A month after Ken Stabler won acquittal on a drunken driving charge, some legal experts and local judges are still scratching their heads over a decision to bar as evidence the fact that the former football star refused to take a breath test.

Stabler refused the breath test in June after a Robertsdale police officer pulled over his SUV on Ala. 59. Ordinarily, such a refusal can be used by the prosecution to make its case during the subsequent driving-under-the-influence trial.

But on Oct. 22, acting Robertsdale Municipal Judge James Sweet ruled Stabler’s refusal as inadmissible because officers had failed to monitor him for 20 minutes after his arrest as required.

Some legal experts and judges puzzled by ruling in Stabler DUI case