Story Archive

A Gutsy Defense

According to Hamburg, N.Y., Town Police, officer Daniel Gallardo pulled over a woman who reportedly was “weaving all over” the road. Gallardo said the woman had alcohol on her breath, bloodshot eyes, and slurred speech. She claimed to have only had three drinks earlier in the day, but had difficulty with some field sobriety tests. A Breathalyzer measured her blood alcohol content at .33 percent — more than four times the legal limit. The unnamed woman’s attorney, Joseph Marusak, sent her to a doctor: medical tests showed she suffers from a rare disorder known as “Auto-Brewery Syndrome”. The syndrome causes a person’s digestive system to turn ordinary food and beverages into alcohol. Her blood alcohol level is consistently well above the legal limit, even when not drinking. “She can register a blood alcohol content that would have you or I falling down drunk, but she can function,” Marusak claims. Based on the medical evidence, a judge dismissed her DWI charges. (MS/Buffalo News) ...If you drink, don’t drive. If you don’t drink, don’t drive.