Mouth Alcohol as a California DUI Defense

Mouth alcohol leads to false DUI breath test results...

Prosecutors bringing DUI charges almost always rely on chemical test results obtained by law enforcement that supposedly demonstrate intoxication ... many times that reliance is total. In the words of our Los Angeles DUI Lawyers, that's why successful challenges to chemical tests can "torpedo" the prosecution's case.

Our Los Angeles DUI Lawyers explain that the chemical testing methods law enforcement officers typically use are flawed to begin with. Additionally, however, these tests remain vulnerable to challenge even in cases where they perform as well as they possibly can. In some cases, this allows us to use mouth alcohol as a California DUI defense.

Understanding how mouth alcohol makes breath test results vulnerable to challenge is not difficult. All you need to know is that breath test machines use a breath sample in order to measure a person's blood alcohol content (BAC) through a process of conversion. The conversion is based on the assumption that particular cells in the human airstream, alveoli, provide a direct representation of alcohol content in the human bloodstream.

This presents two problems. First, the assumption that alveoli cells provide a reliable reading of alcohol in a person’s bloodstream is widely debated and challenged. Second, even they do, alcohol sources other than alveoli cell can easily mix into a breath sample and cause a breath test machine to produce a falsely high reading.

Alcohol breath test manufacturers are aware of the problem. Many have incorporated functions known as "slope detectors" that attempt to detect mouth alcohol and cancel it out of the measurement produced. Independent research has not demonstrated that they perform reliably.

Alcohol breath test manufacturers are well aware their machines have led to mouth alcohol as a California DUI defense. Many have incorporated functions known as "slope detectors" that attempt to detect mouth alcohol and cancel it out of the readings their machines produce. Yet independent research has not demonstrated that slope detectors perform reliably.

Mouth alcohol can come from obvious and not so obvious sources. One has residual mouth alcohol that can distort a reading immediately after consuming an alcoholic beverage, as well as certain cold syrups. This form is generally believed to leave the mouth within 10 minutes. Less apparent sources of mouth alcohol are different forms of permanent dental work which can trap and retain alcohol traces. Digestive functions such as hiccups, belching, and regurgitation can also create mouth alcohol, sometimes on a chronic and near-permanent basis.

Our Los Angeles DUI Lawyers understand that most clients are not going to be aware of the numerous potential defenses that exist for DUI. We therefore interview every client to discover if any lesser known strategies could apply to their case. Mouth alcohol as a California DUI defense is certainly one we look for.

Bottom-line: just because someone is arrested for DUI with a "bad" BAC, she should not assume the prosecution has an open-and-shut case for conviction. Instead, she should consult with a Los Angeles DUI Lawyer experienced in challenging breath tests to see what might be done.