Alabama Man Gets 100 Year Sentence for DUI Crash

Posted on April 13, 2008 by Steven Eversole

An Alabama man received a 100 year sentence for a crash involving alcohol and driving under the influence.  Alabama prosecutors believe the accident was a result of the man's alcohol consumption and charged him with DUI manslaughter and assault.  Kenneth McDaniels' wife, son and his young friend were all killed in the crash when McDaniel's car swerved into oncoming traffic.  McDaniel had a blood alcohol content of 0.055% an hour after the crash.  The legal blood alcohol content in Alabama is 0.08%. 

We all sympathize with the deaths and injuries of those involved in the accident.  However, there is no way that this man should be convicted for driving under the influence of alcohol or that alcohol was a contributing factor in the deaths of his family.  First of all, his blood alcohol may have actually been rising at the time of the accident.  For instance, if he recently had a beer with dinner his blood alcohol content was likely rising, not falling(as I am sure the prosecution contended).  Furthermore, in order to prove alcohol was a factor in the deaths of his family members, the state of Alabama would have to prove that his driving was effected by the alcohol.  It seems the only evidence that alcohol effected his driving is the crash itself, and there was testimony in the case that McDaniel only had one beer on the night of the crash. 

This case should wake the people of Alabama up.  If you drink at all, have beer or wine with dinner, and are involved in an accident while going home, you may be charged with DUI manslaughter and assault.  For one beer or a glass of wine you or a loved one could end up in jail for 100 years.  This is an absolute tragedy upon tragedy.  How much more can the State of Alabama take from the man?  Cases like these are why I am an Alabama DUI and Criminal Defense lawyer and attorney.  It makes me ashamed that Federal Highway dollars and the constant lobbying of the MADD Mothers Against Drunk Drivers have caused a free country to come to this.  I can only hope this case can be overturned on appeal.  It should be shocking that an accident can sentence someone to 100 years in prison when an outright murder carries far less time.  The judge that sentenced this man should be ashamed of himself as well.  Of course, this judge is just pandering to the constituency that elects him by trying to appear tough on crime, so maybe we all should be held accountable as well. 

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Ways to Fight & Win Your Alabama DUI Continued...

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Steven Eversole

Today we are continuing with our discussion about 20 ways to beat a DUI charge in Alabama.  If you have been charged with Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, here is part two of our 20 ways to beat your DUI.  Here goes another five ways an experienced and knowledgeable Alabama DUI lawyer or Alabama DUI attorney can beat your Alabama DUI charge:

6.  Rising Blood Alcohol Level:

A DUI suspect can blow a .15 at the police station; but have had a .07 BAC when he got pulled over. Why? Because alcohol takes an average of 50 minutes, but can take as long as three hours, to absorb fully into your bloodstream and create your peak blood alcohol level. This is critical if the DUI traffic stop occurred relatively soon after you finished drinking.

Your BAC was probably still rising when you blew in the machine. This means that even if your BAC was above .08 when the blood draw or breath test occurred at the police station (or hospital), it may well have been below .08 when you were actually driving. There is no law against having a BAC above .08 at a police station; it’s only the blood alcohol level while actually driving that counts for DUI purposes.

7.  Alabama Law Requires a 20 minute Observation Period Before The Breath Alcohol Test:

Alabama regulations require the officer to watch the DUI suspect continuously for at least 20 minutes prior to administering the breath alcohol test. The officer must make sure that during this period the person does not consume anything, burp, belch, hiccup or regurgitate. Any of these may cause alcohol to travel from the stomach to the mouth. Blowing this “mouth alcohol” into the breath machine triggers an exaggeratedly high BAC reading.

Officers rarely follow this required observation procedure. They usually perform paperwork, write reports, set up the machine and converse with their partners, diverting their attention from the DUI suspect who must be watched vigilantly during this period. Failure to follow this procedure casts doubt on the validity of the test result, and can sometimes get the test thrown out of court altogether.

8.  Inaccurate Blood-Breath Partition Ratio -- Ratio is should be based upon  Individual Differences:

DUI breath testing assumes that “breath alcohol” accurately reflects blood alcohol based on a 2100-to-1 partition ratio. This assumption rests on the proposition that the average ratio across the population is 2100-to-1. But studies reveal that the ratio of blood to breath varies greatly among individuals.

A DUI suspect with a ratio lower than 2100-to-1 will generate an inaccurately high reading from a breath alcohol test. And there’s no way to determine what a given person’s ratio is, or what it was at the time of the DUI breath test.

9.  The Police Officer Failed To Read You Your Miranda Rights:

Police must advise you of your Miranda Rights in a DUI case if (1) you are in custody and (2) they question you seeking to illicit an incriminating response. If the officers continued to interrogate you after placing you in custody for DUI, and did not first read you your Miranda rights and obtain a valid waiver, then your post-custodial statements will likely be excluded from evidence.

10.  Alcohol On Your Breath Does NOT Mean You Are Under the Influence:

In explaining why he believes you were drunk, the DUI officer almost always mentions smelling “a strong odor of alcohol on the suspect’s breath.” But the officer looks foolish on cross-examination when he admits that alcohol itself (ethanol) has no odor. Rather, it’s the mixing agent or flavoring that produces the odor we associate with alcohol. If you doubt this, go to the market and buy a 6-pack of a non-alcoholic beer. It tastes and smells just like beer; but it contains no alcohol.  Also, vodka is a colorless and odorless alcohol.  You could drink a gallon vodka and your breath would not smell.

Indeed, laboratory studies show that police officers’ perceptions of how strongly a person’s breath smells of alcohol simply doesn’t correlate with his/her actual blood alcohol level. All that can be gleaned from the “odor of alcohol on the breath” is that a DUI suspect probably consumed some alcohol recently. But it does not provide evidence that the person drank enough to be “under the influence” or to have a BAC .08 or higher.

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