Hi. These are all the facts I have:

-- one-car rollover at 4:00 P.M. on 6/11/05
-- Mexican/American/white male
-- 39 y.o.a.
-- 5 feet 9 inches in height
-- 156 lbs.
-- "the odor of an alcoholic beverage" on driver
-- serum alcohol = .78 at 10:00 P.M. on 6/11/05.

Is there any way to get to "GO" from here?

Thanks.

How soon did an officer or other witness encounter the defendant? Was he injured or did he perform field sobriety tests? Any lay testimony available?

The elimination over 6 hours is significant. Like Ken, my big question is when did observation of the defendant begin? Was there any possibility of post crash consumption? Did anyone ask the defendant when he drank and how much? I think a charge would be supported if the cops can give you any help on the above questions.

Oh, thanks for responding. I guess I did omit one crucial piece of information. He was Critical Air flighted to Brack within 30 minutes or so of accident. The alcohol was noticed while driver was on a gurney being loaded up. I have not asked for EMS or additional hospital records yet.

I guess the problem for me is that I am of the present impression that I cannot provide a jury with enough extrapolation info to propose a level of blood alcohol at 4:00 P.M. What do you think?

Thanks again.

Check your medical records closely. Generally, the patient's blood is taken right away for diagnostic purposes, sometimes on the critical air flight itself. Are you reading the time the blood was drawn or the time the blood was analyzed?

With nothing else to go on, you might want to move on to the next case.

You might see what you can find out about the defendant's condition BEFORE the crash/accident. If you can find a witness to testify to loss of normal use, then you can rely on that rather than on the .08 intoxication. See if your investigator can find out where he worked, names of co-workers, time he got off work, etc. If the vehicle was impounded, get a warrant to search it - look for containers (obvious), but also for credit card or gas receipts (beer receipt if you are VERY lucky!), and any other information that you can relate to the intoxication. Ken had an excellent point - check the time of the blood draw - NOT the time of the test. Info on the driver may be very difficult if he was not a local. Good luck.

You could always bring the medical records down the hall to Forrest, Kathy, Brian or I for an opinion. Ha!

Or call the gurus Clay Abbott or Richard Alpert.

Thank you, thank you for your time.