Monder Law Group - News
Absorption of alcohol in the body when pulled over for a DUI in San Diego
When consuming alcohol it is constantly being absorbed and eliminated from your blood stream. Whenever you drink there is a maximum peak that police officers are trying to capture to get the highest BAC reading for a DUI stop in San Diego. Under Title 17 Officers will take one reading and wait for a 15-minute deprivation period before they take another reading. If your BAC is on the decline by the time you take the final reading at the station, then the court will assume that your BAC was a lot higher at the time of driving. However, if your BAC is on the rise by the time you are tested at the station, then an experienced DUI defense attorney may articulate a rising blood defense on your behalf.
There are factors that will affect the absorption rate including the presence or absence of food in the stomach, the concentration of the beverage consumed, the rate of consumption, vascularization, the ratio of muscle mass to fat, etc. The critical point in any DUI trial in examining the true absorption of a BAC rising blood defense when the amount entering the blood is greater than what the liver can oxidize. The liver will handle the elimination of alcohol from the blood stream. This is important in every DUI case because the defendant will generally have a lower blood alcohol during the absorption phase than at the time of the chemical test. If the chemical test is taken when the alcohol level has peaked, then the BAC level will test higher than the earlier absorption phase.
Ingesting alcohol before it has been absorbed has no neurological effects and cannot cause someone to drive impaired. Alcohol that has been consumed travels from the stomach and into the intestine through the pyloric valve where it absorbs into the blood stream when the valve opens approximately three times a minute. Experts in a San Diego DUI case will discuss delays in the absorption phase based on variables of when the blood alcohol test is taken after driving. The prosecution will try and apply the BAC test taken as the true blood alcohol at the time of driving. Be careful because this is not true!!!! Any experienced DUI defense attorney in San Diego will be able to shed light on this fallacy based on the information above.
Alcohol absorption and elimination are subject to a lot of variability depending on the individual’s circumstances. If you are looking for more information about the circumstances surrounding your DUI case in San Diego, contact experienced DUI defense Attorney Vik Monder at 619.405.0063.
