Walker County Judge Donny Peppers was arrested on suspicion of DUI on Saturday after purportedly being seen driving erractically.   The finger wagging and shaming has already started on local news blogs in our society and its war on social drinking.   With the rise of the nanny state has come the presumption of guilty.   Shame on the Shamers.   In America, all criminal defendants (rich and poor, famous and infamous) are presumed innocent until they are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury of their peers.

First, field sobriety evaluations are no better than flippin' a coin.  HGN commonly known as the eye test is 77% accurate at classifying drivers as sober or impaired.  The Walk and Turn test is 68% accurate.  The One Leg Stand is 66% accurate. 

Second, despite news reports to the contrary, there was no blood test, period. It takes 60 to 90 days for a blood test result to come back from the Georgia Crime Lab. If they have a result now, there was a state administered chemical test of the breath which estimates blood alcohol.  The machine is inherently inaccurate and results can vary +/- 0.02 and still be admissible in court.  That is 25% of the legal limit.  Studies have shown that the legal limit of 0.08 is equivalent to driving a car while talking on a cell phone with an ear piece or driving while 70 years of age or older.  The state breath test machine has inherent limitations such as the presence of mouth alcohol in general and from breath freshners or alcohol in asthma inhalers.  Solvents such as acetone can interfer with the breath test and mimic alcohol in the machine.  Acetone is produced naturally in the body and is commonly present in diabetics in a diabetic state or keotosis.  Radio interference from cell phones and walkie talkies can interfer with the breath machine.  In short, don't be so quick to judge until you hear all of the story because the Judge is presumed innocent.

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