Alexandria DUI Rising Blood Alcohol Defense

Rising blood alcohol refers to situations where, at the time a person is stopped by police, they have undigested alcohol that is still in their digestive system. At the side of the road during this initial stop and at the time that the preliminary breath test is administered, there may be one level of blood alcohol, but by the time the person gets to the police station, an hour or more may have passed and if they have alcohol in their stomach, they will have absorbed more of that in their blood stream. This can cause it to appear that the person was much more intoxicated than they were at the time that they were driving.

An Alexandria DUI rising blood alcohol defense shows that at the time the person was driving, they actually had a different blood alcohol content than they did when they were tested at the police station. This can assist the person or their Alexandria DUI lawyer in showing either that they had a lower blood alcohol level that takes them below the legal limit, or that brings them below a level that might cause them to have a penalty enhancement.

Preparing a Defense

One of the most important things in an Alexandria rising blood alcohol DUI defense is the preliminary breath test that is administered at the side of the road. That can provide a reference point for what the individual’s blood alcohol level actually was closer to the time that they were stopped than to the time that the test was taken at the station.

In addition, sometimes expert witnesses are used to establish this defense. They will testify about what the blood alcohol would have been at the time of driving based on how many drinks were had, the gender of the defendant, their height, their weight, and other factors that contribute to how quickly alcohol is absorbed into the system, as well as how quickly it is eliminated.

Peak of Blood Alcohol Level

A person’s blood alcohol is going to be at its highest at some point after they have finished drinking, but before their body has had a chance to fully metabolize the alcohol. As a person drinks and the alcohol is absorbed, blood alcohol spikes and rises at a fairly steep and predictable rate.

A point comes however when the body is no longer absorbing alcohol and its ability to metabolize and break that down overcomes what is being absorbed. Just prior to that moment is when the alcohol level will be the highest, which is typically going to be somewhere within an hour or so after the person had their last drink.

Persuasiveness of the Defense

Judges and jurors can find this defense to be persuasive because there are situations where a person’s blood alcohol is actually much lower at the time of driving than it is at the time that the test was taken. Blood alcohol tests are scientific tests, which are taking a snapshot of what the BAC was.

Given this, for an Alexandria rising blood alcohol DUI defense to be useful and accurate, they have to not only comply with all the requirements of how the test is to be administered, but they have to be close enough in time to when the actual driving occurred to be valid. Putting on evidence that shows what the blood alcohol was closer in time to the actual driving can be very persuasive in assisting the person in having their DUI charge dismissed.

Benefits of an Attorney

An Alexandria rising blood alcohol DUI defense is a technical defense. It is something that an individual needs an experienced lawyer for, who knows how to effectively and beneficially present that evidence to the court. This is not the kind of defense that a layperson can present on their own nor is it the kind of thing that an inexperienced DUI lawyer is going to be able to utilize effectively.