Monder Law Group - News

Written in Blood

The basic definition for driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI) is the crime of driving a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol or other drugs (including those prescribed by physicians), to a level that renders the driver incapable of operating a motor vehicle safely.

If you’ve been charged with a DUI or DWI, one of the ways to collect evidence against you will be via a blood sample. This post will provide information on how alcohol affects the body, spreads via the blood stream, and is eventually used as a tool to convict you with a DUI/DWI charge.

How Alcohol Spreads Through the Body

Once absorbed in the blood stream, alcohol distributes in the body to the various organs and tissues in proportion to their water content and blood supply. About 95 to 98% of the alcohol consumed is metabolized via enzymatic oxidation, and the remainder is excreted unchanged in other body matrices.

The Evidence Collected

Breath, blood and urine are the predominate specimens in DUI/DWI investigations, with recent interest building in using saliva. However, the scientific literature regarding the determination of impairment or influence almost universally correlates performance with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Thus, all states have established the legal limit in terms of blood, with alternative specimens such as breath or urine allowable after conversion to an equivalent blood alcohol result, or as an independent specimen with their own concentration units (e.g. 0.08% gm/100 mL blood or gm/210L breath). Since whole blood is generally cited or assumed, analysis of alternative specimens must include the appropriate conversion to the corresponding BAC.

Whole blood is the only specimen that can give a reliable BAC (assuming correct collection, storage, and analysis). It is the whole blood that travels through the body to the brain, where alcohol concentration in the blood and the brain are in equilibrium. Since alcohol effects are manifested in the brain, whole blood is used to correlate a particular alcohol level with projected alcohol effects. This is critical information for your criminal defense attorney, as they can argue that the specimen of blood collected is not reliable, if the prosecution is unable to prove that it was whole blood.

Whole blood is a complex mixture of red blood cells (erythrocytes), platelets (thrombocytes), and white blood cells (lymphocytes and phagocytes). Each type has a specific function:

• Red cells take up oxygen from the lungs and deliver it to the tissues.
• Platelets participate in forming blood clots.
• White cells (lymphocytes) are involved with immunity.
• Phagocyte cells ingest and break down microorganisms and foreign particles. Together with lymphocytes they make up the white blood cells.

What Can Your Attorney Do With This Information?

An experienced criminal defense/DUI attorney can challenge a DUI blood test in your case because even toxicologists cannot always be certain that a driver’s BAC was above or below a particular limit. There is usually a variance of 3%-10% within where a driver’s actual BAC was when they were driving. This means that even though you might have tested at 0.08%, your actual BAC when you were driving might have really been only 0.04%.

And in California, your DUI attorney can usually file a motion with the court to get your blood sample tested by an independent laboratory.

The state of California has implemented tough drunk driving laws, including an implied consent law where a person arrested for DUI must submit to a DUI blood test or have their driver’s license suspended. A DUI conviction can be stressful, expensive, and restrictive. Call the Monder Law Group today and have someone on your side.

The basic definition for driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI) is the crime of driving a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol or other drugs (including those prescribed by physicians), to a level that renders the driver incapable of operating a motor vehicle safely.

If you’ve been charged with a DUI or DWI, one of the ways to collect evidence against you will be via a blood sample. This post will provide information on how alcohol affects the body, spreads via the blood stream, and is eventually used as a tool to convict you with a DUI/DWI charge.

How Alcohol Spreads Through the Body

Once absorbed in the blood stream, alcohol distributes in the body to the various organs and tissues in proportion to their water content and blood supply. About 95 to 98% of the alcohol consumed is metabolized via enzymatic oxidation, and the remainder is excreted unchanged in other body matrices.

The Evidence Collected

Breath, blood and urine are the predominate specimens in DUI/DWI investigations, with recent interest building in using saliva. However, the scientific literature regarding the determination of impairment or influence almost universally correlates performance with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Thus, all states have established the legal limit in terms of blood, with alternative specimens such as breath or urine allowable after conversion to an equivalent blood alcohol result, or as an independent specimen with their own concentration units (e.g. 0.08% gm/100 mL blood or gm/210L breath). Since whole blood is generally cited or assumed, analysis of alternative specimens must include the appropriate conversion to the corresponding BAC.

Whole blood is the only specimen that can give a reliable BAC (assuming correct collection, storage, and analysis). It is the whole blood that travels through the body to the brain, where alcohol concentration in the blood and the brain are in equilibrium. Since alcohol effects are manifested in the brain, whole blood is used to correlate a particular alcohol level with projected alcohol effects. This is critical information for your criminal defense attorney, as they can argue that the specimen of blood collected is not reliable, if the prosecution is unable to prove that it was whole blood.

Whole blood is a complex mixture of red blood cells (erythrocytes), platelets (thrombocytes), and white blood cells (lymphocytes and phagocytes). Each type has a specific function:

• Red cells take up oxygen from the lungs and deliver it to the tissues.
• Platelets participate in forming blood clots.
• White cells (lymphocytes) are involved with immunity.
• Phagocyte cells ingest and break down microorganisms and foreign particles. Together with lymphocytes they make up the white blood cells.

What Can Your Attorney Do With This Information?

An experienced criminal defense/DUI attorney can challenge a DUI blood test in your case because even toxicologists cannot always be certain that a driver’s BAC was above or below a particular limit. There is usually a variance of 3%-10% within where a driver’s actual BAC was when they were driving. This means that even though you might have tested at 0.08%, your actual BAC when you were driving might have really been only 0.04%.

And in California, your DUI attorney can usually file a motion with the court to get your blood sample tested by an independent laboratory.

The state of California has implemented tough drunk driving laws, including an implied consent law where a person arrested for DUI must submit to a DUI blood test or have their driver’s license suspended. A DUI conviction can be stressful, expensive, and restrictive. Call the Monder Law Group today and have someone on your side.