Utah Trooper Accused of Making Bogus DUI Arrests

STLToday.com (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) ^ | 2/22/2013 | Brady McCombs/AP

[scott7278]

During her 10 years as a Utah state trooper, Lisa Steed built a reputation as an officer with a knack for nabbing drunken motorists in a state with a long tradition of tee totaling and some of the nation's strictest liquor laws.

Steed used the uncanny talent - as one supervisor once described it - to garner hundreds of arrests, setting records, earning praise as a rising star and becoming the first woman to become trooper of the year.

Today, however, Steed is out of work, fired from the Utah Highway Patrol, and she - and her former superiors - are facing a lawsuit in which some of those she arrested allege she filed bogus DUI reports.

[ozzymandus]

It’s all about the money. Governments make thousands off every DUI.

[Alaska Wolf]

That’s how they’re evaluated, and that’s how some chirpy assistant DA later on becomes the DA, etc.

Aren't most prosecutors elected?

These people are given incentives to do these things

It would be nice if you could post documentation.

You might not have heard of Mike Nifong,

The North Carolina DA who has been disbarred over ethics violations?

[Alaska Wolf]

fully fellate any cop

Appears you've done it.

[headsonpikes]

LOL! You know your man!

[Alaska Wolf]

Apparently many intimately. LOL!

[old curmudgeon]

The real problem is that at the same time Nifong was all over the news, there were two DA’s in the Fayetteville area and one in the Asheville area being investigated for withholding evidence, faking evidence, etc.

They only got wrapped on their knuckles.

I hung the jury in another case where the DA was going to send a kid to prison for a crime he could not possibly have committed because it was physically impossible for him to have traveled from a known point to the scene of the crime in the time required to go from one place to the other.

And that was only one of three fatal flaws in the case.

There is something very wrong with the way we elect DA’s and the lack of holding them accountable.

[Alaska Wolf]

There is something very wrong with the way we elect DA’s and the lack of holding them accountable.

Look at what we have in Washington D.C. Fortunately, In October, the Salt Lake Tribune obtained a memo written in May 2010 in which Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Rob Nixon flagged Steed's "pattern" of questionable DUI arrests. He wrote that the bulk of Steed's arrestees had no signs of "impairing drugs" in their systems.

We just need more people like UHP Sgt. Rob Nixon.

[IMR 4350]

I came close to having to kill the cop, that’s why I don’t automatically jump to the cops side when someone shoots them.

It came damn close to me or him, and it wasn’t going to be me if I could help it.

With a jury you have a chance, not so much against a .357 mag.

Cops have a job to do, but trumping up charges on someone to make themselves look good isn’t their job.

[vette6387]

I was born a Mormon, though I no longer am a member. As a consequence, I know all about the Mountain Meadow Massacre. I guess I don’t know how that relates to the here and now, any more than the $hit the Catholic Church pulled in Europe centuries ago affects Catholics today.

BTW, why don’t you respond to my comment about you being a double dipper?

Also, from today’s postings, here’s what Utah is doing with respect to the issue of guns” http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2990329/posts
Show me another state that is as gun friendly as is Utah. Texas, by comparison is a piker!

[jiggyboy]

Michael Choate sits in his vehicle Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, in West Jordan, Utah. Choate, a now-retired aircraft logistics specialist at Hill Air Force Base, said he nearly lost his security clearance and job. Steed stopped him because he was wearing a Halloween costume and booked him even though three breathalyzers tests showed no alcohol in his system. Choate said he spent $3,800 and had to take four days off of work to get his DUI charged dismissed.

I don't want to sound catty, but man they could have picked a better picture than this poor guy to make the point that she was out of control. He looks like he's about to fall asleep at the next traffic light.

[BlueDragon]

"...but man they could have picked a better picture than this poor guy to make the point that she was out of control. He looks like he's about to fall asleep at the next traffic light."

No, no, NO.

THAT was his Pat Paulson look-alike Halloween mask.

[humblegunner]

Bet you hate Mormons too!

Hate does not effect Mormons.

It bounces right off the magic underwear.

[Drew68]

Any cop who does something like this should be sent to prison in general population, among those they may have arrested.

Hell yes! This is no joke!

I won't drive after consuming any amount of alcohol. Not a single beer. A DUI for me would be a career-killer. I'd lose my security clearance, my rate and my job. And good luck finding another job that pays what I'm making now with a fresh DUI on my rap sheet. This means I'd lose my home, my savings and my great credit score. And I have a wife and two kids to provide for.

A DUI isn't the minor crime it was 20 years ago. These days, a conviction will close a lot of doors. It is a major handicap to one's earning potential. She needs to do hard time.

[vette6387]

“Hate does not effect Mormons.
It bounces right off the magic underwear.”

Wow, let’s all hear what you have to say about the Jews and the Catholics!

I’ll just bet you have some “enlightening” comments about them too!

[humblegunner]

Wow, let’s all hear what you have to say about the Jews and the Catholics!

As far as I know, they wear regular underwear.

[vette6387]

Scum!

[humblegunner]

Scum!

Because I don't wear magic underwear?

It's because of that, isn't it? Do you know how hurtful that is?

You're judging me because of my choice in underpants.

This is so harsh.