DUI ALCOHOL TESTS - Blood and Breath

CALIFORNIA LAW SUMMARY

Overall, California requires that a driver under arrest for DUI to provide a blood or breath sample. This sample is used to determine the amount of alcohol in the body. If the driver refuses to provide either a blood or breath sample, this is considered a DUI Refusal, and is punishable by harsher penalties than the standard DUI penalties.

IMPLIED CONSENT

The California "Implied Consent Law" applies to anyone who drives in California. This law says that you give your implied consent to chemical testing of your blood or breath to determine the alcoholic content in your bloodstream when you are lawfully arrested for DUI. The test may also check the type and amount of any drugs in your body.

CHOICE OF TEST

The police officer must tell you that you must provide this chemical test. You must also be given the choice of which test, blood or breath, you prefer to provide the police officer. Refusing to provide either blood or breath is a DUI Refusal, punishable by mandatory jail, fines, and a one year license suspension.

PRELIMINARY ALCOHOL BREATH TEST

There is also the Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS) breath test which measures the alcohol content in your body. But this test is generally given next to your vehicle on the side of the road with the use of a hand held small device. You do not need to take this test, as you are not yet under arrest. But note that taking this hand held test does not mean you have satisfied the DUI implied consent law. You still must take either the breath test (generally at the police station) or the blood test.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

Understand that DUI means Driving Under the Influence. The old "drunk driving" law is no more. Now you just have to be "under the influence" (or be somewhat controlled) by alcohol or drugs. Many clients say to me that they were not drunk when driving. However, if the alcohol or drugs is influencing their (poor) driving, then the police may have reasonable cause to belief the driver is DUI. This belief is a subjective decision by the police officer, and is open to much debate by a DUI attorney.

ALCOHOL AND THE HUMAN BODY

Here is a quick non-medical summary of how alcohol moves through your body.

When you drink an alcoholic beverage, it passes down your esophagus, through your stomach, and into your small intestine. Most of this alcohol enters your bloodstream through the walls of the small intestine. The bloodstream transports the alcohol throughout your body where the alcohol gets absorbed (known as absorption) or taken into your body tissues.

Metabolism is your body's own process of converting substances (as alcohol) by breaking them into energy or other compounds. Through a sub-process of Metabolism called oxidation, where alcohol and oxygen combine, the alcohol is detoxified (eliminated) in your liver and removed from the blood. This prevents the alcohol from accumulating and destroying cells and organs. (Note that a small amount of alcohol escapes metabolism and is excreted unchanged in your breath.)

Until all the alcohol has been eliminated by your body, it is distributed throughout your body, affecting your brain and other tissues. Your liver can metabolize (eliminate or remove) only a certain amount of alcohol per hour. Since the metabolism of alcohol is slow, consumption needs to be controlled to prevent intoxication.

The rate which alcohol is absorded depends upon how quickly the stomach empties its contents into your intestine. Food in your stomach slows the rate of absorption. Alcohol is absorbed about 3 times slower with a full meal, than when alcohol is consumed on an empty stomach. So the alcohol will remain is your bloodstream longer, and can be measured over a longer time. if alcohol intake is greater than the body's ability to metabolize (eliminate or remove), the alcohol concentration will increase.

Alcohol is a drug, and affects the nervous system, and can suppress brain functions. As concentration increases, suppression of brain functions produce slurred speech, unsteady moving and poor balancing of feet, disturbed sensory perceptions, and inability to react quickly. As concentration further increases, the person may be in a coma like state, and be difficult to wake. In extreme cases, basic involuntary bodily functions may be affected, such as breathing and can cause death.