DWI Vs DUI

There are two different types of drunk driving cases: DWI and DUI. Each of these has different details that make them different from each other. If you have been arrested for one of these, it would be in your best interest to know the difference between them and what the consequences are.

DUI, or Driving Under the Influence, can either be a civil case or a criminal case. A civil case of DUI means that the person that was arrested was under the age of 21. This also means that the person submitted to taking either a blood test or a breathalyzer test and was officially under the legal limit. The legal limit in the state of Texas is a BAC, or Blood Alcohol Concentration, of .08%. A criminal case of DUI means that the person was over the age of 21 and also agreed to take some kind of sobriety test and tested below the legal limit. Usually a criminal case DUI is considered a Class C misdemeanor. This means that for a first time offender there will be a fine of up to $5000 with no jail time. The judge will most likely assign you to do some type of community service along with an alcohol awareness class. If you are a repeating offender, the judge or court might consider sentencing you to a higher fine and maybe jail time because they would think that you haven't learned your lesson.

A DWI, or Driving While Intoxicated, case can be a little bit different. There are both civil cases as well as criminal cases, but they both mean different things. A civil DWI case means that the person was under the age of 21 and submitted to a sobriety test. The person must have tested above the legal limit of .08%. This can also be for those over the age of 21 that refuse to take a sobriety test. The punishment for this is usually a suspended license for up to 1 year, a fine up to $5000, and some amount of jail time depending on how many prior offenses the person has had.

A criminal DWI case gets to be a little bit more complicated than all the others. In most criminal cases, the person submits to a sobriety tests and has a BAC over the legal limit. This is usually considered a class B misdemeanor. The sentence for this misdemeanor is usually a fine with a minimum of $2000 and not less than 3 days in jail. The court will also probably require some kind of alcohol awareness training for this misdemeanor as well.

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Biological Causes of Breathalyzer Error

Police officers and prosecuting attorneys would like for everyone to believe in the infallibility and reliability of breathalyzer machines. If breath test machines were truly 100% accurate, convicting or exonerating suspected DWI offenders would be fairly easy; simply compare an individual's readings to the accepted legal limit.

But despite the claims of prosecutors and policemen, the same science used to design the breathalyzer also shows that any number of biological factors can cause erroneous readings. If you are arrested for DWI, an adverse breath test result is not the end of the line.

The "Partition Ratio"

The "partition ratio" is a comparison of the alcohol in blood and the corresponding amount of alcohol carried on the breath. Most breathalyzers operate using a 2100 to 1 partition ratio; i.e., the assumption that there is 2100 times as much alcohol in one milliliter (ml) of a person's blood as there is in one ml of the same person's breath.

However, studies show that, while the majority of the population may have partition ratios close to the 2100 to 1 ratio assumed by breathalyzers, this ratio is not constant, and fluctuates even within the same individual over time. Furthermore, documented partition ratios in normal human beings range from 1300:1 to 3100:1, meaning that there could be significant disparities between an individual's results and his/her actual blood alcohol content.

Hematocrit and Breathalyzer Error

A person's hematocrit (HCT) is a measurement of how much of his/her blood volume is composed of red blood cells. Because red blood cells are the oxygen-carrying cells in the blood, they affect the rate at which blood alcohol leaks into the air through alveoli in the lungs.

Though some breath test machines are calibrated for an average 46% hematocrit, such a number is not representative of the natural variations found across the population. In fact, the spread of possible hematocrit percentages is usually considered to be as large as 10%. A person with a hematocrit at the lower end of this range would receive falsely elevated test results.

The Result?

Some studies have shown that, in calculating an individual's true blood alcohol concentration (BAC), breathalyzers can be 'off the mark' by as much as 15%. Furthermore, nearly 1 in 4 people receive breath test results higher than their actual BAC - hardly meeting the standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt."

For more information, visit the website of Austin DWI attorneys Morales & Navarrete at http://www.dwi-lawyers-austin.com.

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