There is an interesting case out of Iowa City where Levi B. Carter, 28, has been charged with drunk driving. Nothing uncommon there. However, Carter was arrested at his home after a passenger called police following a crash into a street sign. He was found at home with a blood alcohol content nearly six times the legal limit.
When police arrived and say that they found Carter in his basement talking to “people that were not there” and could barely stand. The reports indicate a delay of a couple hours which raises the question of where he became so intoxicated. However, the defense can be countered by the eyewitness testimony of his own passenger.
Carter registered off the scale of the machine. He below a .467 per cent before it simply read ‘HI’ as unmeasurable. A blood alcohol level of 0.4 and above is viewed as presenting a serious risk to someone’s life with the possibility of unconsciousness and death.
Source: Press Citizen
I’m surprised that the pilots here haven’t mentioned Chuck Yeager and his eyesight which helped him tremendously in dogfights.
nick spinelli
Dredd, That was an interesting post @ your site. The book I’m referencing is The Sports Gene by David Epstein. If you’re into sports it’s fascinating. And, Epstein doesn’t just focus on mainstream US sports, there are many obscure sports and the genetics required for excellence. He also refers to Outliers and the 10,000 hours for mastery philosophy.
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There is no doubt of mastery of any number of athletic games, academics, and a whole host of human abilities.
But genetics wasn’t one of the reasons, or even a main reason.
Epigenetics, not genetics, is more in line as a source of the masteries you pointed out IMO.
Just sayin …
Thanks for whomever retrieved my comment.
What comes out in a breath test, is breath. What comes out in a blood test is blood and it is more accurate. If this was a breath test taken at his home or after they got him out of his home then it is not worth spit. No jury would believe it accurate. If he rolls over on this one then he is not a Beethoven. Take your chances with a jury.
I didn’t get a chance to read the link for the original article (it kept demanding a subscription) so I might not have all the facts here but my first question about the PBT breath reading would be if the officers checked the mouth for objects or a pool of alcohol below the tongue and then made a 15 minute observation for the mouth alcohol to vaporize off. Mouth alcohol can spike true alcohol readings on the PBT or any breath test device. The reading is exceptionally high, few officers in their career will see that level. (my highest observed was a .315 of a DUI fatal) I would be more interested if an evidence breath test device, the ones typically at a station that are admissible into court and more accurate than a PBT, was used and what the result of that was.
I would have know also the time elapse betwen the driving and when he was seen by the police. If it was half an hour or so I don’t believe he could have metabolized that much alcohol even if he chugged a pure alcohol. Many states also have a provision where if the arrest was made within two hours of driving the DUI statute would apply. Additionally at an average elimination rate of .015 there would have not been enough time to eliminate a .40+ rate down to the legal limit of .08
Although the symptoms of alcohol intoxication are often obvious to trained law enforcement, some of the field sobriety tests used by officers are not always accurate. For example, diabetic hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) symptoms are similar to those exhibited by those who have too much to drink: stumbling, slurring or words, lack of coordination, and incoherent speech. And, people with diabetes who have hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) produce ketones in their blood that can be smelled on their breath. Ketones on the breath can be mistaken for alcohol and ketones may also invalidate a breathalyzer test by producing a false reading.
http://www.utdefenselawyer.com/drunk-driving/diabetes-ketones-and-field-sobriety-tests.html
Whoopee! Soon, you can report having seen someone smoking a joint
somewhere not too long ago. Will CrimeStoppers pay for tth snitch/tip?