Last updated at 3 p.m.
VERO BEACH – In response to questioning by Assistant State Attorney David Dodd at the DUI trial of County Administrator Joe Baird, Vero Beach Police Officer Jeff Bryson said based on the field sobriety tests he was “confident about the arrest based on what I saw.”
Bryson, who was called on the scene at about 10:30 p.m. on May 16 to conduct a DUI investigation, called a “signal one” by police, in the Radio Shack parking lot near the northwest corner of 6th Avenue and Miracle Mile in Vero Beach, testified to what he witnessed that night. Bryson described the series of exercises he instructed Baird to complete and the results of those exercises, which are designed to test the driver’s ability to complete multi-task instructions.
“During the first exercise, he was close enough to me where I could actually feel his breath and the smell of alcohol was very strong,” Bryson said.
In response to a question from Dodd about the indicators of impairment he observed, which led to Baird being taken into custody for DUI, Bryson asserted, “I felt confident about the arrest at that point based on what I saw,” he said. “I thought it was extremely obvious. I did not need special training to see that he was impaired.”
Then Dodd showed a video to the jury and to the witness documenting the administration of the roadside tests. The video revealed that Baird repeatedly said he could not complete the exercises due to vertigo and balance problems.
On cross examination, defense attorney Bobby Guttridge tried to show that Bryson was basing an assumption of DUI on what he was told by Lt. Matt Harrelson and not completely on independent observation. Guttridge based this on the fact that Bryson was called in to investigate a possible DUI as the zone officer on duty.
“I was called to do a roadside investigation and that’s what I did,” Bryson said.
Guttridge pointed out that Bryson did not find Baird to have bloodshot eyes or a flushed facial appearance. Guttridge asked Bryson if Baird’s hearing was impaired.
“I don’t know, he didn’t follow any of the directions on the exercises,” Bryson said.
The roadside exercises Baird was asked to perform included following a pen with his eyes without moving his head side to side, walking nine heel-to-toe steps on a typical painted line in the parking lot while counting and then turning, lifting a foot six to nine inches off the ground while counting, counting backward from 44 to 29 with eyes closed and head leaned backward, along with the classic touching the finger to nose test.
Guttridge pointed out from the video that it was unclear whether or not Baird had begun to raise the wrong hand to his nose due to poor lighting and shadows present in the video, which was filmed from a distance of about 30 feet.
Based on Baird’s inability to perform these tasks according to the directions given by Bryson, he was arrested for DUI. He was booked and released on bail. Baird’s girlfriend was allowed to pick up his Jeep Cherokee so it would not have to be towed and impounded.
Bryson was expected to return to the stand for further questioning by Guttridge and possible redirect by Dodd. It is not expected that the proceedings will conclude today as the defense plans to call several witnesses who were present at the Youth Guidance Luau on May 16, from where Baird was heading when he got pulled over.
The trial will continue into at least Wednesday
