Posted on 11/04/2005 4:44:45 PM PST by elkfersupper
People can be prosecuted on drunken driving charges with a blood-alcohol content below the state’s presumed level of intoxication of 0.08 percent.
That’s the word from Farmington police and District Attorney Lyndy Bennett.
Bennett says people can be prosecuted if they’re impaired to the point they can’t drive. She says the blood-alcohol content is not an absolute.
Farmington attorney Victor Titus was arrested this week on a charge of drunken driving after registering a blood-alcohol level of 0.02.
The officer says he arrested Titus because the results of a breath test were not consistent with what he described as “observed impairment.”
That's always been the case in California...the blood level only makes it an absolute.
"Bennett says people can be prosecuted if they’re impaired to the point they can’t drive"
That's about half of the drivers in New Orleans without a drop of alcohol in them.
So the accurate test is less accurate than the patrolman's impression. This is very reminiscent of the guy who was forced to continue to pay child support, even after DNA testing proved he was not the child's father.
I'd bet he was arrested because he sued the city, the police department, some police officer's sweetie, etc. The arrest probably had very little to do with his BA and a lot to do with his past acts.
All fixed.
Same in PA. Most motorists are not aware of it. If you're in an accident, a shot of tylenol makes you "under the influence".
It's a witch hunt, I tell ya'!
but most states have a level of .034 as a presumption of sobriety.
IOW the Judge has to give a Jury instruction indicting that the 0.02% is PRESUMED to be sober.
This stinks of a political prosecution.
The prosecutor who pushes a case with this level should resign not only their status as prosecutor but as a lawyer.
Well, not always.
Used to be, there had to be victims in order for there to be a crime. Not anymore.
Police Chief of the City of Oakland Park Florida was arrested on much the same "observed" evidence. It is alll bunk.
In FL horizontal gaze nystagmus is not even admissible in a trial because it is so irrelevant.
ALL the roadside exercises, (there are not legally tests) are only 60% accurate. Would anyone get on an airplane that was only 60% functional?
Teddy Kennedy should not even ride in a car
What was the charge? Having been within leering distance of an alcoholib beverage some time in the past decade? 0.02?
If they do that, MADD gets mad.
DWI--and it happens all the time. This time we have ourselves an attorney.
Of course, the same thing has happened to judges and congresscritters, and nothing has changed....yet.
Driving Under The Influence of Alcohol. That doesn't mean that you have to be drunk. One drink and you are fair game to any officer in a squad car who wants to pull you over. If you have even 1 drink of Alcohol, don't drive a vehicle.
No doubt. 50-60 percent of Utah drivers are impaired one way or another. Some alcohol, some drugs, most of that percentage just need a clue on life. I've never seen such a high percentage of people who don't understand "Keep right except to pass", don't understand what a yield sign means (they think a yield sign means you just blast right through the intersection without looking), and are baffled by 4-way stops.
Pedestrians are not exempt either. I guess ol' Teddy may have to employ some litter-bearers.
You can blow a 0.02 by walking past a guy who has a beer in his hand.
Maybe he's just a bad driver? ;)
If they applied the "observed impairment" standard in California, they would be arresting 100,000 unlicensed illegal aliens per day.
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