The following is a synopsis of the history, facts, legal issues, and processes of defending one who has been charged with Driving Under the Influence (“DUI”) in California pursuant to Vehicle Code sections 23152 and 23153. It is intended to provide answers to what would be “frequently asked questions” regarding a DUI charge.
1) The Drug Alcohol
Alcoholic beverages are those produced from the fermentation of carbohydrates, most frequently from farmed grains, potatoes, fruit juices, and sugars. The process of fermentation has been around for over 10,000 years, dating from the use of grapes for wine around 2500 B.C. The general categories of alcoholic beverages are three: beers, ales, and malt liquors; b) wince: and x) distilled products There are also alternative sources of alcohol, including medicine and as propellants for aerosols. The proofing system of grading alcohol content involves simple math. A 100-proof beverage is 50% alcohol and using the same percentage is 200-proof. Beers, ales, and malt liquors range in percentage from a low of 3% for beer lagers to malt liquors with up to 8% alcohol. Wines range from 13-20%; distilled liquor can be from 20-80% alcohol.
2) Measuring Blood Alcohol Content
The percentage of alcohol in the blood that gives rise to a level of intoxication justifying a DUI charge is defined by the term Blood Alcohol Content. It can be measured in several ways. Alcohol Breath Tests (“ABTs”) have been in use for over 50 years without a clear understanding by the general public of the scientifically flawed theories that they are based on. At the advent of the use of breathalyzers or ABTs, the same flawed and invalid theories are still assumed to be true, despite ample evidence to the contrary by the world’s leading authorities such as Michael P. Hlastala, Ph.D., Kurt Dubowski, Ph.D., and A.W. Jones, PH.D., among others.
DUI Breathalyzers do not measure the air that produces a valid blood alcohol result.
Air that is measured by the breathalyzer for purposes of testing is the same air that comes directly from the air that exchanges with the Alveolar sacs in the lungs. This never happens because it is biologically impossible, but this is the cornerstone of the junk science behind the breathalyzer obtaining an accurate BAC. If the air in the alveoli that exchanges with the blood are not measured, the air being measured has nothing to do with the blood or the amount of alcohol in the blood.
The Lung Volume problem
The ABTs assume that this air is always measured by the breathalyzer after an individual expels 1.5 Liters of air. This is ridiculous for several reasons. For starters, lung volume varies by age, size, and gender. Women who tend to be smaller have smaller lungs. A 20-year-old male in perfect health who is 6 feet health who is 6 feet and four inches tall may have a lung volume of 6 Liters. A 60-year-old female who is 5 feet and 2 inches tall may have a lung volume as low as 1.5 Liters. She may have even less volume if she has lung disease or other respiratory conditions that increase in frequency with the age of the population.