WA stat DUI laws, .098 BAC, DUI legal limit of .08, 280 pound lb man very intoxicated

It is not, but the Federal Government used highway funds to reduce the limit for DUI to ..08. It has always been wise to obtain representation for DUI. With lowering limits and higher penalties, it becomes more dangerous to represent yourself. See http://www.colorado-dui.com/states/WA.html for a listing of DUI defense attorneys in the State of Washington.

On the other hand, while it is not "very Intoxicated" a 280lb man would have to drink about 8 drinks in a 2 hour period to rise to this level of intoxication. That is a lot of alcoholic beverage. There are individual reasons someone would reach this BAC with less alcohol. Seeing a lawyer may help sort out what happened. If however the individual did have 8-10 drinks or the equivalent amount of alcohol, he may want to speak to a psychotherapist or psychologist about alcohol issues.

That's a lot of alcohol. That being said, it may be a triable case for the defense. He would best be served by consulting a qualified criminal defense attorney to defend him. The state must prove that he was under the influence (and must have the appropriate records to get the BAC in), and that he was driving a motor vehicle.

Eight drinks in 2 hours is not a "lot of alcohol" for a man your size. Your case is very defensible especially since there is a margin of error in te breatholyzer machines. If your BAC is based on a blood draw it will be harder to fight. There are other ways to prove you weren't that drunk but you need to see an attorney to see if they apply.

I have seen instances where the BAC machine was off by quite a bit. you probably are not going to convince a jury that the BAC was off by .02, but you might be able to convince the judge to throw it out altogether. If the calibration was not up to date, the officer administering the test was not certified, the test subject was not properly witness for 15 minutes, etc, there may be a motion to exclude evidence. Good Luck

David C. Beyersdorf

It is a relative standard. The person's weight really doesn't matter as much as the person's conditioning to consuming alcohol. In other words, persons with similar tolerance to alcohol should similarly affected by alcohol at a .09 regardless of their body weight. In the world of attorneys and judges, a .09 is not a very high test result. Certainly high enough for a conviction, but good representation can certainly help to avoid that.

It depends. The Washington (WA) State DUI Law states that at a .08 BAC or higher one is guilty of a DUI. However, a good defense lawyer can fight the evidence of the breath test, among other things, to get a better result in your case. My office is located in Everett, WA - if you would like help in the NW Washington area, please give me a call at (425) 322-1076.

As you can see, this question brings a lot of debate. I did some internet research. You may find the below links helpful (though the charts for men stop at 240 lb):
http://www.phschool.com/science/biosurf/more/body_systems/think34.html
http://www.campingsurvival.com/charofweigvs.html
http://www.louisiana.edu/Student/Counseling/SLIDDE/BAC_chart.pdf (separate chart for women/men)

What's interesting is that they calculate the average person as reaching a .09 if (s)he consumes 3 drinks in an hour. If you had more (one attorney calculated "8"), this is certainly proof of the adage that everyone is affected differently. So there's no real answer to your question as to whether .098 is "very intoxicated". The only true answer is that it is above the legal limit for DUI in Washington.

Actually 0.098 is not very intoxicated at all. Intoxilyzer 5000s have a margin of error of + or - 0.02, and a person blowing a 0.098 could have an actual BrAC of 0.078, and that would be under the legal limit.

Another way of looking at it is that 0.098 is about two beers over the legal limit of 0.08 for a 280 pound man. Not all that much.

It really depends on tolerance. if the 280lb man never drank before, he was probably pretty buzzed at .09. In contrast, if he was a conditioned alcoholic, he would probably not be intoxicated at all at .09. The law setting the limit at .08 is arbitrary, it's a number that most people would be intoxicated at. In WA, in most jurisdictions, this person would likely be able to get the charge reduced to a lesser charge of reckless or negligent driving, either of which carry less severe consequences than a DUI conviction. To get that kind of reduction it is usually necessary to have competent legal representation.

It is not in my opinion. I would try to fight the charges. Good Luck!.

When you give your weight and ask whether that's not too much of a reading for a man of this size, you're mistaken.

Blood alcohol means the percentage of alcohol within a body's blood supply and its done on a percentage basis so that the same readin will register regardless of different body sizes.

What you are refering to is how well a larger man can hold his liquor. Our general experience is that big people can hold their liquor better than small people and while that's usually true, its not always true. That's why the state and federal government adopted the blood alcohol percentage test. Its more universal and less likely open to misinterpretation. At least that's the principle.

As others have mentioned, the breath test is subject to mistakes and variances and is not really very accurate, but its what the states are using and the juries are relying upon to convict people regularly. The reality of the situation is if you are over a .08 you are deemed intoxicated. However, with a .098 you are a .018 over the limit and that could be enough to convict you.