Oct
31
Eric Musselman, rookie head coach of the Sacremento Kings recently apologized for his arrest on DUI charges. Musselman failed three field sobriety tests and allegedly had a BAC of 0.11, above the legal limit of 0.08.
Oct
30
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, along with Irving Texas police officers, raided 36 bars. About 30 bar patrons were arrested for public intoxication. Some of the patrons were subjected to breath tests while still inside the tavern.
Agents declared that the raids were an effort to reduce Texas DUI problems. A Commission agent said some inebriated bar patrons “end up killing themselves or someone else” after departing the businesses.
Oct
27
In 2005, hundreds of Florida DUI cases with breathalyzer tests indicating a BAC over the legal limit, were thrown out by Seminole County judges because the State of Florida could not provide the source code for the breath test machines used to test DUI defendants. The company that makes the machines refused to allow the State access to its computer programming asserting that the source code for its machines is a trade secret. The judges invalidated the defendants’ breath tests because prosecutors could not prove the accuracy of the machines without the source code.
Oct
26
Hassan Adams, a member of the New Jersey Nets NBA basketball team and a former player for the University of Arizona was found not guilty of DUI by a Tucson jury. His DUI jury accepted the arguments that Adams’ breath test was taken on a breathalyzer that was not the latest machine and had a built-in margin of error and that a person’s physiological situation could affect his BAC reading was enough to create a level of doubt. Adams had been suspended by his coach for last year’s Pac-Ten basketball tournament.
Oct
25
The New Mexico Court of Appeals recently threw out DUI evidence when the arresting officer was unable to testify in court about how the road side breath-testing machine he used during the arrest was maintained to assure its accuracy. Without the officer’s testimony regarding the maintenance and accuracy of the breathalyzer, the breath test was inadmissible as evidence against the driver. The driver was consequently acquitted and the charges dropped.
Oct
24
Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Miss America Organisation has launched a national partnership between MADD and Miss America 2006, Jennifer Berry to reduce DUI. As a new MADD Spokesperson, Ms Berry will promote her platform Building Intolerance to Drunk Driving and Underage Drinking. In 1999, a teenage friend of Ms Berry died when the underage driver of the car in which she was a passenger lost control of the car and crashed. The teenagers had been drinking at a nearby lake and were headed to another party. The other teens in the car were uninjured, but Ms Berry’s friend did not have her seatbelt fastened.
Oct
23
Sometimes a beer is not just a beer. While Coors Original contains 5.0 percent alcohol by volume, microbrews can range up 17.5 percent for a Sam Adams Triple Bock. Most microbrews range between 5 and 10 percent alcohol by volume. Most microbreweries serve their beer in pint glasses, rather than 12 ounce glasses. So, going to the microbrewery can increase your alcohol intake and your chances of DUI.
Oct
22
Studies conducted by groups such as the World Health Organisation have shown that brief interventions, even by internet or email, can reduce alcoholism and DUI by college students. The WHO discovered that just 5 minutes of simple advice delivered to people identified as problem drinkers in Australia could cut consumption by more than 25 percent.
San Diego State University’s Check-up to Go intervention tool consists of a feedback form that asks students about how much money they spend on alcohol, family risk, DUI, and how much the student drinks compared to the general student population. Another common feedback tool consists of comparing the calories in a drink to a cheeseburger.
Oct
20
The President of St. Joseph College in West Hartford, Connecticut is taking an indefinite medical leave of absence following her arrest for DUI. The school’s president did not specify the exact nature of her medical leave. A college trustee said only that she is taking a voluntary leave “to address issues related to my health.”
Oct
20
A truck driver employed by the Tennessee Highway Patrol showed up at the THP Knoxville Tennessee headquarters drunk. Troopers say he checked in with a receptionist and she noticed a strong odor of alcohol. She notified another trooper, who then asked the driver to perform several field sobriety tests. After failing these field tests, he was given a breath test indicating a BAC of 0.12.
The truck driver was hauled off to jail. A trooper called being in a police building, around police officers, in the trucker’s condition, “kind of ridiculous behavior.”