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News & Blogs New DUI Defense...?

MFB

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While I dont advocate booze and driving, this is still pretty brilliant. I'd prefer to see this used by stoners in pot legal states that plan on testing the THC levels in drives.

-On a side note- I once recieved a BUI (biking under the influence) in Dewey Beach DE...here I thought I was doing right by safely riding my bike home and still got fugged...

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2013/05/oregon_supreme_court_rules_por.html

The Oregon Supreme Court Friday threw out the drunken-driving conviction of a Portland man -- saying he should have been allowed to argue to a jury that he was "sleep driving" and therefore not responsible for driving with a blood alcohol content of nearly twice the legal limit.

The ruling is sending shockwaves throughout the state's courthouses -- because the high court made clear that prosecutors must prove that a defendant charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants "voluntarily" got behind the wheel.

Oregon judges previously had thought that prosecutors must prove only that defendants had violated DUII law by driving with blood alcohol contents of .08 percent or greater -- or by driving while drugs or alcohol impaired their abilities.

The new standard outlined in Friday's ruling could open the floodgates for new defenses: Some drivers will surely argue that sleep disorders led them to drive while sleeping, like in the case of the Portland man whose case was reviewed by the supreme court. But others could argue that they were so drunk or high that they lost all ability to make conscious decisions -- and they weren't at fault for driving while under the influence.

Read the ruling
The Oregon Supreme Court's ruling in the case of State of Oregon vs. James Robert Newman.
The high court based its ruling on the case of James Robert Newman, a 51-year-old Northwest Portland man who contended that in 2008 he walked from his apartment to a restaurant to drink with friends. A friend gave him a ride back home, and at some point in the night, Newman claimed, he got into his car and started driving while asleep. A police officer spotted Newman running a red light and driving while straddling the lane lines. The officer activated his overhead lights, and Newman pulled over.

Newman admitted to being drunk, and his blood alcohol content was measured at .15 percent.

But key to Newman's case: He didn't admit to voluntarily or consciously driving. As his Multnomah County Circuit Court trial approached, he argued that he should be allowed to present evidence that he had a history of sleep walking around his apartment. He also was preparing to call a doctor, Joshua Ramseyer, who planned to tell a jury that sleep-driving was an unconscious behavior.

"...Just as someone's capable of sort of walking around the house, doing goal-directed behavior, such as eating, people can get behind the wheel, start up the car and drive," Ramseyer is quoted as saying in the supreme court's written opinion.


But Multnomah County Circuit Judge Marshall Amiton wouldn't allow Newman to present the sleep-walking evidence, saying Oregon's DUII law doesn't require the prosecution to prove Newman voluntarily drove drunk. The judge said the prosecution only needed to prove he was driving drunk.

Newman waived a jury trial, and the judge found him guilty of DUII. In Newman's case, it was a felony because he'd previously been convicted of DUII twice before, for incidents within the previous decade.

In making its ruling that Newman should get a new trial, the supreme court pointed to a general criminal statute, ORS 161.095. It says defendants must commit a "voluntary act" to be held responsible for a crime
 

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