Trooper Faces Lawsuit for Making False DUI Arrests

Trooper Faces Lawsuit for Making False DUI Arrests

ABC News reported that a Utah state trooper, Lisa Steed, has been fired from the Utah Highway Patrol and is facing a lawsuit for filing false DUI charges and arrests. Steed was at one point the most celebrated Utah state trooper for her ability to garner hundreds of arrests, setting records, earning praise as a rising star and becoming the first woman to become trooper of the year. It was noted that in 2009, she broke the state record for DUI arrests by filing about 400 DUI arrests, which was more than twice the average amount that other state troopers declared.

However, in 2012, Steed was on the stand in a DUI court case and admitted to purposely leaving her microphone in her patrol car so that superiors wouldn’t know she was violating agency policy. Then, in April 2012, a prosecutor refused to continue prosecuting DUI cases if Steed’s testimony was the only evidence available. One of Steed’s victims, Michael Choate, told ABC News that she stopped him for wearing a Halloween costume and booked him even though three breathalyzers tests showed no alcohol in his system. Choate stated that because of this he spent $3,800, had to take four days off of work to get his DUI charged dismissed, and nearly lost his security clearance and job as an aircraft logistics specialist at Hill Air Force Base.

Attorney Michael Studebaker said that although the lawsuit against Steed only involves two defendants, dozens of others are lined up and willing to tell their stories and requesting the lawsuit be broadened into a class action lawsuit. They claim that Steed’s behavior has negatively and severely impacted their personal lives and caused them a lot of expense to get them fixed. In addition, the lawsuit extended towards the Utah Highway Patrol for ignoring Steed’s patterns of higher-than-normal DUI bookings and waited too long to take her off patrol.

If you have been arrested for driving drunk, contact an experienced and skilled Utah DUI attorney for legal assistance.

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