welcome back to the body cam Zone in today's video we have one daughter of a border patrol officer arrested for DWI in the early hours of October 29 2021 this lady named Melissa Ventura was driving home after bar hopping in El Paso with her friends while still driving she noticed that one of her high heels was off and decided to try to find it unfortunately by the time she looked up again she had run into a nearby tree severely damaging the front of her car in the process the Las Cruces Patrol police were informed about the accident and promptly arrived at the scene they suspected she was intoxicated though she was still able to coordinate herself during interrogation zero Union over South on the phone what are you looking for myself but there's some slides right here no it's because there's some place up here too but I have my sandals with high heels up here too I just have one sentence if you remember everything that happened yeah I'm okay okay yeah I'm okay do you have a is there a wallet in there I'm sorry is there a wallet in there there's a wallet in the passenger seat around my seat okay so where are you where were you guys coming from I was just going home from where from El Paso Texas where are you guys oh is this the what's that from from El Paso from where coffee what is that uh bar okay so how much did you have to drink you have three dreams that was it what were they though they were just vodka and carpet okay yeah did you eat anything while you were there I ate before and when I had my first job okay yeah that was it you know what time you ate at at I want to say six what did you eat pizza you know when your last drink was [Music] like 12 30. do you know what street you're on without looking honestly I don't really know my way around you I just don't want to get home buddy incident happened in the state of New Mexico New Mexico has very strict rules concerning driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs anyone caught driving after drinking or using drugs risks heavy fines loss of their driver's license higher insurance rates and jail sentences according to the state's laws drivers are prohibited from driving if their breath or blood alcohol concentration is .08 or more if they are 21 or older .02 if they are under 21 or 0.04 if they drive a commercial vehicle if you break this law or refuse to take a breath or blood test after being suspected of DWI you will lose your driver's license for up to a year you can also be convicted of DWI even if the breadth or blood test is below the legal limit if it is proven that your ability to drive was impaired to the slightest degree by drugs or alcohol based on the information Ventura provided during interrogation the police officer decided to conduct field sobriety tests on her fsts are a series of first-line tests usually performed by the police to help determine if a person has been driving while intoxicated these tests measure if the driver has the physical and mental proficiency to operate a motor vehicle such as balance coordination and multitasking there are three standardized fsts commonly used by the police the first one is usually the horizontal gaze nystagmus test this is Then followed by the walk and turn and the one-leg stand tests failing these tests is probable cause for a DWI arrest Ventura passed the first test but failed the subsequent ones woefully well I want to run the he's he's under eyes build sobriety test what's where we make you uh look at watch my panel off the line I'm good man honestly I'm going to determine that um we can go to a flat service over here so nobody's bothering you do you feel like this is pretty flat yeah we're doing good luck nothing yet you're gonna space me I want you to stir it put your arms into your side I know it's cool no you're good you guys fine yeah you're gonna watch the top see right here with your eyes and your eyes only I don't want your head to move okay just your eyes you understand yep do you have any questions no okay that's fine no you're okay just um do you want to use this line as a reference okay what line do you want to use yeah you tell me you place that left foot on the line that you choose okay okay now I need to wait wait no no don't start so tight you're gonna place the left foot on the line you're gonna place that right foot in front of your left foot touching heel to toe and stay like that okay go ahead stay like that okay ready come on no no stay like that okay don't don't start until I try to start when I do tell you to start you're going to take nine heels toe steps get back in your position nine yeah no so you're like this You're Gonna Go one two three leave that one planet small series of step back on your line and your little one two three but you do nine okay do you have any questions nope yeah remember arms down to your side you're gonna look down you're gonna count each step out loud touching Heel To Toe okay okay all right go ahead one you wanna turn around remember I what did I tell you okay now face me so when I try to begin I know you're called time forgiving your arms because I know you're trying to keep yourself warm when I tell you to begin you're gonna pick whichever foot of your choice you're gonna raise that foot of practice with me six inches off the ground keeping your arms down to your side keeping your foot parallel oh hold on okay okay just like this look down at your foot and count out like this one thousand one one thousand two one thousand three one thousand four and so on and so I tell you to stop okay do you understand what are you gonna do um wait wait you ready yes ma'am go ahead put down your foot put your hands down to your sides look down at your foot count out loud so I can hear you okay looking for custom input to use today I'm gonna put you in my unit it's warmer you're gonna be our place under arrest for DWI okay I'm not gonna put these tight as long as you don't try to slip them [Music] I see there you go okay let's go up to my neck [Applause] [Music] um this is brand new dude first one in it okay it's my first one okay I don't think you have anything on you no I don't mind okay so if I can get this gun fast I don't know okay Friday yes ma'am yeah you should see a judge this afternoon if not um they usually see you guys pretty fast so okay because I have a flight to catch tomorrow my mom yeah my sister's birthday is tomorrow and I'm trying to surprise for them now I know but what time is your flight at four oh P.M hopefully I think you should be good can we just see your mouth real quick open it oh spit out yeah lift your tongue up The Cop made some mistakes during the sobriety test which may have contributed to her failing the tests for example it's a standard practice for the police officer to ask the suspect some health-related questions before conducting the test these questions ensure you don't have any medical issues concerning your eyes back leg and inner ear that can contribute to your result the officer that conducted the fsts didn't ask Ventura any questions related to her health which could have contributed to her result a good lawyer could use such medical issues to invalidate the results of the fsts also the cop almost forgot to conduct the confirmatory breathalyzer test that is usually done after the fsts hey there the machine's working right yeah ours yeah Salinas just do it did a 47th okay oh I'll take that and then I'll meet you over there once you're 98 with uh her the breath test yes okay it's important to know that fsts are often inaccurate with many false positive results they're also highly subjective and since most police officers lack the proper medical training they usually don't understand that people have balance issues and different responses to visual tests this is why confirmatory DWI tests must be done before someone is convicted of DWI the cop later did the breath alcohol test for Ventura and she returned .10 BAC which is above the permitted 0.08 percent for her age in New Mexico [Applause] okay I don't know it's crazy foreign [Applause] things like that did you say she'll get out of time oh no yeah so he was saying more than likely you're not going to get out in time for the flight so since you're involved in an accident before we take you to jail we have to get you medically clear that so we're gonna do that thank you foreign [Music] we'll leave all your property with her and then and then when uh she meets up with us at the hospital we come back over here we'll take you to the jail all right DWI is a serious crime in New Mexico if someone is arrested for DWI their license will be confiscated on the spot if their breath test is at or above the legal limit or if they refuse to take the test the police officer will also notify the motor vehicle division which will then revoke the license for up to a year if it's the person's first conviction they will pay stiff fines and court costs and could be sentenced to jail they'll also be ordered for alcohol treatment and to install an ignition interlock device on their vehicle Ventura was taken to court where she entered a plea of not guilty to the crime of DWI this is no surprise as I mentioned earlier the Cop made some mistakes while conducting the fsts which could have altered the results I'm yet to get more information about the final Court decision on this case but once I get them I will update you that's all I have for you today I hope you've learned that it's never a good idea to drive after drinking alcohol or taking drugs that can alter your mental state DWI endangers your life and those around you thanks for watching