Comment on "green coating" and "raised taste buds"

Here's my comment (in part) that I posted on the Impaired Driving Forum in reference to a discussion on the significance of "green coatings" and "raised taste buds."

"At the most, a green - or any color for that matter - coating on the tongue means that the person ingested something. That "something" could have been marijuana, mints, toothpaste, or anything else. Certainly, if someone is regularly smoking something, the person's tongue may show signs of being irritated. And if someone is smoking a hand-rolled marijuana cigarette, I wouldn't be surprised to discover that some of the marijuana debris has been deposited in the person's mouth.

"As far as "raised taste buds" goes, the most I would do in court is testify to my observation that the person's tongue looked to have small bumps on his/her tongue. And that was consistent with people I have seen who I believed were smoking marijuana (or crack, or meth, or something else).

"Both these "signs" are simply observations made by officers during many DRE evalutions. At the most, they are signs of possible drug use, and not drug influence."

Massachusetts Appeals court throws out DUI conviction

I rarely will publicly question a court's decision. That said, every once in a while a case comes along that causes me to ask "What the h... were they thinking?" The following case is just that type of case. I have read the entire decision, and the following newspaper summary is accurate.

Frankly, this is one of the most asinine court decisions I have ever seen. The officer did what any non-law enforcement citizen should have done: take the person's keys and tell him to stay in the car until on-duty officers arrive. Instead, this court, by inference, suggests the officer should just let the person drive away! Ivory Tower B.S.

Boston Herald
Mass. court tosses man’s 7th OUI conviction
By Associated Press
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - Updated 17h ago

A man who had been convicted of drunken driving six times has had his seventh conviction thrown out by the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

The court set aside the conviction of Joseph Limone today, based on what it called an illegal seizure by an off-duty police officer.

After Limone struck a car driven by off-duty Somerville police officer Robert Kelleher in Woburn, Kelleher suspected he was driving drunk, took his keys out of the ignition and called Woburn police.

The court said Kelleher’s actions constituted an illegal seizure because a police officer doesn’t have the authority to make an arrest outside his jurisdiction.

Limone’s lawyer said the ruling means he will be released from prison, where he has served about three years of a six-year sentence.
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