State v. Denney

May 24, 2011

OUTCOME: Not Guilty

AMBIEN DUI CASE BACKGROUND Mr. Denney took his Ambien and went to bed just as he’d done each night since being prescribed Ambien a month prior. His next memory is of being dropped off at his home by ... a Washington State Trooper. While his Ambien toxicity was wearing off, his nightmare was just beginning. Nothing could prepare him for the shock of learning that in the early hours of dawn he got out of bed and left his home wearing only slippers, jeans and a suit jacket exposing his bare chest. The Trooper found him in the driver’s seat of his car, attempting to dislodge his car from the side of a curb. His car tires were shredded and he was trying to drive on what was left of the wheel rims. He was arrested and charged with reckless driving and driving under the influence. He had no illegal drugs and no alcohol in his system. During his arrest, the Trooper shook him several times in an attempt to render him responsive enough to reply to his questions. When he did respond, his answers were nonsensical or simply wrong. He remembers taking only one Ambien as directed and going to bed. After being dropped off at home by the Trooper that morning, he noticed his Ambien pills were spilled across his nightstand, suggesting unconscious ingestion of additional Ambien sometime during the night. As the grim reality of the morning’s events began to sink in, he contacted his doctor and discontinued his Ambien. Mr. Denney began trying to make sense of what happened while he “was asleep” and to understand how taking Ambien before going to bed could lead to the criminal charges he now faced. He could not understand how he could be charged with reckless driving and DUI when he took his Ambien as directed and went to bed as usual. He had no illegal drugs, no alcohol and no other impairing substances in his system. He certainly didn’t intend to drive and he wanted his day in court! Defense expert Dr. Julien determined that Mr. Denney was suffering from Ambien toxicity. Dr. Julien was able to explain from a medical perspective the essential elements of memory, consent, intent and pharmacologically-altered mental capacity. Mr. Denney was so debilitated by Ambien toxicity that he was incapable of : 1) creating new memories; 2) forming intent or; 3) committing volitional acts. At trial, Mr. Denney asserted the defenses of involuntary intoxication and automatism. INVOLUNTARY INTOXICATION “Involuntary intoxication does constitute an allowable defense” which “may absolve the defendant of any criminal responsibility.” An involuntary intoxication defense must be proved by the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence. In order to establish the basis for involuntary intoxication, Denney’ testimony was crucial. Next Dr. Julien testified about how Ambien affects the brain and how someone could unconsciously ingest additional Ambien. Dr. Julien referred to a number of studies about the phenomenon. Together, Denney’ and Dr. Julien’s testimony formed the basis for the involuntary intoxication instruction. Next, the defense needed to lay the foundation for its automatism defense. AUTOMATISM Although the Legislature has the authority to create a crime without a mens rea element, even such strict liability crimes require a certain minimal mental element, or volition, in order to establish the actus reus itself. Automatism, which eliminates the actus reus, is also a defense to any crime, unless it was induced by voluntary intoxication. Dr. Julien opined that the WSP toxicology report revealed a zolpidem level so high that Mr. Denney was not capable of performing a volitional act. His expert testimony explained different levels of consciousness, how memories are formed, what is required by the brain and body to form a volitional act, and how it is possible for an individual to engage in a physical act without any mental capacity or awareness of that act. VERDICT Not only did the jury return a NOT GUILTY verdict for Mr. Denney, they also reached out to him after the trial to express their empathy and well wishes.