Fight A DUI

Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb has written a short note suggesting that low carb diets, which encourage the body to produce ketones from burning stored fats, can cause irregularities (specifically, higher Breathalyzer results):

Don’t laugh at this story because it is very serious and could happen to YOU if you are in the right set of circumstances. It seems the breathalyzer tests used by law enforcement officials can register a false reading based on elevated ketone levels in your body. As you know, people who are on the low-carb lifestyle, especially in the most ketogenic stages eating around 20-40g carbs daily, induce heavy ketosis in their body to begin burning all that stored fat that’s inside of them. That’s what makes low-carb work so spectacular!But a recent experiment by a scientist friend of mine showed those excess ketones that come from livin’ la vida low-carb can actually show up on the breathalyzer test in a negative way and create a false positive for the presence of alcohol.

Conducted over several weeks, the scientist first made sure his body was not in ketosis and tested his blood alcohol content. Predictably, it came back with a ZERO reading. Then he allowed his body to get into ketosis and ran a series of tests with the breathalyzer. He scored as high as a 0.04% blood alchol content, which is about half of what the legal limit is in most states.

Keep in mind that he consumed no alcoholic beverages, no cough syrup, no mouthwash, and had no residual starch/sugars fermenting in his mouth. This reading he obtained was based solely on the ketones his body was producing.

That’s plausible, but hardly a scientific test. What’s more, the 0.04 reading won’t get you arrested alone, and one must question whether or not a low-carb-only dieter could possibly reach the 0.08 limit alone. When combining low-carbs with drinking, it seems possible to cross the 0.08 barrier without being impaired, but one must question how common a ‘low carb dieter’ is going to be drinking carb-heavy alcoholic drinks.

In any case, something to keep in mind for low-carb dieters who enjoy a few drinks.

The New York Daily News is one of many reporting that a limousine driver’s lawsuit against Nassau County will be allowed to proceed following a U.S. Distrit Judge ruling.

The case began in August, 2004, when two officers saw Aguilera driving erratically. He claimed that he did not feel well and was unable to control his movements, but was able to pass a field sobriety test, and was arrested on a DWI charge. After sitting on the bench for about two hours, more alcohol and drug tests were administered, and Aguilera passed them without issue.

Aguilera was eventually released, charges were dropped, and a hospital exam later revealed that he had suffered a stroke.

A Tahlequah, Oklahoma, mother - 24 year old Crystal Brown - hit an electric pole and a parked car before driving her vehicle into a ditch. Upon arriving at the scene, police discovered that Brown’s 3 year old daugher was in the back seat, unrestrained by either seatbelt or child safety seat. Neither Brown nor her dauther suffered any injuries.

In addition to DUI charges, Brown is also accused of resisting arrest and assault and battery on a police officer.

Danielle Baymack, 22, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated after the 2000 Mitsubishi sedan slammed into a signpost at 4:30 AM, killing fellow officer Marlene Rivera, 24, of Brooklyn. Baymack pleaded not guilty from her hospital bed last Saturday afternoon.

Baymack and Rivera, both rookie officers at the 103rd Precinct, were driving home after a night partying at a nightclub. The Nassau County police on the scene smelled alcohol on Baymack’s breath, and a breathalyzer allegedly confirms a BAC at .11 - above the legal limit of .08.

Additional details are available at zwire.com and Newsday.com

The Hollister Police Department will be operating a DUI checkpoint within the City of Hollister timed to coincide with the San Benito County Fair this weekend. The county fair is expected to draw several thousand people to Bolada Park in Tres Pinos.

“It’s a good way to remind people to be safe and catch those who aren’t,” Hollister Police Captain Bob Brooks said.

DUI arrests in San Benito County were up to 361 in 2005, a significant rise from 305 in 2001. Officials hope check points will encourage drivers to stay safe and avoid DUIs.

The Mississippi Supreme Court refused to review a lower court’s decision regarding a blood sample taken after a fatal DUI crash (the test found a BAC of 0.09 - above the legal limit of 0.08 for Mississippi). The lower court ruled last December that it was unclear whether the defendant (Dr. Samuel Shaw) was under arrest when the blood was taken. The Supreme Court has declined the prosecutors’ request to hear the case, leaving the prosecutors with virtually no evidence against Shaw. They key factor: the Appeals Court says Shaw refused to submit blood samples, which were then drawn without his permission.

Forbes is one of the many news outlets writing to let us know that Paris Hilton’s DUI Arraignment has been postponed. From the article:

 Hilton was originally scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on charges that she was driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level of at least 0.08 percent, said city attorney’s spokesman Nick Velasquez.

…

The 25-year-old Hilton was arrested Sept. 7 after being stopped in her Mercedes-Benz SLR while, she has said, on a late-night hamburger run.

Hilton has no prior DUI arrests. If convicted, she could be sentenced to six months in jail and fined $1,000. The minimum penalty for a first-time offender is a fine, probation and alcohol-rehabilitation program.

The $1,000 minimum fine in California probably matters little to her - but it should be interesting to see the heiress in a rehab program.

UPI is one of the many to announce that rapper Royce Montgomery was sentenced to 1 year in jail a summer DUI. From the story:

AllHipHop.com reported that a source close to the M.I.C. Records chief executive officer said that despite recommendations for parole for the rapper’s summer DUI, a Michigan judge instead chose to sentence the “Rock City” star to jail time.

“The actual situation was the DUI, but because he lives in the suburbs, you know how that goes,” the source told AllHipHop.com. “The probation people recommended that he do 30 days, but the judge was like ‘no.’ Normally the judge takes the probation people’s recommendations but they sentenced him to a year because they wanted him to think about it.”

Have a DUI? A good lawyer may keep you out of jail…

Driving Under Influence of Alcohol or Drugs

23152 (a) It is unlawful for any person who is under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug, or under the combined influence of any alcoholic beverage and drug, to drive a vehicle.

(b) It is unlawful for any person who has 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a vehicle.

For purposes of this article and Section 34501.16, percent, by weight, of alcohol in a person’s blood is based upon grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood or grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath.

In any prosecution under this subdivision, it is a rebuttable presumption that the person had 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood at the time of driving the vehicle if the person had 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood at the time of the performance of a chemical test within three hours after the driving.

(c) It is unlawful for any person who is addicted to the use of any drug to drive a vehicle. This subdivision shall not apply to a person who is participating in a narcotic treatment program approved pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 11875) of Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 10.5 of the Health and Safety Code.

(d) It is unlawful for any person who has 0.04 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in Section 15210.

In any prosecution under this subdivision, it is a rebuttable presumption that the person had 0.04 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood at the time of driving the vehicle if the person had 0.04 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood at the time of the performance of a chemical test within three hours after the driving.

(e) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1992, and shall remain operative until the director determines that federal regulations adopted pursuant to the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 (49 U.S.C. Sec. 2701 et seq.) contained in Section 383.51 or 391.15 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations do not require the state to prohibit operation of commercial vehicles when the operator has a concentration of alcohol in his or her blood of 0.04 percent by weight or more.

(f) The director shall submit a notice of the determination under subdivision (e) to the Secretary of State, and this section shall be repealed upon the receipt of that notice by the Secretary of State.

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