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Intoxication in a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Operating While Intoxicated criminal prosecution

by David A. Cmelik Law PLC 

 

In a prosecution for Operating While Intoxicated, or, OWI, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, or other Iowa community, intoxication is mostly what we know it to be. 

If a motorist provides a bodily specimen positive for .08 g ETOH/210 L breath or greater, he or she is said to be presumptively intoxicated under Iowa's drunk driving criminal statute.

The model criminal jury instruction on intoxication states that the breath, blood, or urine test result is "presumed to be the alcohol concentration at the time [he] [she] operated the motor vehicle." Model Criminal Jury Instruction 2500.4.

The jury may, but is not required, to

"conclude that the alcohol concentration established by the analysis of the sample was the alcohol concentration at the time [he] [she] operated the motor vehicle." Model Criminal Jury Instruction 2500.4.

Without a breath, blood, or urine sample, the prosecution must prove that someone is "under the influence," because there is no scientific test result. 

However, the lack of a presumptive test result does not rule out intoxication. It merely requires the State to prove intoxication through the "under the influence" standard. 

This includes by proof of excited emotions, loss of judgment, loss of reasoning ability, or the loss of any bodily function. 

If you or a loved one have been arrested for Operating While Intoxicated, or, OWI, Iowa's criminal law prohibition on DUI, contact us for a free an initial consultation. 

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