Exclusive: Iman Shumpert Asks Judge To Toss DUI Case; Says He Was Coerced Into Drug Test
Celebrities arrive at ‘The Equalizer’ New York premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York.
Baller Said He Was Pressured Into Giving Blood Test
The NBA’s Iman Shumpert has asked a judge to dismiss his driving under the influence case because cops pulled him over and administered his drug tests under dubious circumstances.
The Cleveland Cavaliers player filed motions in Fayette County Court to dismiss his case and suppress the state’s evidence, arguing that the drug test and other evidence from his “illegal” stop was inadmissible because the arresting officer didn’t read him his Miranda rights and coerced him into taking what were supposed to be voluntary blood and sobriety tests. Shumpert said the cops never told him that he didn’t have to cooperate if he didn’t want to.
“The warnings given were misleading, coercive and deceptive, inasmuch as the warnings inferred that the Defendant was required to take the state’s chemical test, when in fact the test was not required to be taken by him,” Shumpert, through his attorneys, argued in court papers. “Furthermore, the officer made additional comments that were misleading and impaired the Defendant’s ability to make an informed implied consent decision.”
Cops arrested Teyana Taylor’s other half in August on the outskirts of Atlanta for allegedly failing to stay in his lane of traffic. The officer said he smelled weed, and the baller infamously declared that he was coming from his “homegirl’s” house. Cops said they later found Shumpert with a mason jar full of pot. He was charged with DUI, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and failure to maintain a traffic lane.
Shumpert’s lawyer said in court papers that the baller was headed to the Atlanta airport to pick up his father, and his driving didn’t violate state law. Therefore there was no good reason why the cops pulled him over, and the lawyer called the stop “illegal.”
The newlywed said that the cops had no right to search him after pulling him over, and violated his constitutional rights against warrantless arrest, self-incrimination, due process and equal protection under the law, and asked for the judge to dismiss the case.
Shumpert’s lawyer argued that the tests were poorly administered and weren’t performed within the state’s law enforcement guidelines, and the cops never bothered to read him his Miranda rights. Shumpert’s defense also wants anything the father of one said once in custody to be thrown out, as well as the baller’s “heel to toe” and “one leg stand” tests that cops had him take.
“At no time was Defendant informed that his participation in such field sobriety tests was completely voluntary, or that his refusal to attempt such evaluations would neither effect his driving privileges or lead to certain arrest,” Shumpert’s court papers, obtained by BOSSIP, state. “Furthermore, Defendant was not required to take any field sobriety tests under Georgia implied consent law.”
Shumpert’s lawyer declined to comment on the case.
A judge will hear Shumpert’s motion next month.
