Absorption: The taking of alcohol from outside the body into the bloodstream. Peak absorption is the highest level of blood alcohol; seen before BAC begins to diminish.
Acid: A compound capable of donating a hydrogen ion (H+) to another compound.
Administrative Sanctions: Penalties imposed by the Department of Licensing. These sanctions are separate from district or municipal court penalties.
Alcohol: A carbon-containing compound with an oxygen-hydrogen bond.
Alcohol Evaluation: An assessment conducted by a state-certified drug and alcohol treatment agency to evaluate the defendant's alcohol usage patterns, potential problems, and recommended treatment. Eval- uation takes approximately one hour. Treatment may require one eight hour class to two years ongoing treatment.
Addiction: Refers to both the physical craving for a chemical and to the psychologically learned behavior in which the person develops a primary relationships with a chemical (i.e., it comes before everything else). This term can be used interchangeably with the terms alcoholism, drug addiction, harmful dependency, and chemical dependency.
Alveoli: Small sacs in the lungs through whose walls air and other vapors are exchanged between the breath and the blood.
Analgesic: A drug or substance that lessens or eliminates pain.
Anticoagulant: A substance that prevents coagulation or clotting of the blood.
Arraignment: This is usually the next date the court is open after your arrest. You will be formally told what the charges and the court will enter a plea of not guilty for you and give you a date to come back for a pre-trial conference or pre-trial hearing
BAC: Blood-alcohol concentration. The percentage amount of alcohol in a person's bloodstream.
BAC Datamaster: Machine that measures BAC according to the amount of alcohol concentration on the breath.
BAC Refusal: Refusal to blow into the BAC Datamaster or take a bloodtest as requested by police officers.
Base: A compound capable of accepting a hydrogen ion (H+).
Breathalyzer: A portable machine used by law enforcement to measure the BAC of suspected drunk drivers.
Burn off: This is where it is determined how fast the body can eliminate alcohol from the system through the organs of our body. This varies from person to person depending on many factors, such as weight, age and more.
Chemical Test: As it relates to DUI, a test of the alcohol or drug concentration in a person's blood. A breathalyzer, blood analysis, or urinalysis can be used as chemical tests for alcohol. If other drugs are suspected, a blood test or urine test is used.
Defendant: Person accused of a crime.
Deferred Prosecution: Prosecution of the case is deferred for five years during which time the defendant receives intensive drug or alcohol treatment in a state-certified treatment program. Case is dis- missed at end of five years if program is successfully completed. Only one deferred prosecution is allowed in a lifetime. It also counts as a prior offense if subsequently charged with DUI.
Disposition: This term refers to what happens if you plead guilty or are found guilty. It can include jail or probation and may include the condition that you remain drug or alcohol free.
Distribution: The moving of alcohol from the blood to the tissues.
Driver's License Suspension: The temporary withholding of driving privileges. An offender's license is withheld for a given period then returned.
Driver's License Revocation: The cancellation of driving privileges. The offender must reapply for a driver's license after a designated length of time.
Driving: This is the operation of a vehicle where you are in control. Law enforcement officers do not need to see you behind the wheel in order to lay charges. They can use circumstantial evidence, which is sufficient to lay charges.
Driving Under the Influence (DUI): This is in reference to the state of a driver after consuming too much alcohol or drugs when they are operating a vehicle and the criminal cases that arise from such situations. This is applied to someone over the state limits.
Driving While Intoxicated (DWI): This is often used in drunk driving cases and is used in terms of the state of the driver operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. This can also be used in the case of driving under the influence of drugs. Defining intoxication is the heart of the DWI charge.
Drunk Driving: This is when an operator of a vehicle has consumed enough alcohol to inhibit him from driving in a safe manner. This also relates to whatever limit a state has determined to be of legal limits. No matter how safely a person is operating the vehicle it is deemed as drunk driving if you are at or over the legal limit.
DUBAL: Finally, two other acronyms crop up in cases occasionally. DUBAL or UBAL is a type of DUI / DWI that signifies driving with an unlawful blood alcohol level. This applies only to cases in which the person arrested has given a blood, breath or urine sample. Officers or court cases (or your attorney) may call this “per se” DUI or “per se” DWI. In short, this means, it is an offense to merely have driven while having the prohibited amount of alcohol in your system regardless of whether the police officer gathers any traditional evidence of “impairment”. UBAL Same as DUBAL.
DUI: Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A crime that can result in fines, suspension or revocation of driver's license, or jail time.DUI This generally is interpreted as an abbreviation for driving under the influence. By far, the most common impairing substance is ALCOHOL. However, many states also prohibit DUI DRUGS and DUI TOXIC VAPORS (sniffing or huffing paint fumes, butane, paint thinner and similar chemicals).
DUIL: DUIL (driving under the influence of liquor) is used in a few states in case law. DUII Oregon uses DUII (driving under the influence of an intoxicant). DWAI In two states, Colorado and New York, the acronym “DWAI” (driving while ability impaired) is a LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSE to DWI (or DUI). These “lesser offenses” offer the person less damage to their driver’s license, and have certain benefits over pleading to the standard DUI / DWI offense. DWUI One state, Wyoming, uses DWUI (driving while under the influence).
DWI: Driving while intoxicated. See DUI. Dram Shop - Legislation, effective in many states in the U.S., dictating that an individual or establishment that issues alcohol to an intoxicated person is strictly liable for any harm caused by that person.DWI The next most common acronym is DWI. Depending on the state practice, this can be interpreted as an abbreviation for driving while intoxicated or driving while impaired. Like DUI, many states proscribe impaired (or “intoxicated”) driving as caused by other impairing substances, drugs, plants or chemical compounds.
Electronic Home Monitoring (EHM): An alternative to jail time where by the defendant serves his/her jail time at home. This is monitored electronically usually through an ankle bracelet.
Elimination: The removal of alcohol from the body. Excretion: Elimination of alcohol from the body in an unchanged state.
Enhancements: These are factors that can influence the punishment of a drunk driving case. They may include such things as breaking the speed limit while under the influence, having an accident, refusing to take a Breathalyzer, and having prior convictions all which increase the seriousness of a case.
Extrapolation: The process of computing BAC at a given time using physical characteristics of the drinker, the quantity of alcohol consumed and the period of time over which alcohol is consumed and when alcohol was last consumed. Sometimes referred to as retro-grade extrapolation.
Field Sobriety Test: This is a test that is given on the roadside when people are stopped and suspected of drunk driving. This test determines by eye motion and skills of the driver to do the multiple tasks required by the officer to determine the condition of the driver of the vehicle.
Fuel Cell: A detector in which chemical reactions are used to produce electricity.
Gross Misdemeanor: Class of crime where if convicted, sentence can be no more than one year and fine no more than $5000. All DUIs are gross misdemeanors.
Henry's Law: A law of physical chemistry which says that at a certain temperature (34°C) the concentration of a volatile substance (alcohol) in the air above a fluid is proportional to the concentration of the volatile substance in the fluid. Diffusion of blood alcohol into deep lung air is governed by this principle.
Ignition Interlock: Machine connected to car's ignition that checks for alcohol. The driver is required to blow into it to start the car and blow into it periodically to keep the car in motion.
Impaired Driving: "Impaired Driving" is defined as: Operating any motor vehicle while one's faculties are affected by alcohol and/or other drugs, medications, or other substances. The term "impaired driving" includes, but is not limited to, impairment as defined in individual State Statues.
Impairment or intoxication: Terms used by states to describe driving while intoxicated or driving while impaired. Different states have different standards for this term.
Intervention: A structured process in which the delusional system (denial) of a person is confronted in a caring, objective and non-judgmental manner so that the person receives help (evaluation, treatment) for his/her problem (disease, illness).
Jerk Nystagmus: This happens when your eye can follow a point of focus and drifts slowly away from it but quickly adjusts itself with a jerky movement back to what they’re trying to focus on.
License Revocation: Administrative sanction whereby drivers' license is taken away. To get license back, defendant must show proof of SR22 insurance (high-risk insurance), take driver's test again, and pay $150 reissue fee.
License Suspension: Administrative sanction whereby drivers' license is taken away. To get license back, defendant must show proof of SR22 insurance (high-risk insurance), and pay $150 reissue fee. (Same as license revocation, however, do not have to retake drivers' test).
Metabolism: The break down of alcohol within the body (90-95% of absorbed alcohol is metabolized by the body, mostly in the liver). Sometimes referred to as "burn-off."
Motion Hearing: There are two different kinds of motions (a request for the court to do something), motions to get the prosecutor to turn over things they don't want to and motions to stop the prosecutor from using evidence (motions to suppress)
Not guilty: This is a term used in court to state your innocence of the charges laid against you. This term is what everyone facing a drunk driving case wants to hear.
Open Container: Any open alcohol container to which the driver or passengers in a vehicle have access. "Open Container" The offense of having an open container inside your passenger compartment
OUI: This means operating under the influence of a drug or alcohol. There are many factors that contribute to making this a very difficult question and many things have to be taken in to consideration before a judgment can be passed. OUI The next most common acronym for drunk driving is OUI. This stands for operating under the influence. The word “operating” is actually more encompassing (and more accurate) than “driving” because almost all states make it illegal to “operate or be in actual physical control” of a motor vehicle. This means that you can be sitting in your car, off the side of the road, with the engine running and the car in park, and asleep, yet still be charged with OUI (or DUI or DWI, for that matter, in most states). The states that have OUI as their acronym are Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. OWI Another acronym for drunk driving is OWI, or operating while intoxicated. Similar to OUI, the operative word is “operating”. Wisconsin is the largest state using this acronym. OMVI OMVI (operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated) is an acronym used in Ohio from time to time, but they also use DUI.
OWI: Operating while intoxicated. See DUI.
Oxidation: The combination of oxygen with other substances to produce new products.
Partition Ratio: Standard Ratio: 2100 ml. of alveolar air will contain the same amount of alcohol present in 1 ml. of blood with which it has come to equilibrium.
Per se laws:These are laws that make it illegal to drive a vehicle under the influence of either alcohol or drugs at a certain level. This law is based only on the body’s chemistry; the only thing to determine with this law is whether you were above or below your states legal limit.
pH: A symbol used to express the basicity or acidity of a substance. A pH of 7 is neutral: lower values are acidic, higher values basic.
Pharmacology: The basic medical science dealing with the interactions between drugs and living systems.
Physical Dependence: Physiological need for a drug that has been brought about by its regular use. Dependence is characterized by withdrawal sickness when administration of the drug is abruptly stopped.
Plea Bargain/Agreement: The defendant enters into an agreement that, by entering a plea to the charge or a lesser offense, the pro- secutor will move for: dismissal of other charges or counts, recommend a particular sentence, agree to file a particular charge, agree not to file other charges or make other agreement with the defendant.
Pre-trial Conference or Pre-trial hearing: This is when a pre-trial conference report is filled out by your lawyer and the prosecutor. This report sets out what information and evidence is going to be exchanged and what is going to happen next on the case.
Proof: The Measure of the alcoholic content. Equals 2 times the % of Alcohol. HISTORY- Distillers measured it by mixing equal amounts of gunpowder and whiskey in small amounts and then lit a match to the mixture. If it did not burn, the whiskey was too weak. If it burned with a steady blue flame then this was proof that the alcoholic content was right. In general : One Beer (12 oz, 4.5%) = One Glass of Wine (4.5 oz, 12%) = One Mixed Drink (1.5 oz, 40%)
Psychological Dependence: The conditioned use of a drug caused by underlying emotional needs.
Readiness Hearing: After the pretrial and before the trial. Attorneys tell the court that they are ready for trial and set the trial date. Often additional negotiations are done at the readiness hearing.
Reckless Driving: Operating a motor vehicle in a dangerous manner, including speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, and the like.
Serum: The component of blood that is obtained when the cells and clotting factors are removed from the blood.
SFST: Standard Field Sobriety Test - Simple exercises meant to test a person's sobriety. They may test a person's mental awareness, speech, or physical coordination.
Tolerance: The ability of a person to adapt their behavior to disguise the effects of alcohol.
Toxicologist: A person who has the responsibility of detecting and identifying the presence of drugs and poisons in body fluids, tissues, and organs.
Toxicology: The study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms.
Treatment: A structured program which has an identifiable plan for addressing the alcohol or other drug problems of each client. The program may include education, individual, group or family counseling and address all relevant aspects of a person's life. Types of treatment programs include detoxification, impatient, outpatient and intensive outpatient.
Trial: Twelve person jury or one person judge decides whether defendant is guilty or not guilty. DUI cases usually take between 1 and 3 days.
Victim's Panel: Two hour class taught by DUI victims to relate their experience to people who have been charged or convicted of a DUI or alcohol related offense.
Witness: A person who can provide testimony on behalf of the prosecution or defense.
Zero Tolerance: In cases of DUI, the right to convict minors with virtually any amount of alcohol in the bloodstream. In many cases, this amounts to a BAC of .01%, much less than the legal limit for adults.
REMEMBER -- RESULTS ALWAYS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
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