The Back to School DWI

It's been a long and hot Ithaca summer. Compared to last year's record coolness, and lack of humidity this summer was brutal. I think we used the old window A/C units only few times last year. In fact, I was bragging to some friends how summer here is so lovely, blah, blah, blah, and then 2010 balanced it all out.

Cornell University and Ithaca College students are back, and the town is buzzing once again. My law practice focuses on DWI/DUI defense so naturally I have represented many students over the years.

One all too common DWI scenario is when a boyfriend and girlfriend have a nice dinner or a small party/get together. They all plan to spend the night, enjoy some drinks, and no one plans on driving. Then later in the evening or in the wee hours of the morning a fight or argument ensues. Maybe a drink spills on a laptop, or the liquor/beer/wine brings out some honest feelings or perspectives. Maybe the conversation becomes heated. Tempers flare and all reason gives way to heated emotion.

Now one party demands that the other leave immediately. Your best friend/lover/partner may even call the police after you leave, and tell them you are driving drunk or that you are driving high. With the flip of a switch you are in DWI hell. This situation is so common in my world that I call it the back to school DWI.

I always tell students that the time to think about a back up plan is not in the heat of the moment. You cannot think clearly with a combination of alcohol, and a polarized emotional state. Do not take any chances with your future. Always have cash and/or a credit card for a cab. Always have a car service number programmed in your cell contacts. Never assume that your friends are always looking out for your best interests. The bottom line is you have to protect yourself.

DWI "Just the facts, ma'am"

I listen to stories about drinking and driving almost every day. I need to know all the details. In my day we had a TV show called Dragnet. The show had a cop named, Joe Friday who loved to say, "All we want are the facts ma'am." I too want the facts but more importantly I want my client's version of the night. I want to understand his perceptions and viewpoint.

This allows me to piece together the timelines, the potential witnesses, behavior patterns, and the amount of alcohol consumed. Ultimately I want to have a more clear picture of the prosecution's case against my client. I also have a software program that allows me to input my client's age, sex, height, weight, and drinking information to arrive at a pretty accurate BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) at the time of driving. Of course it is only a BAC range, and highly dependent upon my client giving me reliable information.

One of the first things that is difficult to estimate is the potency of the drinks. What type of beer or wine was drank? What was it's alcohol concentration? How big were the cocktails or the glasses they came in? Sometimes "one" drink has really 3 or 4 shots of 80 proof liquor. Beer can be 3-5 % and wine can go up to 14 %. Bacardi 151 is 75 % alcohol!

I recently had a client who swore he only had 3. Yeah, as in 3 Long Island Iced Teas! Do you know how much alcohol is in one LI Iced tea? In a good one, there is probably at least 4 shots.

So my client had 12 drinks before he began drinking Lite beer later in the evening. I would imagine smoking a few hits off his buddy's joint didn't help matters.

Remember that proof is twice the percent of alcohol.

5 ounces of wine 24 proof 24 ÷ 2 = 12 (% alcohol) 12 ÷ 100 = 0.12 0.12 x 5 oz = 0.6 ounces ethanol

12 ounces of beer 10 proof 10 ÷ 2 = 5 (% alcohol) 5 ÷ 100 = 0.05 0.05 x 12 oz = 0.6 ounces ethanol

1 1/2 shot 80 proof 80 ÷ 2 = 40 (% alcohol) 40 ÷ 100 = 0.4 0.4 x 1.5 oz = 0.6 ounces ethanol

One drink = .6 ounces of ethanol and usually one drink will cause someone (the average person) to go up .02 to .03 BAC per drink. If you had 4 drinks in a one hour period then your BAC would be .08 to .12. Alcohol dissipates (is expelled, eliminated) at around .015 to .02 per hour. In theory you can drink one drink per hour and clear the alcohol from your body at that rate (in other words remain alcohol free), after the alcohol clears.

So you are at a bar and have two drinks over two hours, you leave the bar, your BAC should be less than .04?

But we do not know the size of the drinks, or your metabolism, how much you weigh, or what you ate? All these factors affect your elimination rate.

Breath tests are not always reliable, accurate, or valid. Often they are not administered properly. People come in all different shapes and sizes. Getting a real BAC is a beginning, and getting the facts of the case from my client takes us one step closer to defeating a DWI.