How Gender and Stomach Disease Affect Alcohol Absorption
There are several factors that affect the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into an individual’s bloodstream and how much that individual’s blood alcohol content will increase as the result of drinking the same amount of alcohol as someone else. Some factors are dependent on your actions (the type of alcohol you drank, how quickly you drank it, and whether you did so on a full or empty stomach), and others are independent of your actions (based on biology or body type). In this article, Orange County DUI Lawyer Tom Wallin will discuss two factors that fall into the latter category: gender and stomach disease.
How Gender Affects Alcohol Absorption
You may already know that, all other things being the same, a woman will be more affected by an alcoholic drink than a man will. This primarily has to do with the differences in body composition between men and women. Women’s bodies have relatively more fat and less water (in the form of blood and other fluids) than men. This effect is compounded by the fact that women tend to be smaller and weigh less than men. Alcohol dehydrogenase (the enzyme that breaks down alcohol) is also believed to be lower in women than in men.
How Stomach Disease Affects Alcohol Absorption
Different stomach diseases have differing effects on the rate of stomach emptying (and consequently on the rate of alcohol absorption). Gastritis and gastric ulcers increase blood flow and speed up the process, while stomach cancer and gastric fibrosis slow it down. Infections by Helicobacter pylori (more common among chronic alcohol abusers) can significantly slow the rate of alcohol metabolism.
If you have been accused of drunk driving in Orange County, call (888) 444-7210 for a free case evaluation by Orange County DUI lawyer Tom Wallin.
Your Orange County DUI Attorney’s Evaluation of the Officer’s Observations
Your arresting officer’s physical observations can have a huge impact on the outcome of your DUI case. That is why your Orange County DUI Attorney should carefully examine the observations that the officer made in the police report.
Police departments usually use Alcohol Influence Report forms, in which the arresting officer will write down his personal observations of your appearance, behavior, and statements that may later end up being incriminating against you.
A good Orange County DUI Lawyer will see if there are any inconsistencies or inaccuracies in the police officer’s physical observations of you. An example would be a discrepancy between a high blood-alcohol content (BAC) result and an officer’s physical observations of your relatively normal behavior. Your lawyer can use this discrepancy to discredit the BAC test result.
If there is a videotape of your stop and arrest, and if it is favorable to you, then your attorney may call into question any negative physical observations noted in the Alcohol Influence Report as inconsistent with the video.
Your Orange County DUI Defense Attorney will check the availability of any videotaping of the incident and, if it is available, whether it will be used in your DUI case. If the police were able to videotape you but failed to do so, then it’s possible to have your entire Orange County drunk driving charge dismissed.
According to the Supreme Court, in order to get an acquittal because of the destruction of potentially exculpatory evidence, you must show that the prosecution acted in bad faith. Even if you can’t prove this, however, you can still get an inference that the tape, if it had been preserved, would have been favorable to you.
Orange County DUI Attorney Tom Wallin can help you if you’ve been arrested for driving under the influence in Orange County. He has experience in successfully handling DUI matters, and he will thoroughly investigate the facts of your case and come up with the best possible defense. For a free initial consultation, fill out the form on this page.
Orange County DUI Lawyer explains DUI stops in the OC.
Orange County DUI Lawyer explains that Police Officers can legally pull a person over for just about any violation of the California Vehicle Code as an excuse to investigate whether the driver of the vehicle is under the influence of alcohol or drugs. However, one of the more common violations officers cite as the probable cause to pull vehicles over to investigate DUI’s is Vehicle Code Section 22107, more commonly known as “unsafe turning movement”. This section reads as follows:
No person shall turn a vehicle from a direct course or move right or left upon a roadway until such movement can be made with reasonable safety and then only after the giving of an appropriate signal in the manner provided in this chapter in the event any other vehicle may be affected by the movement.
What this means, in a nutshell, is that you do NOT have to use your turn signal (blinker) unless there is another vehicle that could be affected by your turning movement. Cops often times don’t know this provision in the code and think that you must always use your turn signal when changing lanes or turning. Police who use this excuse to pull over DUI drivers often neglect to mention in their DUI report that there was another vehicle that could have been affected by that vehicle’s turning movement.
For the record, we are not saying that you should change lanes or make turns without using your signal and are certainly not condoning driving under the influence. What we are saying is that if you are cited for a DUI, you should hire an experienced and knowledgeable Orange County DUI Attorney to help you with your DUI in Orange County.
Orange County DUI Field Sobriety Tests – What are they? How can I pass the test?
A field sobriety test is administered when a police officer has some suspicion that a driver is under the influence of alcohol. A field sobriety test can include a set of exercises that helps the police officer determine whether or not you are under the influence. Generally, the tests help determine your balance and coordination. Therefore, if someone had consumed alcohol, their performance on the test will be unsatisfactory.
A field sobriety test may include the following:
1. Time estimation
2. One leg stand
3. Finger to nose
4. Walk and turn
5. Horizontal gaze nystagmus
How can I pass the field sobriety test?
A person can NOT pass a field sobriety test; however, a person also can NOT fail a field sobriety test. That is because a field sobriety test is not a pass/fail test. Basically, the test is designed for the police officer to make observations and take notes of these observations in his police report. Later, these observations made by the police report will assist the district attorney in prosecuting you for driving under the influence. A person pulled over by a police officer for suspicion of driving under the influence, should never participate in a field sobriety test. A field sobriety test is completely voluntary and it is best to avoid a field sobriety test, since it is impossible to pass.
If you or a loved one is facing charges for driving under the influence, contact an Orange County DUI attorney and we will fight for you.
My Driver’s License Is Suspended – What Should I Do Next?
Talk to an Orange County DUI Lawyer if you are arrested for a DUI, in most cases the police officer who makes the arrest will seize your driver’s license and provide you with a “pink paper.” You have only ten days from the time you receive this document to arrange for a DMV hearing. If you fail to do so, you will automatically surrender your right to a hearing and your driving privilege will be suspended thirty days from the date of your arrest. However, when the date for a hearing is set within the 10-day period, your license will remain valid pending the outcome of the DMV hearing.
The consequences for committing a DUI offense are very serious. If your license is suspended after a first-time DUI arrest, you will spend at least 30 days with no driver’s license at all. After that, you can get a temporary restricted license. Driving with a suspended license is punishable for up to six months in a county jail and fine anywhere from $300 to $1,000. The second-time offenders, who submit for a chemical test, will lose their license for one year, and those who commit this violation for the third time are facing a three-year license revocation. However, starting January 1, 2012, the law will authorize the court to order a 10–year revocation of the driver’s license of a person who has been convicted of 3 or more specified DUI offenses if certain conditions apply.
If your driver’s license has been suspended, you will need an experienced Orange County DUI Attorney to vigorously represent you.
What Happens If I Refuse To Take A Chemical Test When Arrested For an Orange County DUI
Many people who are arrested for driving under the influence in Orange County are unsure of whether they should submit to a breath or blood test when the arresting officer explains to them that they HAVE to submit to one of those tests. Often times a person will in fact refuse to submit to one of these tests. What happens then? What is the law let our Orange County DUI Lawyer explain!
Anybody who is lawfully arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Orange County is deemed to have given their consent to chemical testing of his or her breath or blood for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content of his or her blood. Anybody who is lawfully arrested in California for Driving Under the Influence of drugs has given their consent to chemical testing of their blood or urine for the purpose of determining the drug content of their blood. These are the implied consent laws in California. The laws also require that the person shall be told that his or her failure to submit to, or the failure to complete, the required chemical testing will result in a fine, mandatory imprisonment if the person is convicted of a DUI and the suspension of the person’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle for a period of one year, or the revocation of the person’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle for a period of two or three years.
Often times an officer will not properly inform the person who is arrested for DUI about the consequences of their failure to submit to a chemical test. Unfortunately, many people will refuse to take a test and that leads to serious consequences. Usually, the officer will write that person up as a “refusal” which can trigger a mandatory one year suspension that does not allow for a restricted license under any circumstances. What’s worse is that the cops will usually “force” blood from the person by strapping them to a chair and/or holding them down with multiple officers. In these cases, the person still faces the one year mandatory suspension for refusal and the cops get their evidence anyways. Most often, refusing to submit to a chemical test is a losing proposition for a person arrested for DUI in California.
If you have been accused of DUI in California, you will need an experienced Orange County DUI attorney to vigorously represent you.
