(UPDATE) Balkman arrested for suspicion of DUI

His nickname is “Kool” right? But shouldn’t cool be written with a “C”? When will the media start a fuzz about Balkman being a blood?

Nate, it seems like you understand the whole “guilty until proven innocent” problem that we today, especially athletes, have to deal with. For all intents and purposes it matters little whether he is guilty or not, the damage has been done, because most people will assume “he wouldn’t have been charged with anything if he hadn’t done something wrong”.

Let’s also not forget that HE REFUSED; having a bit of experience with this sort of thing (someone close to me also refused a BAC test) I can tell you that in most states and precincts there is little chance he can be “proven” innocent as it will be the police officers word against his. Of course the officer will have his “notes” from the field sobriety test, and will probably say he arrested him for failing the Nostagmus test or one of the other field tests. The truth is, most any cop will arrest you if there is even the slightest possibility you could be under the influence because they would rather play it safe, and after all, they write their own reports so he can give any reason he likes to justify the arrest.
 
In the state of Colorado, there is what is called “express consent”, meaning anyone operating a motor vehicle in the state has inherently consented to take a blood alcohol test at any time; this law supercedes the 5th amendment against incriminating oneself (which if you blew above a .08 BAC you would be willingly providing evidence against yourself) because driving is considered a privilege and so express consent constitutes an “exception”, if you will, to the 5th amendment. Legally, citizens are required to submit to a BAC test, but the police officer cannot make you blow and a refusal can be used as evidence against you in the court of law. Also of note is that in many precincts, police officers are not legally required to inform you of express consent law (you’re supposed to remember reading about it from taking your drivers test when you were 16), although they are encouraged to do so, but ultimately that is up to the judgement of the police officer. Of course people will have differing opinions about whether or not driving should be considered a privilege or a right, but likely a higher percentage of people would consider it a privilege if asked to consider what exactly it is. You can make a meritable argument either way really, of course we pay for our cars and our tax dollars pay for road construction and maintenance; on the other hand so do the tax dollars of the other drivers.

It is wrong to be drinking while driving because it risks causing injuries, and death. That said, this isn’t something new to America, and I don’t quite understand why the media would scrutinize athletes in general for this sort of incident, when in fact it happens all the time in the country. Many people come out with the idea that a player is wild, crazy, a problem/disturbance etc. when it’s more just blown up by the media and people in general. I’m not saying drinking while driving is the right thing to do, but one shouldn’t need to go through specific guidance, or have a lot of attention because of a DUI, if that was the case; how does one explain college students?

I’m gonna go a bit against the flow here (even though Balkman is one of my favorite players) … Surely if you’re a professional athlete in the NBA, you should know that your every action will be scrutinized by the media, especially for something as dangerous and incredibly stupid as drinking and driving. Yes, it’s true that there may be ‘circumstances’ and yes, it’s true that it happens all the time, especially with varsity students. Then again, they probably know that the media won’t give a damn about it. Fact is … he should have known better and deserves the bad publicity he’s getting. Wrt the fine or jail time (I’m not sure how the police deals with DUIs in America) he’s gonna get … he deserves that too. Drinking and driving is so stupid. Just call a f***ing taxi, for goodness sake!

sometimes people refuse to take the BAC test because they arn’t legally required to take one until they get to the detox. If Balkman was bombed, he might have refused so that he could buy himself some time to sober up a little.

they are going to be scrutized for such behavior. I agree with Zaf – call a taxi! Professional athletes have more than enough cash on hand for that. They live different lives, but they should know that being out at 4 a.m. is going to draw more attention from the police. Life in the spotlight is the life they chose…