Muscular Dystrophy

Posted on: Fri, May 23 2008 7:46 AM

Posted by: Mshores Posts: 501

I am so mad about what this poor man was put through. It was embarassing enough that they did this even with a doctor and medical history backing up this man.... but to still refuse to say they screwed up and claim he was probably on some other drugs Unfreaking believable. Talk about needing some real education out there in the police department. Just across the bay from us in Tampa is where they dumped that guy out of his wheelchair because they didn't believe he couldn't walk. It was all over national TV. Apparently no one learned a thing from that.  

DUI Charge Against Man With Muscular Dystrophy Dropped

By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 22, 2008

CLEARWATER -- Prosecutors have dropped a drunken driving charge against a man afflicted with muscular dystrophy after the man's urine test came back negative for any illegal substances.

Michael Loui, 48, of St. Petersburg, was arrested by a St. Petersburg police officer on March 4. The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office dismissed the charge Wednesday.

"I believe we have a situation where there was a rush to judgment," said Loui's attorney, Frank McDermott. "There ought to be some training in place so not everyone who suffers from a disability gets arrested for DUI."

Traffic homicide investigator Mike Jockers was working a radar detail on 38th Avenue when he saw a black Ford Explorer traveling 48 mph in a 35-mph zone, according to a police report.

In the report, Jockers noted Loui's speech was "slurred and thick-tongued." Jockers noted there was no smell of alcohol on Loui's breath, and asked Loui if he had taken any medication, the report said. At first Loui said he had taken Vicodin earlier that morning for back pain, then said he hadn't taken any in a few days, the police report says.

A videotaped field sobriety test showed Loui failing some instructions, such as one telling him to recite the alphabet.

McDermott, Loui's attorney, said Loui told the officer he had myotonic muscular dystrophy and that he has a blank face and slurred speech as a result. Loui's chiropractor showed up at the traffic stop, and told Jockers the same thing, McDermott said.

In a motion McDermott filed to get the charge dismissed, he said, "Myotonic dystrophy is a disorder which keeps the muscles from relaxing normally after contracting.

"The muscles begin to waste away," the motion says "Patients who suffer from the disease have difficulty with walking and with finger and hand movements. They also may suffer from a dazed look or blank look to their face."

Scott J. Knoeppel, Loui's doctor at Bay Pines Veterans Administration Medical Center, wrote a letter that accompanied McDermott's motion.

"As long as I have known Mr. Loui he has always had a speech impediment which is believed to be congenital," Knoeppel said. His patient was diagnosed with myotonic muscular dystrophy in August 2007.

"Mr. Loui tells me that as part of his arrest he was given a field sobriety test in which he was asked to put his finger upon the tip of his nose repeatedly," Knoeppel said. "Due to his myotonic dystrophy I do not believe he would be able to pass this test and thus give the arresting officer the impression that Mr. Loui was impaired."

An April 10 report from the Pinellas County Forensic Laboratory showed a test on Loui's urine showed no presence of 10 specific drugs. The St. Petersburg Police Department, however, continues to stand by the arrest.

"He had all these impairment cues," said St. Petersburg Police Department spokesman Bill Proffitt. "If we were able to get a complete drug screen across the board, it might show some other drug." Drugs such as antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs are not part of the forensic laboratory's 10-drug screen, he said.

Despite the decision by the state attorney's office, Jockers is going to ask the state department of motor vehicles to order that Loui be medically examined and be deemed fit to drive a car.

Posted on: Fri, May 23 2008 8:38 AM

Posted by: TriDog Posts: 2,793

Mshores:

In the report, Jockers noted Loui's speech was "slurred and thick-tongued." Jockers noted there was no smell of alcohol on Loui's breath, and asked Loui if he had taken any medication, the report said. At first Loui said he had taken Vicodin earlier that morning for back pain, then said he hadn't taken any in a few days, the police report says.

A videotaped field sobriety test showed Loui failing some instructions, such as one telling him to recite the alphabet.

Sounds like standard procedure.  He had already admitted to taking Vicodin. The officer doesn't know he didn't swallow it down with vodka. Also, he was doing 48 in a 35 zone.  So, his behavior was at question right away.

McDermott, Loui's attorney, said Loui told the officer he had myotonic muscular dystrophy and that he has a blank face and slurred speech as a result. Loui's chiropractor showed up at the traffic stop, and told Jockers the same thing, McDermott said.

The officer on the side of the road doesn't know this to be true. Could have been a made up story in an attempt to beat the charge.  So far sounds reasonable action was taken by the officer on the side of the road.   I wouldn't expect the office to take the word of a "chiropractor" that suddenly appeared at the side of the road.

In a motion McDermott filed to get the charge dismissed, he said, "Myotonic dystrophy is a disorder which keeps the muscles from relaxing normally after contracting.

 

"Mr. Loui tells me that as part of his arrest he was given a field sobriety test in which he was asked to put his finger upon the tip of his nose repeatedly," Knoeppel said. "Due to his myotonic dystrophy I do not believe he would be able to pass this test and thus give the arresting officer the impression that Mr. Loui was impaired."

So far everything was done within normal procedure.  Mr Loui was driving to endanger (48 in a 35 zone), he could not successfully complete parts of the field sobriety test and he had slurred speech.  So, with the safety of Mr. Loui and the public in mind, Mr Loui was placed under arrest. 

Once this was off the road and the investigation started, it shouldn't have taken more then a few hours to properly sort this out and take his disability into account.   Why it's taken so long is propably and inditment of the investigate and hearing procedures of that county.  Not of the police on the roads doing their job or their lack of training.

Despite the decision by the state attorney's office, Jockers is going to ask the state department of motor vehicles to order that Loui be medically examined and be deemed fit to drive a car

Without knowing all the specifics about his abilities, this might be worth a look at.  Does his disabilty affect his driving ability?   I'm the last person that wants to take away the freedom that driving gives to a disabled person, but doesn't the saftey of the general public trump this?   

BTW, did he at least get the speeding ticket?

Posted on: Fri, May 23 2008 9:04 AM

Posted by: Mshores Posts: 501

No clue on the speeding ticket. It's never been mentioned. They've tried to keep this one as quiet as possible while they took so long to investigate.  Part of the huge stink on this is that right across the bay is the jail where they dumped the guy out of his wheel chair because they really didn't believe he couldn't walk. That made national news for a couple of weeks.

There needs to be some sort of reeducation on how to treat people with disabilities. Not every cop out there has your logical thought process

Posted on: Fri, May 23 2008 10:25 AM

Posted by: TriDog Posts: 2,793

Mshores:

No clue on the speeding ticket. It's never been mentioned. They've tried to keep this one as quiet as possible while they took so long to investigate.  Part of the huge stink on this is that right across the bay is the jail where they dumped the guy out of his wheel chair because they really didn't believe he couldn't walk. That made national news for a couple of weeks.

There needs to be some sort of reeducation on how to treat people with disabilities. Not every cop out there has your logical thought process

I know what you're saying but you need to seperate the two stories.  In Mr Loui's case, the officer on the road did everything the way he should have.  The investigation and the courts seemed to have drag on for too long, but everyone knows that our police and courts are completely over burdened. So, perhaps this could have been the normal length of time for such cases. We don't know that from the story.   The positive side is that perhaps this situation has brought to light that Mr Loui's disabilty is now affecting his ability to drie safely.

The case where the suspect was dumped from his wheelchair is different all together. If I remember correctly, that man was already in custody and the officer should ahve had enough info about him.  At the same time, the video has no sound.  for all we know he was giving the officers a hard time and not coorperating.  Even if so, it still deosn't justify dumping him.  

Posted on: Fri, May 23 2008 11:28 AM

Posted by: Daniel502 Posts: 431

It sounds like the police could benefit from more in-depth disability training after some of these recent events. 

Posted on: Fri, May 23 2008 12:26 PM

Posted by: Stacey Posts: 8

The proper procedure should have been for the officer to issue the gentleman a speeding ticket after he asked him to do a roadside breathalizer. If he was not able to perform the breathalizer test (some types of MD make it impossible to perform a breathalizer test) then he should have been offered another type of test to determine whether or not he was driving under the influence of an intoxicating substance. For many of us that live with chronic pain, the medication that we take to be able to function does NOT limit our ability to drive, etc.

Just because this man was speeding does not automatically make him unsafe to drive because he is disabled. How many able-bodied individuals speed every day and are not given the same treatment? You can bet that this police officer would not try to get an able-bodied person medically examined to be deemed fit to drive a car. Just because we have a disability does not automatically mean we should have our right to drive taken away from us.

This is the United States and we are given certain rights and responsibilities as citizens, just because we happen to be disabled does not give anyone the right to automatically take our rights away.

Posted on: Fri, May 23 2008 3:27 PM

Posted by: TriDog Posts: 2,793

Stacey:

The proper procedure should have been for the officer to issue the gentleman a speeding ticket after he asked him to do a roadside breathalizer. If he was not able to perform the breathalizer test (some types of MD make it impossible to perform a breathalizer test) then he should have been offered another type of test to determine whether or not he was driving under the influence of an intoxicating substance. For many of us that live with chronic pain, the medication that we take to be able to function does NOT limit our ability to drive, etc.

Stacey, Stacey, Stacey.  Please go and read it again. And take the victim glasses off and think about public safety first. The reports says Mr. Loui's speech was "slurred and thick-tongued.". He admitted to the officer that he had taken Vicodin earlier that morning.   Also, A videotaped field sobriety test showed Loui failing some instructions, such as one telling him to recite the alphabet..    Granted, all could be caused by his disability, but the officer in the field is not a Doctor.  He does know that it could also be cause by drug use or drinking.

Just because this man was speeding does not automatically make him unsafe to drive because he is disabled. How many able-bodied individuals speed every day and are not given the same treatment?

I guess this depends on your point of view.  The street my house sits on has a 35mph speed limit and is crowded with kids playing. Sometimes they get into the street. Driving down my street at 48 is unsafe.  Hence making the driver that does 48 in a 35 zone unsafe. Almost 50mph. Obviously, he's not thinking clearly.  Just because the driver is disabled, the officer cannot overlook the possibilty that he/she might be under the influence of something.  Perhaps it could even be his prescription meds that are causing the problem.  Who knows?  Me? You? The officer?  Mr. Loui?   No. None of us do.  But on the surface, there does seem to be a problem here.

 You can bet that this police officer would not try to get an able-bodied person medically examined to be deemed fit to drive a car. Just because we have a disability does not automatically mean we should have our right to drive taken away from us./b]

This is the United States and we are given certain rights and responsibilities as citizens, just because we happen to be disabled does not give anyone the right to automatically take our rights away.

One correction.  Driving is a privlege, not a right.  With that privilege comes a resposiblity.  The responsibility to be able to safely operate a motor vehicle.  By driving almost 15 miles over the posted limit, he's already proven he doesn't take the responsibility very seriously. 

Ask yourself this,  What would your opinion be if Mr Loui had hit and killed a child? Then used his perscription meds and his disabilty as the excuse the terrible accident happened.  No one would be happy about it.

In the end, I think the officer played it correctly. I hope the boys in blue that work my neighborhood are just as diligent.  The failure here is the speed at which it was investigate and dropped.   I think that county needs to take a serious look at their process. And maybe figure out a better way to process these special cases.

I hope that this is situation has just spun out of control and Mr. Loui is back on the road and enjoying his life.  At the same time, if his disabilty or meds are starting to affect his safe driving abilities, maybe it's time to get him off the roads.   

Posted on: Fri, May 23 2008 5:36 PM

Posted by: Stacey Posts: 8

I was once pulled over for driving 97 in a 55mph zone. I take pain medications numerous times a day just to be able to function. When the state trooper asked me to get out of my vehicle I politely pointed to my handicapped placard and explained to him that I would be unable to do that as I have Muscular Dystrophy and am no longer able to walk. At this time he asked me if I had consumed any alcoholic beverages today, I said No, he said "Very Good". I handed him my forms from my doctor that states that I can not wear a seatbelt due to my disabilities. He took this paperwork and went back to his car. He then came back to my window, handed me a citation for speeding and told me to Slow Down and Have a Nice Day. (I had been going with the flow of traffic on the turnpike at the time.)

I took the ticket, went home, called the phone number on the ticket and made payment arrangements.

Should I have been medically examined to see if I could safely drive a motor vehicle? I don't think so. When my disabilities get to the point where my doctor feels I can no longer safely operate a motor vehicle he will tell me that it is time to give up my driver's license; until then I will continue to carry my license whether or not I drive.