional and this type of behavior is not as uncommon as most americans are led to believe whether or not you believe that all police are good or all police are bad i challenge all the viewers of this episode to take a moment to examine the complexity of their personal belief system regarding law enforcement and seriously consider the implications of such a linear mode of thinking not all police officers are good but not all police officers are bad either and solving the issues that face us as a country will require more effort than blindly adhering to any particular narrative ms rushman gets an f for endangering the lives of other motorists by driving under the influence neglecting to mention her firearm to the officers and for failing to invoke her right to remain silent it is clear from the footage that ms rushman was in no condition to be driving or in possession of a firearm regardless of whether or not she was legitimately intoxicated and her behavior displayed a complete disregard for her fellow citizens this type of conduct is precisely why possessing a firearm while intoxicated is unlawful not only could ms rushman have accidentally harmed herself or others but her firearm could have easily been stolen without her even noticing regardless of miss rushman's innocence or guilt she also neglected to invoke her right to remain silent and as mentioned on many episodes of ata the degree of guilt associated with any suspect's arrest should never deter the invocation of the fifth amendment nonetheless there is little debate about the legitimacy of mrs rushman's detainment and subsequent arrest and i commend the columbus officers for getting mrs rushman off the streets safely and respectfully let us know if there's an interaction or legal topic you would like us to discuss in the comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to check out my second channel for more police interaction content [Music] you

Channel: Audit the Audit

Views: 171,643

Rating: 4.8778625 out of 5

Keywords: amagansett press, first amendment audit, 1st amendment audit, auditing america, news now california, sgv news first, high desert community watch, anselmo morales, photography is not a crime, san joaquin valley transparency, first amendment audit fail, walk of shame, news now houston, police fail, 1st amendment audit fail, public photography, auditor arrested, police brutality, highdesert community watch, pinac news, cops triggered, news now patrick, east hampton

Id: YOR83DYBQNk

Length: 16min 50sec (1010 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 08 2021