A person's drinking pattern can mean a huge difference
in the defense of a drinking driver. As a driver's BAC goes higher and
higher, the dangerousness of that driver goes up. This is because the alcohol
ingested begins to dull the driver's senses and affect their response time,
or, the person is willing to drive crazier and more reckless thinking that
they can handle the vehicle they're driving. Being able to respond quickly
is important in driving and this is why the State demands a chemical test
of a driver arrested for any drinking driver crime in the United States.
Many times in the defense of the driver, the person's drinking pattern
DOES NOT relate to the level that the machine used to test them says.
There are many reasons for mistakes in the Government's machines that your DUI/DWI defense lawyer should be aware of and use to defend you. For example, let's say you shared a 750 milliliter bottle of Merlot wine with your friend over a 2 hour dinner. You shared it equally so you each had 375 milliliters, or about 12.68 ounces of the 12% wine. You are a 170 pound male, and your friend is a 120 pound female. When tested, you come up a .15% breath test on the machine in the station since you correctly declined (if allowed by your state's law) any field breath test. Your friend when tested on the street is a .13% BAC and so your vehicle is towed even though she could have competently driven. Does this sound right? Check it out below and see what happens!
This scenario is not unfamiliar to us DUI/DWI defense attorneys. There are reasons for these occurrences and they can be explained in a jury trial so that you don't become a convicted criminal. In the above example you should note that since breath testing was used, many factors could be effecting the correct reading. Was the unit(s) used in calibration, were they used properly on you and your friend, did any interferrants effect the correct reading on you, was the unit effected by mouth alcohol, were you offered the best test, the blood test, ... ? For urine and blood tests, other factors are applied to test the validity of the results obtained by the State.
