Athens Clarke County Officer Gregory Gilchrist, 36, was arrested on a drunken-driving charge early Thursday, (February 15, 2007) morning in southeastern Clarke County.  An unknown type of chemical test indicated that he had a blood-alcohol content level of 0.185 although it is not clear if this was a field breath test, a blood test or an Intoxilyzer 5000 test.  He is accused of driving his pickup truck through a red light and hitting the side of a car traveling through the intersection. The woman in the car wasn’t injured. Gilchrist claims he was making a left turn with a green arrow.

Gilchrist has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation. He also faces possible discipline for breaking departmental policies.

No  further information is available.   All criminal defendants are innocent until proven guilty.   Several  interesting points are  brought  out by the news coverage of this incident.   First,  probably no blood test was done.   The  blood result is really a breath result which has estimated that the  Officers  blood alcohol content is 0.185.   In  reality no knows  the Officers Blood Alcohol Content.    The  breath machine assumes  a certain  physiology  including weight, body fat, body temperature,  blood to breath ratio of  1:2100  when in fact that can range from 1500-2500.  It assumes the Officer was observed 20 minutes prior to testing for belching or burping.   It also assumes the Officers’s blood alcohol had peaked.  If the Officers blood alcohol was rising his the alcohol in his blood would not be equally distributed and could give a breath reading of 300% of his actual blood alcohol.   I have had clients who have passed all field test walk and turn, one leg stand, finger to nose, alphabet and blown 0.190.  Either there is something wrong with the breath testing machine or my client is a freak of nature.

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