POLICE TRAIN TO RECOGNIZE WHETHER DRIVERS ARE IMPAIRED BY DRUGS

Taking danger off the roads

Dallas Officer Moises Ochoa had a hunch about the reckless driver who
caused an accident that left an infant dead in May 2002.

He grabbed a stethoscope and a flashlight and sat down with the driver,
Anthony Poe. The officer's battery of tests hinted that the father of four
had smoked PCP before getting behind the wheel, a conclusion that was later
supported by lab tests and the driver's admission.

A year later, Mr. Poe, 29, pleaded guilty to a charge of intoxication
manslaughter, becoming one of the few in Dallas County each year to be
convicted of being high on drugs while driving. Most intoxication cases
involve motorists who have had too much to drink.

Dealing with stoned motorists has confounded police and prosecutors because
there's no foolproof way to determine whether a driver is intoxicated. Most
drugs don't have a distinctive odor, and traces may stay in a user's
bloodstream or urine for days or weeks - long after someone has sobered up.

"Just because a drug is in a blood system doesn't mean it's psychoactive -
it just means it's in your blood," said Dallas police Sgt. Johnnie Harris,
co-coordinator of the department's drug recognition expert program. "We
have to take it a step further in court. We have to prove what you're
impaired on."

A veteran on traffic patrols, Officer Ochoa is one of about 30 in Dallas
trained to recognize motorists high on drugs - a task far more complicated
than asking drunken drivers to exhale into a breath analyzer. Officers'
expertise relies heavily on medical training. Wearing a stethoscope and
working in near-dark, police drug recognition experts carefully monitor how
the person's pupils respond to darkness and the time it takes someone to
respond to bright light, among other things.

Dilated pupils and a rapid pulse suggest stimulants. Depressants cause a
low pulse and low blood pressure. The effect of hallucinogens such as LSD
is characterized by constricted pupils.

The technique was developed by Los Angeles police in the 1970s and is
practiced in 32 states by more than 4,000 trained officers. Dallas police
began training officers in 1992.

Prosecutors in Dallas County do not track the number of intoxication cases
that involve drugs vs. alcohol but say drug cases are still just a fraction
of their driving-while-intoxicated cases. A driver high on drugs is more
likely to be charged with reckless driving than intoxication because of the
lack of officer training and difficulty prosecuting the cases, court
officials say.

Dallas officers frequently arrest motorists who have consumed alcohol and
taken drugs, but Sgt. Harris said the department files only 10 to 15 cases
a year in which motorists are impaired solely on drugs or have consumed
only a small amount of alcohol.

During trial, the officers are considered expert witnesses because their
testimony is essentially opinion based on their training.

But defense attorneys point out that the police methods are far from
perfect. Someone's blood pressure and pulse rate can be affected by stress.
And if a driver has been in an accident, pupil size and response to light
can be affected by a concussion.

"It's a subjective science," said Mr. Poe's attorney, Paul Johnson. "Every
symptom that is present with someone who is impaired is explainable by
something else."

A 1999 analysis of drug-impairment cases by the Bexar County medical
examiner's office found that the specially trained officers had a high
success rate at identifying impaired motorists, but their accuracy dropped
when they tried to identify which category of drugs the driver had consumed.

Of 140 suspected drug cases submitted by officers, lab analysis confirmed
that 78 percent had illegal drugs in their systems. Of the cases in which
the driver supplied no information to investigators about the drugs they
had taken, the officers identified the correct drug 45 percent of the time.

"I think they do a really good job at identifying impairment," said Dr.
Gary Kunsman, one of the study's authors. "The only flaw in the program is
that they shouldn't try to identify what the drugs are because I don't
think they can do that."

Mr. Poe had three felony drug convictions before he smoked some marijuana
laced with PCP on a Saturday afternoon in May 2002. PCP is a powerful
tranquilizer that can have unpredictable and radical effects on users.

Witnesses said Mr. Poe was driving less than 5 mph and weaving on westbound
Interstate 30.

As he approached downtown Dallas, he began to accelerate, racing to 100 mph
or more as he drove along the shoulder. He struck the back of a Ford
Explorer driven by 18-year-old Victoria Carrion. Ms. Carrion's vehicle
began to roll, and it flipped before it struck a utility pole. Ms.
Carrion's 4-month-old son was thrown from his child safety seat.

Ms. Carrion testified before Mr. Poe's sentencing last week, saying she
thinks about her son every day.

Motorist Tim Phillips, who witnessed the crash and stopped to help, also
testified.

"I kept hearing her say, 'My baby, my baby,' " he said. "I could see a car
seat hanging down but no baby."

Nearby, Mr. Poe was walking back and forth. "It was like he had his eyes
open, but he didn't know where he was," Mr. Phillips said.

Mr. Johnson argued for a 15- to 20-year sentence for his client, but
District Judge Lana McDaniel gave him 60 years in prison Wednesday. He
would be eligible for parole after 30 years.

Mr. Poe told the court he had no recollection of driving or hitting the SUV.

"I can't sleep at night thinking that I caused an accident and took the
life of someone," he said.

TELLTALE SIGNS FOR OFFICERS

Dallas police officers who become drug-recognition experts complete 156
hours of training and must be certified every two years. To determine
whether a motorist is under the influence of drugs, the officers follow a
12-step standardized test. They are taught to look for the characteristic
effects of the following drug categories:

Stimulants, such as amphetamines and methamphetamines - dilated pupils,
elevated vital signs and agitated movements.

PCP - dilated pupils, elevated vital signs and distinctive horizontal and
vertical eye movement under testing. Also rigid muscles, a blank stare, an
absence of pain and reports of hallucinations.

Hallucinogens, including LSD and ecstasy - constricted pupils, elevated
vital signs and distorted sensory perceptions.

Cannabis, such as marijuana and hashish - impaired depth perception and an
inability to maintain attention. Also causes an accelerated heart rate,
muscle tremors and forgetfulness.

Narcotic analgesics, including opiates such as heroin and morphine -
constricted pupils, depressed vital signs, forgetfulness and slow and
deliberate movements.

Depressants, including alcohol, barbiturates and tranquilizers - relaxed
muscles, drowsiness, impaired balance, slurred speech, depressed vital
signs and distinctive eye movements.

Inhalants, including volatile solvents, aerosols and anesthetic gases -
specific chemical odor and residue on the user's face or clothing. Impaired
walk, slurred speech, accelerated heart rate, increased pupil size and
distinctive eye movements.

SOURCES: Dallas and Los Angeles police departments