Woman Let Off Drink-Driving Ban After Proving That Her Body Turns Food To Alcohol
A woman in New York was let off a drink-driving ban after proving that her body automatically turns food into alcohol.
The driver had her case dismissed after revealing that she suffers from ‘auto-brewery syndrome’ - which is why she was four times over the legal limit when police stopped her.
Her lawyer Joseph Marusak even presented the court with evidence of the condition - which showed that the woman had high levels of yeast in her intestines, and it was this that was responsible for fermenting high-carbohydrate foods into alcohol.
Marusak also arranged for two nurses and a physician’s assistant to monitor his client for a day to prove that she drank no alcohol, and to take several blood samples for testing.
‘At the end of the day, she had a blood-alcohol content of .36 without drinking any alcoholic beverages’, the lawyer said.
Police say that the woman, who is believed to be a school teacher, had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes when they initially pulled her over.
The unusual condition was first discovered in Japan in the 1970s - but has become increasingly common in modern day drink-driving cases.
Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, added: ‘At first glance, it seems like a get-out-of-jail-free card.
‘But it’s not that easy. Courts tend to be skeptical of such claims. You have to be able to document the syndrome through recognised testing.’
