Thomas Drummond is a resourceful fellow. Driving in the unfamiliar wilds of southeastern Missouri, Drummond spun out on icy roads and ended up in culvert. In his last-“ditch” effort to notify someone of his plight, he texted his girlfriend about the accident around 2:00 a.m., but, in a curious omission, forgot to tell her the location. Two hours later, a soused (0.148 BAC) Drummond was found by the highway patrol and promptly arrested for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
Open and shut case you say. Not to Drummond’s attorney Steven Wilson, Esq., who told the jury an interesting version of events. Drummond did spin out in the dark Missouri countryside, but not from alcohol. Slick icy road was the culprit. As to Drummond’s inebriated condition upon arrival of the cops, well, it was cold and Drummond was en route to a party with a bottle of brandy, thoughtfully purchased as a gift for the hostess. “No getting to the party; No need for a gift now,” he thought, however there was ample need to stay warm. Down went the heart-warming, potent potable.
The jury bought it and Drummond left the courtroom a free man with a warm place in his heart for his counsel. Said attorney Wilson,”This is something that doesn’t happen all the time. It’s an odd set of circumstances.”
Indeed, and because of that, it is perfect grist for our mill.
Source: FindLaw
~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
It could happen….
Didn’t say he was smart :/
Cute story
Myth. Does nobody take life sciences in school anymore? Worse thing you can do is drink alcohol to stay warm because it does not warm the body, it does the opposite. What it does do is make you feel warmer because more blood is flowing to the skin where the nervous system senses the additional heat. Alcohol dilates blood vessels. Because more blood is reaching the surface of the body, more heat is lost to the colder tempature surrounding the body. You are transfering heat from the vital organs to the outside, countering a natural response of the body to sacrifice the limbs to conserve heat for the chest and brain.
Ah ha, this has worked before and for these types of circumstances…it is a good defense…just sayin’ not that I have not used it….wink….
O M G !
Fanned and Faved. Mr. Drummond is my kind of man. I would have voted ‘not guilty’ too.
For years I kept a good survival kit in my car in a large-ish suitcase. Tools, canned food, tire inflater in a can, a coffee can stove kit, medical supplies and a big unopened bottle of rum. I always an old comforter in the car just in case I need to haul something that needs padding or might mess up my car, so I was set for the worst.
A friend of mine did something while we were in my car and I needed to get something out of my kit to fix it (she cut herself or something) and she came back to the trunk when we got to where ever we were going so I could put a bandaid on her cut. She saw the bottle of rum.
I need to say here that I hate winter. Hate, loathe and despise winter. Winter is evil. I’m not the kind to get caught somewhere and walk 23 mile in snow to reach safety. Ain’t gonna’ happen.
My friend said ‘you don’t drink hard liquor, what’s the rum for’ and I explained that if I ever got in a a real emergency in the winter, a life and death thing on the road, I could stick it out until I ran out of heat (my coffee can stove) and food and take care of minor injuries but I wasn’t leaving the car. I’d just persevere as long as possible and then drink as much rum as I could as fast as I could, right to the passing out part, and roll down all the windows. The winter might get me but it’d be on my terms. Srsly.
We laughed about that just about every winter: ‘still got that rum in your car?’, ‘I never travel without it’ LOL.
It’s winter here and I hate it. Speaking of winter/climate disruption: I saw a news report today saying that Florida has been so cool/cold this year that the water in which the manatees live is killing them, it’s so clod. 700 dead manatees in 11 months. Truth or cover-up for an enormous pollution problem/toxic chemical release?
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Cold-Case-Record-Number-of-Manatees-Dead-From-the-Chill-111683729.html
Steven Wilson, Esq., … you be Bernie!