Stefanie Fair, a former child actress and reality TV star, is suing the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Fair was reportedly arrested for a DUI, despite being stone-cold sober.
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The incident took place in Nashville on June 23, 2024. The Tennessee Highway Patrol claimed Fair was driving while under the influence. However, the body cam footage shows Fair defending her innocence. It's worth noting that the same footage shows the trooper claim that Fair failed a sobriety test known as the horizontal gaze nystagmus test. The trooper claimed that Fair's eyes were "bouncing."
Fair was ultimately arrested and taken to jail for a DUI. However, a blood test conclusively proved that she was telling the truth. The test found no traces of alcohol or drugs in her system.
"Stefanie suffered tremendous harm from having her mugshot and the description of the incident all over the internet," her attorney, Ben Raybin, said in a statement. "People were making comments and saying all these horrible things about her, which is not the case, but of course, when things are on the internet, they are there forever."
Recent Legislation Has Unearthed Over 400 Sober DUI Arrests in Tennessee
Recently, a new state law was passed in Tennessee. The law required the release of all DUI arrest data where blood work showed no alcohol had been detected. The data turned up over 400 cases of "sober DUI arrests" in the state.
"It confirms over 400 arrests over sober DUIs," State Sen. Raumesh Akbari said after the findings. "It looks like a lot of activity occurred with Highway Patrol in specific counties, so we can look at what needs to be tweaked and have conversations with law enforcement officers, with different lawmakers to see if we can have policy with these sober DUIs. That's ultimately what we wanted the numbers for."
Fair is among those 400 cases. And, with the new data, she will undoubtedly have a solid case in court. After all, the arrest put her career at risk.
"You don't want people to experience the nightmare of a false arrest and all the financial, psychological, and emotional issues that go along with it," Akbari continued. "And we also don't want people who are truly intoxicated driving on the roads and potentially injuring themselves or others, or killing others."
There has been no information regarding the date of Fair's lawsuit as of yet.
