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Ol Tex in some trouble and a very odd situation.

Old 10-07-2008, 07:34 PM
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Ol Tex in some trouble and a very odd situation.

Alright, so I've been sober since the end of January. I've been going to AA and doing all the "right" stuff.

So who get's in a minor fender bender last night and spends the rest of the night in jail? That's right....this guy! I was on my way home from work, rear ended someone minorly and when the cops show up I fail field sobriety. I demand a blood test or breathalyzer. I blow a .27. Jail, aggravated DUI.

Here's the thing. I can honestly tell this message board I had nothing to drink. Even the doctors at the jail were asking my arresting officer if I was concious because there's no way I could've been operating a vehicle at that BAC according to them. He interviews me, doesn't give me any medications and puts me in gen pop. No withdrawals or anything. Even the CO's are confused. The DA takes one look at me and releases me OR, no bond. So I call my MD and ask what might set off a false positive. Going for blood work again in the morning. I get the best lawyer money can buy in this town but even he doesn't want to defend this case if I'm going to go with the "I wasn't drinking" defense, because the Breathalyzer's obviously say different. I think I have to plead this down and actually take a hit for something I know in my heart I didn't do.

I have no idea what to do and I'm flipping out. I was in jail ten hours, came home and fell asleep and still made it to work. Again, no drinking at all and I came home to my home breathalyzer and blow a .26.

What the hell could be causing this? I wouldn't lie I WASN'T DRINKING!
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Old 10-07-2008, 07:38 PM
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The breathalizer probably wasn't calibrated right. Ask your lawyer about it.
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Old 10-07-2008, 07:42 PM
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I have no idea how that could happen, but I really wish you would have demanded a blood test. I was a .26 my first dui and was reeaaally wasted...I have heard that certain things like mouthwash and breath mints can cause breathalizers to give false readings.....but a .27!!!!!

I don't know what to tell you sir, but if it was me and I knew I hadn't been drinking but blew a .27 I would still be in jail for swinging on everybody for false arrest. Something is goofed up here, keep looking for a lawyer is all I can suggest.
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Old 10-07-2008, 07:48 PM
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I have no answers but I do beleve you.
Talk to your sponsor....he may have local contacts.
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Old 10-07-2008, 08:01 PM
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Wow... I'm sorry but I have no idea.

I would question a lawyer who wont take your case. If there *is* a defect in the testing machine or something in your system that could be responsible for a false positive, then the charges should be dropped and no questions asked. He/she should be going after interviews with the arresting officer(s) and jail staff because no one with a .26 BAC can act in a sober manner! That's over four times the legal limit.

Good luck. I'll be praying for ya. I've had my own problems this year with gross failures of the criminal justice system and I know how incredibly frustrating that can be.
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Old 10-07-2008, 08:52 PM
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This definitely was a rookie cop who arrested me. At the substation he kept asking his partner to fill out the forms. I had a Diet Pepsi in the car and he smells it and claims it's spiked with something, his partner smells it and says it's fine. They couldn't even agree. I was in cuffs locked tight for three hours. I have ring marks all over my hands and they're swollen as hell.

I had just got my car insurance down to $80 a month too. Goodbye to that.

I go get my car out of impound this morning. That's right, they didn't even revoke my license?!? The cops had trashed it. My car is so messed up I'm not even going to drive it for a few days.

The only thing that made it a little tolerable was at least jail wasn't as bad as it is on TV. I'd never been to jail, and yes, they took my ass to the local PRISON, because "it was closer than downtown." I was just in the common (you're getting out tonight) area and not the (you're here for a while area), but damn! We told funny stories all night until they called my name. There were some crazies there, but they kept us really separated. I really feel for the guys who are in there for a while. When I get out of this, I'm doing jailhouse volunteer work. There's a guy who attends my home meeting who's always looking for helpers for inside meetings.

I called a lawyer recommended to me first thing this morning. They're charging me $10g's but I told him if he made this go away it was worth it. Every penny I have saved, but I'm not going back in for some nonsense like this. I've got the head of the firm, not a partner, so that made me feel a little better. He still thinks I might have to do a couple days though, which is what really makes me mad. I'm probably losing my license for 90 days too.

The CO in releasing said he had never seen anyone on an Aggravated DUI released without bond. Something is fishy here and I'm just so impatient. I was booked at 9:49 and released at 12:41. Of course I had to sit in releasing for 4 more hours, but they also said it was one of the fastest turnarounds too.

It just really pisses me off because now I'm gonna have to be one of those guys with the court papers in AA after all this time of voluntarily attending. It's not court ordered yet, but my lawyer says do it anyway. Arraignment is in a month. So much for my hopes of chairing a meeting anytime soon. I refuse to accept that I'm back at step one because I didn't drink, but a DUI charge...

Alright, I just blew a 4.2 on my home breathalyzer. Nothing to drink and I'm typing to you all and I think I'm making sense. Shouldn't I be dead according to that? I know home breathalyzers aren't completely reliable, but what the hell is going on? My doctor father thinks diabetes.

I pretty sure it's going to go away, but I'm so impatient and I really don't want to go back to jail. I'm just really confused and scared. Like after all this, and all the times I actually DID drive drunk, I'm going down for this. Karma.

Good god if it wasn't for this forum...Thank you for letting me vent and be scared.
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Old 10-07-2008, 08:52 PM
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Do you smoke?

"In all cases, exposing the sensor to any type of smoke or oxygen ion generator will produce false positive test results and inaccurate readings. This includes residual smoke in the lungs of a smoker and ambient smoke that may be present in the immediate area. Do not use an alcohol breath analyzer near any type of ion generator including popular air cleaners and central hvac electronic filtration systems. Smokers must wait a minimum 8-10 minutes after smoking to use a breathalyzer to insure that all residual smoke is absent from the lungs."

Breathalyzer Methods and Facts

Check the web - lots of case studies....
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Old 10-07-2008, 09:01 PM
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I have heard that diabetes can indeed be a factor in false test results...
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Old 10-07-2008, 09:10 PM
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I have a suggestion.....make every effort to contact everybody who can to get your story out. This includes the newspaper, local news,....everything. If you get your story out in the local media it could raise a lot of questions regarding your case, who knows an attorney may even take your case for free knowing the local publicity they will receive. I might just be talking out of my rear end but if I was in your shoes I would be doing everything I could to get my story out...dui's are no joke and if you are innocent then do NOT lie down, start making phone calls to get someone from the news to hear the story.
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Old 10-07-2008, 11:01 PM
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I am innocent, I'm just not sure how to prove it. I hit somebody, I failed both field sobriety and breathalyzer. Nope, I think I'm gonna take a hit somewhere on this one. I've been charged with too many things. I just want the word "aggravated" taken out of the DUI charge. That's the problem.

This is the only time that I actually HOPE something is medically wrong with me.

Things only started to look up for me when I was released OR. I am also not being charged with any felonies, they are all misdemeanors.

I'm gonna blow again, because I have OCD I guess... .31 Just a few minutes ago I blew a .42
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Old 10-07-2008, 11:30 PM
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I have heard that diabetes can indeed be a factor in false test results.
Talk to your doctor, get blood work done and have your A1C checked.

Yes, if you are diabetic or 'borderline' diabetic you can blow false on the breathalizer. Even Carol D or I could blow false as we are both diabetic and I have blown false.

Get to your Dr right away as there may be something else that can do it also. I am sure you will get this dismissed, something is very definitely 'fishy in Denmark' as the old saying goes.

call if you need to vent.

Love and hugs,
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Old 10-08-2008, 12:03 AM
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Hi Texas....I am NOT a lawyer. That said, you have been given some very good advice. Ten grand sounds a little excessive for any kind of DUI, I would try to shop around. Diabetes will in fact skew the results. Also, I would talk to whatever lawyer you choose and have him subpoena the calibration records of the breathalizer, and if this was in fact a "rookie" cop, make sure your lawyer questions him on the amount of breathalizers he has given, etc. Were you given any field sobriety tests?
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Old 10-08-2008, 03:11 AM
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Tex sounds like something is up and it sounds like it is something with you!!!

Go buy a brand new home breathalyzer, do not open it and go straight to a doctors office. Explain to them exactly what happened and request a blood draw to check your BAC, then have the doctor open the breathalayzer and see what you blow.

The reason I am saying this is because obviously there is something about you that is causing false positives on breathalyzers and having a doctor certify that your blood BAC is 0.0 while you blow a positive breathalyzer will be admissable in court and may actually result in the whole thing being thrown out of court if you go to the prosecutor with the results from your doctor.

Please keep us informed on what you do.

Tex do some reading here Breathalyzer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia there are a lot of things that can cause a false positive, bring this up both to your doctor and to the prosecutor.
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Old 10-08-2008, 03:37 AM
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The good news is that there is other evidence that is required - the breathalyzer reading alone is not enough. Other evidence of impairment is required i.e. the smell of alcohol coming from your mouth, red, glossy eyes, unsteady gait.

Bottom line - if all they 'have' is a breathlyzer reading and none of this other stuff, plus by all accounts other 'experts' are puzzled by the reading considering you were conscious and walking around - you're in pretty good shape.

In Canada we have ex cops who run small businesses to get people off impaired charges - I don't know if you have anything like this where you are, and ordinarily I would never recommend this - but that's where I would go in your situation. You need someone on your side who is motivated by the truth, not money.

Good luck.
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Old 10-08-2008, 06:04 AM
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Old 10-08-2008, 06:19 AM
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Old 10-08-2008, 07:39 AM
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Great find!

Tex,

Man I'm really sorry to hear that - just keep doing what you're doing. With a clear conscience you'll be able to fight that much harder! Don't let that Karma belief trick you into believing you deserve this either (if that were true I would guess most if not all of us would have a DUI by now).

I am wondering though, how did you fail the field sobriety test? What tests did they do?

I had the same thing happen to me - rear ended a guy and several people stopped to say they witnessed it and that I was drunk. I demanded the cop give me a breathalyzer and he gave me the field sobriety test first - I passed (even the "witnesses" told me that after the dog and pony show they believed me to be sober.) I was issued an ASCD (assured safe clear distance) citation - basically a fender bender and two points on my driving record.

The people claiming me to be drunk, after watching me pass SEVERAL tests, told me that they wouldn't have been able to do that sober.

All of this should be on the cop's dashboard video, that's why I'm wondering what tests they had you perform.

Mercury exposure can affect you if you failed the eye test.
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Old 10-08-2008, 08:05 AM
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Tex

I have two DUI's and deserved both of them.

That said, if you are in fact "fooling" more than one breathalyzer, and can replicate the results, it seems that an attorney would be more than glad to handle your case.

Though no attorney by any means, it seems that my strategy might be thus:

With your attorney, go to the police station and "DEMAND" a witnessed breathalyzer. If you can replicate the results, even anything above .10, it would seem to vindicate and prove your uniqueness.

Does this make sense to anyone?

warren
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Old 10-08-2008, 08:15 AM
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I have nothing productive to add, just that I've often wondered whether I could pass those field sobriety tests sober..I"m pretty clumsy.

I'm really really sorry this is happening to you. I am confident, though, that you will be able to prove your innocence.

Big hugs,

Karen
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Old 10-08-2008, 09:05 AM
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Are you using any kind of lip balm? I had some Avon stuff once that would make the interlock I had on my car go haywire. Antiseptic type alcohol will cause extemely high readings on a breathalyzer.
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