Sober drivers charged with DUI find lives ruined waiting for proof of innocence

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV/Gray News) - William Rose takes full responsibility for the accident.

Having driven to take his son to Middle Tennessee State University for class and with a few hours to kill, the husband and father of two decided to hustle and make a few bucks making deliveries for Uber Eats.

It had rained, he recalls, and the intersection of St. Andrews Drive and Wellington Place was wet and unfamiliar as he pulled out.

“This guy came speeding on through and we collided,” Rose said.

He expected the police to arrive. He expected to have to explain to his wife why his car was now heavily damaged.

But he never imagined he’d be charged with a DUI, leaving the scene in the back of a Murfreesboro police squad car.

“I kept telling (police), sir, you’re making a mistake. I haven’t been drinking. I’m not impaired,” Rose said.

A WSMV 4 Investigation found Rose’s case isn’t unique.

From Clarksville to Murfreesboro, from Franklin to Goodlettsville, we found sober drivers charged with DUI, and because of a backlog in alcohol and toxicology tests at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, they are forced to wait months for proof of their innocence.

In the months that followed their DUI arrests, their lives crumbled.

“My life, for the last 17, 18 months, has been a nightmare,” Rose said.

Sober but arrested for DUI

Once police arrived at 9:21 p.m., the suspicion that Rose was drunk was high.

Rose remembers a female officer observing that she smelled alcohol in the car.

“Post-COVID world,” Rose said, “I put on some hand sanitizer.”

The narrative on the police report shows when Rose stepped out to show an officer the damage, he was swaying for balance.

“[The officer] said, ‘I’d like to do a field sobriety test, do you consent? And I said yes, I do consent, but I’d rather do a breathalyzer. And he said we don’t do breathalyzer in Rutherford County. We do the blood alcohol test at the station based on your behavior.’”

Dash-camera video shows Rose stumbling badly during the field sobriety test.

That, too, Rose could explain.

“I kind of stumbled a little when I got out. I struggled, have been bow-legged most of my life, so I struggle with balance a lot of the time,” Rose said.

But the smell of alcohol, and the poor performance during the field sobriety test, sealed his fate.

“Threw my hands behind my back and said, ‘You’re being arrested for driving under the influence,’” Rose said. “I was very cordial with the officers. But I was scared to death.”

“It feels surreal. It’s like a joke.”

Bill Schenk can sympathize.

The father of two in Clarksville was driving Uber early in the morning of April 29, 2023, having picked up a woman who had been drinking.

Schenk made an improper U-turn and was pulled over by a Clarksville police officer.

Like Rose, the officer smelled alcohol coming from the vehicle.

“When you know you’re not drunk, you’re almost eager to prove it, Like, there must be a misunderstanding,” Schenk said.

Schenk, who said he was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, admitted to having trouble following the officer’s directions.

“I need to hear instructions several times to get it. When your whole mind is like, this isn’t real, it’s like Charlie Brown’s teacher is talking to you,” Schenk said.

He also remembers that the pavement was sloped.

“I did not walk the line as good as Johnny Cash,” Schenk said.

Like Rose, Schenk was hauled off to jail and charged with DUI even though he was sober.

“It taught me that it could happen to you,” Schenk said.

“It never occurred to me that anyone thought I was impaired.”

In June 2022, WSMV4 Investigates first reported that Katie Slayton, a single mother and nurse, was arrested by Franklin police for DUI even though she was sober at the time.

Like Rose and Schenk, Slayton performed badly on her field sobriety test, but she blames that on the trauma she was experiencing at the moment.

A day care worker had called the police when she arrived to pick up her son, suspecting she was acting strangely, talking to herself and pacing.

Slayton’s son was taken back inside the day care by police as conducted the field sobriety test outside.

“Completely surprised. It never occurred to me that anyone thought I was impaired,” Slayton told WSMV4 Investigates.

Slatyon also has attention deficit disorder but said she had taken her medication that day.

She was not only arrested for DUI but also for felony child neglect.

As a result, her son was taken from her by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services for nine weeks.

“(Franklin police) have traumatized my son, they have traumatized me,” Slayton said.

The worst was yet to come

Rose was not prepared for the waiting game.

Because Murfreesboro police do not use breathalyzers, he gave blood to be analyzed for alcohol.

But in Tennessee, if a person’s blood alcohol level is determined to be under the legal limit of .08 at the TBI crime lab, it is then automatically passed on for a toxicology test in order to confirm whether or not a driver may have consumed drugs.

So Rose waited, month after month.

Two months later, the alcohol test from the TBI came back negative, so it was forwarded on for further toxicology tests.

Six months after Rose’s arrest, the toxicology report came back negative as well.

But the damage had already been done.

Rose lost his job and his insurance because of the DUI arrest, racking up legal fees along the way.

“We’ve lost close to $30K in legal fees, impound fees,” Rose said.

The domino effect continued. Rose said his church questioned if he was living a double life. He couldn’t afford to buy another car.

“My life, for the last 17, 18 months, has been a nightmare,” Rose said.

Schenk said once a local media outlet that posts the mugshots of accused drunk drivers featured his photo and arrest, he was asked to step down from a leadership position at his church.

“I lost two job opportunities because you do your name and your city my mug shot comes up, it’s not a flattering portrayal,” Schenk said. “It’s sort of like you become an immediate pariah.”

It took Schenk more than five months to get back his toxicology report showing he was sober.

For Slayton, it was eight months.

Bernie McEvoy, an attorney who specializes in DUI cases, had a client arrested by Goodlettsville police for DUI and was completely sober.

“This particular client had to wait eight months to prove that he had not consumed anything at all,” McEvoy said.

While police department defends actions, one expresses regret

WSMV4 Investigates reached out to every police department that arrested a sober person for DUI for comment, but all declined an interview, sending statements instead.

In Rose’s case, Murfreesboro police spokesman Larry Flowers wrote that the system worked as it was designed.

“This case is a perfect example of how the system should work. Blood was examined by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation which determined Mr. Rose was not impaired. The charges were dismissed in court and his record expunged,” Flowers wrote.

Flowers also stated that Murfreesboro police do not use breathalyzers, and the department found that blood analysis is more reliable.

Franklin police would not comment on Slayton’s arrest in Franklin, but when we first exposed the story in 2022, Chief Deborah Faulkner stated in an email, “The Williamson County magistrate found probable cause to support charges and warrants were obtained.”

Scott Beaubien, public information officer for Clarksville police, wrote, “The officer requested Mr. Schenk to perform field sobriety tests, which he consented to, and in the officer’s opinion, Mr. Schenk performed poorly. "

Beaubien added, “At no time was there any malice directed toward Mr. Schenk. Based on the totality of circumstances, the officer acted in good faith and believed Mr. Schenk was under the influence. We will not be doing an interview.”

Beaubien confirms that the department does use a breathalyzer at the jail, but it’s up to the officer to determine if a blood test should instead be gathered.

Max Winitz, public information manager for Franklin police, confirmed the same policy for their department.

“State law allows cities to ask for either a breath or blood test, and FPD utilizes both,” Winitz said.

Goodlettsville police chief Gary Goodwin stated in an email that they do have a breathalyzer available, but that “many of the persons under the influence are the result of prescription medications or illicit narcotics which renders the breathalyzer moot.”

Goodwin wrote that his department “regrets the impact this arrest had on Mr. Adams’ life.”

Goodwin is referring to Jeffrey Adams, McEvoy’s client, who was arrested for DUI but was sober at the time.

“Our review of this indicates that the officer made a good faith effort and obtained a warrant from a judicial commissioner based on probable cause. The toxicology did not confirm the officer’s initial observations. We are continuing in training our personnel in DUI/Standardized Field Sobriety Testing with the goal of having positive outcomes,” Goodwin wrote.

“That’s not acceptable.”

When WSMV4 Investigates brought our findings to Jennifer Hall, the regional administrator for the TBI crime lab, she did not hide her disappointment.

“That’s not acceptable,” Hall said. “There are times when our turnaround time was not acceptable.”

Hall confirmed a backlog of alcohol and toxicology blood tests at the TBI, citing that the number of cases, roughly 1,000 a month, simply outnumbers the staff able to quickly process them.

Hall hopes the situation is improving as they hired four additional scientists in 2024 to process alcohol and toxicology reports.

By year’s end, Hall hopes to have 14 scientists trained and able to process the tests.

“Anytime somebody’s life is impacted waiting on a result, that’s a lot, and we want to improve. We want to do better. I feel like we’re moving in the right direction,” Hall said.

As for the direction of his life after the DUI arrest, Rose said it’s made a definite turn for the worst.

“I didn’t even get an apology letter from the Murfreesboro Police Department, saying hey, we goofed up. This has destroyed my life,” Rose said.

This story is the latest in our ongoing investigation into sober people arrested for DUI in Tennessee.

Copyright 2024 WSMV via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.