Reader’s Question:
My husband was charged with DUI here in California. He insists that he never drive drunk. He is diabetic and according to his attorney, if he experiences hypoglycemia, he may look like drunk. Is it true that the breath test conducted can clear him?
Diana
Daly City, CA
Police officers in California have no inherent skill and little training in detecting levels of intoxication. They are actually psychologically predisposed in a drunk driving investigation to “see” what they expect to see, disregarding any alternative explanations.
One of those possibilities is that if a diabetic experience hypoglycemia or low blood sugar levels. Symptoms of this include poor balance, staggering, slow and slurred speech, impaired motor control, flushed face, disorientation and drowsiness which are also the typical symptoms of alcohol intoxication. If this is the case, the driver will look and act like a drunk driver to the police officer and will fail any “field sobriety tests”.
A breath test will not clear him. Breathalyzer use infrared beams of light which are absorbed by any chemical compound (including ethyl alcohol) in the breath which contains the “methyl group” in its molecular structure. The machine assumes that the compound is “probably” alcohol. One of the thousands of compounds containing the methyl group which can register as alcohol is “acetone”. A by-product of hypoglycemia is a state called “ketoacidosis”, which causes the production of acetone in the breath. This means that the Breathalyzer will read significant blood alcohol levels on a diabetic’s breath where there may be little or none.
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Reader’s Question:
Hi. My nephew was charged with DUI in California. I heard about this rising BAC defense. His lawyer advised him about this kind of defense. What does a rising BAC defense mean?
Sara
Salinas, CA
In California, it is against the law to have a high blood alcohol concentration while driving and not at the time the chemical test is administered. Many scientific studies show that it can take anywhere between 30 minutes to 3 hours for the alcohol to be absorbed into our system. That is why there is a possibility that a driver’s BAC could continue to rise after he was stopped and arrested.
There is approximately one hour between the time the driver is arrested and when a chemical test (urine, blood or breath) is administered. For example, the test result perhaps showed a .10% BAC. If the alcohol was still being absorbed into the driver’s system since the arrest, this could mean he only had a .07% blood alcohol concentration while he was driving. Although the test result showed an illegal BAC, the driver’s true BAC while driving was still legal.
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