Convincing Factors of Rising Blood Alcohol Defense in DC

One of many factors of a rising blood alcohol defense in DC is the use of rising blood alcohol levels to counter a claim of a DUI. A distinguished DUI lawyer can look into a rising blood alcohol as a defense when there is a significant gap between when the individual operated the vehicle and when the breath test was done.  

In addition, there should be facts showing that the individual stopped drinking shortly before they operated the vehicle and came into contact with police. In that circumstance, there could be a legitimate and effective argument in using rising blood alcohol as a defense in DC. 

Highest Blood Alcohol Level

There are many factors that vary from individual to individual regarding blood alcohol levels. Theoretically, a person’s blood alcohol level is at its highest when all of the alcohol they consumed is processed and absorbed into their bloodstream.

Once the alcohol is absorbed into their bloodstream, their body also processes the alcohol through the liver and the kidneys such that as more alcohol is consumed, a certain amount is excreted from their body through urination.  

The highest blood alcohol level is not exactly at the moment when the last bit of alcohol was absorbed into the body. It depends on the length of time the person was drinking. Normally, the blood alcohol level is at its highest somewhere near the point where the last of the alcohol they drank is absorbed in their body.

Persuasiveness of Defense

There is some common sense to the rising blood alcohol defense that is persuasive, particularly with jurors. Juries want to understand the facts presented to them. The best way to do that is to explain arguments in a way they can understand from their own experience. It is fair to say that many adults at some point in their life have been intoxicated to some degree.

Most jurors have some understanding based on their own personal experience or the experience they observed in others where someone can drink over time and their level of intoxication increases even after they stopped drinking.  

If someone has a few drinks in rapid succession over the course of an hour. Once they put down their last drink, their level of intoxication does not immediately decrease. It is the opposite, and it continues rising for some time before it plateaus and it decreases. This is another convincing factor of a rising blood alcohol defense in DC.

Facts Supporting Defense

The rising blood alcohol defense is particularly effective when the facts supporting that defense are present: drinking over a period of time; operating a vehicle shortly thereafter, and the breathalyzer test done some length of time later. The defense attorney can make the argument that the alcohol level was continuing to rise at the time of testing. It was artificially high. It was higher than when the person was driving, which means it is not accurate as to their level of intoxication or impairment at the time of driving.

The law is intended to punish those operating a motor vehicle while impaired. A rising blood alcohol defense is especially important in cases that reach a certain threshold level. Under the law, as it currently stands, an individual whose blood alcohol concentration is 0.08 in grams per millimeter of breath measured is deemed to be impaired. When their blood alcohol content is measured at that level by a breathalyzer test, the law says they are impaired.

Testing after a Length of Time

Under the rising blood alcohol defense, if a person is tested some length of time after they operated a motor vehicle and their BAC is a 0.09, the defense attorney can argue that the person continued to absorb alcohol even after they were stopped. Even though the test result showed a blood alcohol content above the legal limit, the person’s actual BAC at the time of driving was below that limit. That would take away the per se alcohol.

In DC, a 0.20 and above results in mandatory jail time. Many jurisdictions call that an extreme DUI, however, DC statutes do not use that language. An extreme DUI is a mandatory 10 days jail minimum in DC when an individual is convicted of a DUI and the government successfully shows their blood alcohol content as measured by a breathalyzer to be 0.20 and above.  

As their blood alcohol level increases beyond that, there can be additional time tacked onto that 10 days minimum – as much as 15 days or more depending on the level. A rising blood alcohol defense can affect that as well. Convincing factors of rising blood alcohol defense in DC are important to understand, so talk to a skilled lawyer for more information.