The Iowa Court of Appeals has ruled that drivers don’t have a Fifth Amendment right to refuse to take a roadside sobriety test. The ruling comes on a Woodbury County case. Lowell Eugene Marks was pulled over for speeding on May 11th of 2000, and the cop smelled alcohol on Marks’ breath. The cop asked Marks to submit to a field sobriety test, and he initially declined. The cop then said Marks would be arrested if he didn’t comply, and Marks ended up taking the breath test, which showed his blood alcohol level was over the legal limit. Marks’ lawsuit argued his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination was violated by the threat of arrest if he didn’t take the tests. A district court agreed, but the Iowa Court of Appeals has rejected that argument, saying the cop’s threat was not coercive or prohibited.
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