Ky. DUI Defendants Get More Power to Challenge Tests October 21, 2005
News Summary
Drunk-driving suspects in Kentucky can challenge blood-alcohol test results that are marginally higher than the state's .08-percent intoxication standard, the state's Supreme Court has ruled.The Lexington Herald-Leader reported Oct. 21 that the high court ruled against county prosecutors who said that drivers should be presumed drunk if tests reveal a .08-percent reading within two hours of leaving their cars. Defense attorneys, who said it can take 60-90 minutes for alcohol to enter the bloodstream, said that standard means that a motorist who has a drink while waiting beside a broken-down car could face a DUI sentence.
Some local judges in Kentucky have barred defendants from arguing that their blood-alcohol level was different when they were driving than when the test was administered.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving state chair Angela Leigh worried about the impact on drunk-driving laws overall. "When the public believes or perceives that the DUI laws don't have teeth, then it breeds disdain for the law," said Leigh.
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