Alabama DUI Lawyer Blog

There are many drunk driving cases tried in the state of Alabama very week. What many of these have in common is that a motorist was suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol and was pulled over by an Alabama police officer. Some cases deal with accidents in which an allegedly intoxicated driver hit another vehicle or wrecked his or her own car or truck.

As a Birmingham DUI defense lawyer, I’ve represented dozens of law-abiding citizens who have been caught up in an alcohol-related driving infraction or accident. Something I don’t often come across is the case of a possibly drink driver hitting a vehicle being driven by a police officer. Rarer still are DUI-related accidents involving the head of a police department or other law enforcement agency.

That said, I noticed a recent news article out of Selma, AL, that told of a hapless motorist who crashed his vehicle into another car being driven by none other than the chief of Alabama’s State Patrol. Ironically, an allegedly drunk driver apparently hit a vehicle being driven by Col. Chris Murphy of Birmingham, Alabama.

Col. Murphy was reportedly traveling eastbound on Intestate 80, returning from giving a speech at the Alabama Criminal Justice Training Center. Neither Murphy nor the unnamed motorist was injured as a result of the two-vehicle accident, which occurred near Selma around 2:30pm.

According to news reports, a spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Public Safety said the other driver was charged with DUI at the scene of the collision. It is likely that a breathalyzer test showed his blood alcohol content to be above 0.08 percent. Police reports indicate that the man told police following the crash that it was his birthday and he was on his way to the bingo parlor in White Hall to celebrate.

Head of Ala. state troopers a victim in DUI, WSFA.com, October 6, 2009

Whether a drunk driver is from Mobile, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery or anywhere else in Alabama, he or she may be surprised to learn that BAC-measuring devices (breathalyzers) can record falsely high blood alcohol content readings that in no way represent a driver’s actual state of drunkenness or sobriety. As a Birmingham DUI defense lawyer, I can say with some certainty that some people charged with driving under the influence of alcohol were in reality not legally drunk at the time. It’s all due to breathalyzer error.

While body weight and the interval between your last drink and having your breath tested are factors that affect BAC measurement, other factors can greatly affect the results from a breathalyzer machine, many of which are in use across the state by Alabama state police and other municipal and local law enforcement departments. Also surprising is that smoking can result in these false readings.

Research has been conducted that indicates smokers have a greater chance of being accused of DUI due to high BAC readings from a breath test. Actually, breathalyzers don't really measure alcohol. They are made to detect any compound containing compounds in the methyl group of molecules. These testing devices assume and methyl molecule in a person’s breath is from alcohol. This is very important information for Alabama motorists who smoke, because these machines cannot distinguish the difference between alcohol and acetaldehyde.

If you’re wondering, acetaldehyde is a compound produced by the liver in small amounts as a by-product in the metabolism of alcohol. Scientists have determined that acetaldehyde concentrations in the lungs of smokers can be greater than that of non-smokers – often many times greater.

This is why it is quite possible that a smoker arrested for drunk driving based on a breathalyzer test is much more likely to have a falsely high BAC reading. It has also been discovered that cigarette smoking can influence the human body's absorption of alcohol.

Research on smokers found that venous blood alcohol concentration-time curves between zero and 30 minutes and 60 minutes and the peak BAC were significantly less during the smoking period compared with the non-smoking period. This scientific study concluded that the effect of smoking on alcohol absorption has "considerable social and medicolegal relevance," and that the ingestion of nicotine should be taken into account when dealing with legal issues involving alcohol metabolism.

This is just one more reason why anyone charged with DUI should consult with a qualified drunk driving defense lawyer as soon as possible to discuss his or her case. Under no circumstances should anyone assume they have no defense simply because a machine said you were driving drunk, especially in the case of a first-time DUI offense.

Drunk drivers in Birmingham, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa maybe should get ready to have your numbers added to by those numerous distracted drivers currently out on Alabama roadways. As a Birmingham DUI defense lawyer, I’ve been saying for years that in-vehicle distractions can be just as deadly as driving drunk. So far, the law hasn’t totally caught up to the latter group.

Defending cases of driving under the influence of alcohol is something I do many dozen of times every month. In fact, DUI and breath test refusal cases make up the bulk of some attorneys’ case load. Lately, we were reminded of the increasing number of non-drunk driving accidents, mostly involving drivers who were simply not paying attention.

According to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's University Transportation Center, so-called distracted driving has become epidemic with an estimated 800,000 vehicles across the U.S. being driving daily by someone using a cell phone (in 2008), according to the United States Department of Transportation. That same year, 6,000 people nationwide died in distracted-driving-related vehicle crashes -- 500,000 were injured, accident records show.

The result of this is clear: driving while distracted by cell phones, text messaging or other technologies increases the risk of vehicle crashes, according to one of the researchers at the UAB UTC. The latest research projects coming out of the UAB include studying distracted driving in teens with ADHD and the effects of cell phone distraction in adolescent and college-aged pedestrians.

Is it worse than drunk driving? Some say yes. If enough evidence is found to support the existence of this new danger on our roads, expect more laws limiting certain activities by drivers while a vehicle is in motion. Anti-texting laws are already coming into vogue across the nation.

What’s interesting is that the public agrees with the potential dangers posed by distracted driving, but is less apt to follow their own suggestions for others. A recent AAA study showed that people have a 'do as I say, not as I do' mentality. Nearly 60 percent of respondents believed that using a cell phone on the road was dangerous, yet 67 percent of them admitting to using a cell phone while driving in the past 30 days.

Surprising? Not really. Just human nature. What is interesting is that almost 90 percent of drivers thought texting while driving was dangerous -- nearly the same amount as thought drunk driving was dangerous.

If you or someone you know has been arrested for drunk driving, I highly recommend that you contact an experienced DUI defense attorney for help with your case. More than a few drunk driving charges can not easily be substantiated at trial, so never as if you don’t have a chance to win your case. That’s where consulting with a qualified legal professional makes all the difference.

It's official: UAB study finds cell phone using, texting, distracted driving an epidemic, AL.com, October 14, 2009

Law enforcement authorities for the town of Albertville in northwest Alabama have reported an almost 30-percent increase in the frequency of DUI arrests over the past eight months of 2009. As a Birmingham drunk driving defense lawyer, I don’t find this trend very surprising.

With job losses pushing a two-decade high and home foreclosures continuing to take their toll on families here and across the U.S., many people are turning to alcohol as a way to dull the painful realities of our faltering economy. Sadly, when people drink and drive they not only risk their own lives, but those of other motorists as well.

Police officers in Albertville made a total of 249 drunk driving arrests in all of 2008. That’s and average of 20.75 arrests every month. For the comparison, Albertville law enforcement officers have logged 214 DUI arrests in just first eight months of 2009 -- a monthly average of 26.75 arrests. All in all, that’s nearly one-third more DUI arrests than the previous year. And if the current rate continues, DUI arrests could top 320 by the end of the year.

Of course, the economy could also have something to do with the increase, but not because of the aforementioned reasons. Could it be that because home prices and incomes are dropping, taxes for municipalities have dwindled? If so, heightened police patrols could be one way for a small town to increase revenues.

According to the news article, Albertville's police chief, Benny Womack, said he has noticed the upward trend in DUI arrests. “It has a lot to do with being proactive,” Womack said. “Our officers are being more proactive, watching for signs and individuals driving recklessly. “There’s also the aspect that people seem to be drinking and driving more. They need to know if they do that, they’re going to get caught.”

Regardless of the cause, anyone arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol should retain a qualified DUI defense attorney to handle his or her case. The financial impact and long-term consequences of a drunk driving conviction can be significant.

Albertville DUI arrests on the rise, sandmountainreporter.com, September 12, 2009

An Elkmont, Alabama, resident was recently sentenced to life with a chance of parole for the alcohol-related traffic death of a 30-year-old mother and severe injury of the woman’s young daughter when he crashed into their family car last year. As a Birmingham drunk driving lawyer, I provide DUI defense to persons accused of driving while intoxicated. This case involved a serious violation of Alabama DUI laws, as well as other traffic regulations, so the resulting decision and sentence is not that surprising.

According to news reports, Stanley Lynn Wray had eight previous drunk driving convictions prior to the accident that killed Carrie Ann Gooch Nave in April 2008. Police reports showed that Wray was already on probation for an earlier conviction of felony DUI in 2006 when his car slammed into the family’s vehicle.

Having a felony DUI conviction meant that Wray already had three or more convictions for drunk driving over a span of five years.

Riding in the car with Nave was her husband Chad and their daughter Columbia. The three were traveling home from the Piggly Wiggly grocery store in Elkmont when the accident happened around 5pm in the afternoon. The force of the crash severely damaged the front and driver’s side of the vehicle, and although Nave was wearing her seat belt and the car’s air bag deployed, she did not survive the crash.

Columbia Nave was seriously injured, with a fractured right wrist, left elbow, ribs and femur. She was flown by MedFlight helicopter to Huntsville Hospital. Chad was treated for minor injuries at Athens-Limestone Hospital, along with Wray.

According to court records, Wray had consumed a great quantity of alcohol prior to the accident. Right after the crash, Wray’s blood-alcohol content (BAC) measured 0.319 percent and higher, according to police.

Wray was initially charged with violating probation on the DUI, but later charged with reckless murder for killing Nave, as well as assault for seriously injuring Columbia. In court, the defendant entered a blind guilty plea last June. This essentially meant that he had no plea agreement and would take his chances at sentencing.

Although he requested leniency, Limestone Circuit Judge Bob Baker gave Wray the maximum sentence allowed by law for reckless murder -- life with chance for parole. Baker also sentenced Wray to simultaneously serve 20 years for first-degree assault for seriously injuring Nave’s daughter.

Wray sentenced to life in prison, eNewsCourier.com, September 8, 2009