Posts Tagged ‘Blood Alcohol’

8 Year Old Son Gets Mom Arrested For DWI

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

An 8-year old boy knew that something was wrong with his mother who drove to pick his sister up at school.  The mother from St. Paul, Tina Ramirez, 44, was arrested and charged with second-degree DWI on two counts after drinking half a pint of Vodka and driving with her son to pick up her daughter from Monroe Elementary School.

Police reports say she arrived at her daughter’s school with the boy who came in and told school officials that his mother was waiting in the car but “too drunk or high to drive.”  Authorities said that the car key was taken from Ramirez by the school principal who then called the police.

According to the authorities, Ramirez “had a hard time speaking coherently and understanding what our officers were asking her,” and “she had some problems standing up. She was losing her balance.” Ramirez admitted she drank the vodka and was visibly intoxicated. She fell down after she stepped out of her car so the police officers were not able to perform the standard sobriety test.

After more than an hour, Ramirez took the breathalyzer test whose BAC registered .30 percent, which is almost four times than the .08 percent legal limit of blood alcohol content. She has no previous traffic tickets or DWI convictions, according to police, but the fact that she was trying to drive with young children in the vehicle was an aggravating factor that enhanced the current DWI charges. The father picked up the kids. Ramirez was sent to jail.

You need to immediately contact a DUI Attorney in Minnesota for your defense if you’re charged with DWI. Douglas T. Kans is a respected and highly regarded Minnesota criminal defense attorney who specializes in DWI defense and can provide you with the comprehensive legal services you need in order to ensure the best possible resolution of your drunk driving case. You can contact Kans Law Firm, LLC at (952) 835-6314 for a free case review.

Minnesota Intoxilyzer Breath Testing: A Different Issue

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

After Posting below about another Minnesota DWI Source Code Case where the Court has, yet again, rejected ordering disclosure of the source code because there has been no showing that it is relevant to the driver’s guilt or innocence with regard to his or her ”specific” Intoxilyzer result,  I felt it important to note that there are still potential issues a Minnesota DUI Lawyer should be aware of when looking at a particular driver’s specific Intoxilyzer result.

In a recent Hennepin County District Court case, in which I represented the defendant, I successfully argued that, with regard to my client’s specific Minnesota Intoxilyzer Breath Test Result, the machine was unreliable as to whether his blood alcohol concentration was a .o8 or more.

In this case, the simulated breath solution, with a known value, was .O79.  The State argued that the simulator solution was within the acceptable limits and was therefore a reliable result.  However, upon my cross-examination,  the officer  reported the simulator solution was read by the Intoxilyzer machine as .081 and .080.  Therefore, the machine appeared to be inflating the results by .01 to .02.  Generally, this would not be an issue and harmless, however, my client’s second breath sample was exactly .08 with a replicate of .081.  The final reported value was .08g/210L.

The Court ruled in our favor and found my client’s specific Intoxilyzer result of .o8 untrustworthy and questionable and therefore rescinded/dismissed the driver’s license revocation.  The Court stated that the State of Minnesota/Commissioner failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that my client’s alcohol concentration was over the legal limit.  Specifically, the Court ruled the Intoxilyzer, in this specific instance, was reading or testing it’s simulator solution at least .002 higher than the simulator solution’s known value of .079.  Again, it’s important to note, my client’s test result was exactly a .08.

Certainly, this particular fact scenario is rare in most .08 cases, but it does underscore the notion that there are still genuine legal arguments and issues with regard to Minnesota Intoxilyzer Breath Testing and the skilled Minnesota DWI Lawyer needs to be aware of them.


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