Things are not Always as They Seem Diabetes Can Cause False-Positive Results!
Things are not Always as They Seem
Diabetes Can Cause False-Positive Results!
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Diabetes Can Cause False-Positive Results!
Floyd Brown, a part-time resident of Port St. Lucie, Florida, was arrested and charged with DUI while chauffeuring students from South Florida to Orlando. Approximately one hour into the trip, teachers on the bus became concerned because Mr. Brown wandered out of his lane. One teacher used a cell phone to notify police of Mr. Brown’s behavior. At the suggestion of the FHP officials, the teacher asked Mr. Brown to stop at the Fort Drum Plaza so that the students and faculty could use the restroom.
While the bus was stopped at the plaza, all students left the bus and went into the plaza. In the parking lot, Trooper Christopher Everett caught up with the bus and asked Mr. Brown to perform a field sobriety test. Although Mr. Brown attempted to inform the officer that he suffered physical impairments that made it impossible for him to perform the test, he submitted to various field sobriety tests and failed them. The police officers reported the “smell of alcohol” on Mr. Brown’s breath and requested that he complete a breath test. Mr. Brown voluntarily submitted to a breath test which revealed only a slight trace of blood-alcohol content (0.014%) that even the administering test officer was surprised when Mr. Brown was actually arrested for DUI and transported to the Okeechobee County Jail.
During trail, it was revealed that Mr. Brown had been in a serious automobile accident some years prior to the arrest, which resulted in his suffering long-term physical and balance problems. Mr. Brown had also been diagnosed as being diabetic (although he was not aware of it at the time of his arrest). Mr. Brown’s DUI defense attorney, Charles Shafer, was able to produce findings of various research studies whose results showed that diabetics can have a breath odor similar to alcohol. In addition, the calibration of the breath test equipment was found to be faulty, which led to the minor detection of alcohol in Mr. Brown’s test. After 18 months of having to deal with a drunk-driving charge, the case was dismissed.
As an experienced California DUI defense lawyer, I have found that there are a number of medical conditions that cause individuals to exhibit some of the same signs as intoxication. Diabetics will sometimes look and even act “drunk” to an observer and in many instances, certainly fail any field sobriety test given. Thus, while Mr. Brown did in fact suffer other physical impairments which did not allow him to perform well on the field sobriety tests given, he most likely would have failed them anyway because of his diabetes. The fact that Mr. Brown is diabetic also is what most likely attributed to his “wandering” out of his lane.
While in Mr. Brown’s case the breath test results were found to be erroneous because the machine’s calibration was off, it is important to note that breath test machines do not actually measure alcohol. Instead, they use infrared beams of light that are absorbed by chemical compounds (including ethyl alcohol) in one’s breath, which includes the methyl group in its molecular structure. What this means is that the greater the absorption rate, the higher the blood-alcohol result will be. Breath test machines are programmed to “assume” that the compounds in the breath are “probably” alcohol. Nevertheless, this is simply not the case and this is where error can be found. As for the breath of a diabetic, it is well-documented that when a person is in a state known as “ketoacidosis,” a by-product of hypoaglycemia is that acetones will be produced in his or her breath. This means that what the breath test machine is “assuming” to be alcohol is in fact not alcohol at all.
Being arrested for DUI is often a very frightful and confusing occurrence. When it comes to the law, assumptions should never be made, and those facing drunk-driving charges should protect themselves from such assumptions. If you are arrested for DUI, please contact the DUI Law Office of Thomas Wallin today! Our California DUI defense lawyers represent individuals accused of drunk driving throughout Southern California, including Driving Under the Influence cases in Orange County , Los Angeles, Riverside , San Bernardino and San Diego.
For more information on Mr. Brown’s story visit:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/dec/15/30bus-driver-cleared-of-dui-charge/ andhttp://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_hidethis=no&p_product=PBPB&p_theme=pbpb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_field_label-0=Author&p_field_label-1=title&p_bool_label-1=AND&s_dispstring=DUI%20charges%20AND%20date(11/01/2007%20to%2012/31/2007)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=11/01/2007%20to%2012/31/2007)&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(DUI%20charges)&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no
