Woman beats DUI charge with claim body brews alcohol

A Buffalo woman who was arrested on drunk driving charges previous year got them tossed after arguing her body is essentially a “brewery”, thanks to a medical condition that transforms high-carb foods she digests into alcohol. A Breathalyzer test showed that her blood-alcohol level more than four times the legal limit.

She was first pulled over in October of past year when a 911 call reported a woman driving erratically, according to The Buffalo News.

The responding officer said the driver smelled of alcohol, was slurring her speech, and had glassy, bloodshot eyes.

He said the woman, who can not be named for reasons of medical confidentiality, also bought a breath test kit and blew into it every night for 18 days, registering around 0.20% every time. “But I knew something was amiss when the hospital police took the woman to wanted to release her immediately because she wasn’t exhibiting any symptoms”.

The woman’s lawyer, in order to help prove she suffered from the syndrome, “arranged to have two nurses and a physician’s assistant monitor his client for a day to document she drank no alcohol, and to take several blood samples for testing”, according to the AP.

This means her digestive system has so much yeast that it functions like a brewery, and is also known as gut fermentation syndrome. Only a handful of cases have been reported around the world. She quickly hired a lawyer, Joseph Marusak.

Researching the internet, Marusak came across Dr. Barbara Cordell, who had written a study about what she called Auto-brewery syndrome. The client was observed by medical personnel for a 12-hour period when she wasn’t drinking, and her blood alcohol levels ranged from.

The woman has since learned to manage her condition due to changes in her diet. She gets a flat close to home but doesn’t want to change the tire so keeps on driving. The county District Attorney says it will appeal the judge’s ruling.

Anneliese Mahoney is Lead Editor at Law Street and a CT transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues.