12.31.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:34 pm by Kimbrell & Burgar, LLC
As we all prepare to celebrate the coming of the New Year, please be mindful that law enforcement activity will be very high, with emphasis on finding drunk drivers. This is particularly true in the metro Atlanta area. Of course, our best advice is not to drink and drive at all tonight. Designate a driver or take a taxi where possible. It’s simply not worth the risk to drive tonight if you have anything to drink. We have yet to find a good exception to this rule on New Year’s Eve.
For those who do not follow our advice, remember that field sobriety exams are entirely voluntary in Georgia. You’re not going to argue your way out of a DUI, so why give the state extra evidence against you? If you do run into problems, please call us first thing in the morning, 404-781-0400.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 2:25 pm by Kimbrell & Burgar, LLC
Another ridiculously high BAC was published in a recent article. A few weeks ago, we were shocked to read of a .40+ test with the driver still functioning. Now we read of a .70+ test! We’re sure the driver’s BAC was way too high, but we suspect the actual number may be an error in the testing equipment (something that occurs regularly at very high readings). A level that high is not survivable.
Woman’s blood alcohol content topples state records
Story Discussion Andrea J. Cook Journal staff | Posted: Wednesday, December 30, 2009 9:15 am
A Sturgis woman had a blood-alcohol level of .708 percent, possibly a state record, when she was found earlier this month behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle parked on Interstate 90, according to Meade County State’s Attorney Jesse Sondreal.
A South Dakota Highway Patrol trooper discovered Marguerite Engle, 45, on Dec. 1 passed out behind the wheel of a delivery truck reported stolen in Rapid City.
Her blood-alcohol level was almost nine times South Dakota’s legal limit of .08 percent.
Checks with local and state labs where blood-alcohol levels are tested suggest Engle’s reading may be the highest ever recorded in South Dakota, Sondreal said.
Sondreal said a state chemist recalled a sample that tested .53, but nothing higher, in his more than 30 years on the job.
Dr. Robert Looyenga, who recently retired from the Rapid City Police Department’s forensic laboratory, told Sondreal that the highest blood-alcohol sample he tested measured .56 percent.
Sondreal’s research indicates that a blood-alcohol level of .40 is considered a lethal dose for about 50 percent of the population.
“Engle’s was almost double that,” Sondreal said.
After she was found, Engle was hospitalized and freed on bond.
She failed to appear in court on Dec. 15, but Sturgis police located her Monday evening in another stolen car sitting in a ditch along S.D. Highway 34 near Fort Meade.
Engle was arrested for second offense driving under the influence and taken to jail.
Engle made her initial appearance in Meade County magistrate court Tuesday. She is being held without bond.
Sondreal said Engle has been living in a hotel after recently moving here from Minnesota.
Engle is most likely facing charges in Pennington County since both vehicles were stolen in Rapid City, Sondreal said.
Andrea Cook
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