Breath Alcohol Test Results Eaten by Russian Lawyer

The results of a breath alcohol test are serious.  In fact, they might be serious enough to make or break a DUI case.

Recently in Kyzyl, the capital of Russia’s Republic of Tuva, an attorney felt the results of a breath alcohol test administered by Russian police threatened his client’s case so deeply that, when left alone in the judge’s chambers, the attorney ate the report.

Unfortunately, the attorney’s unique form of document destruction was caught on the judge’s surveillance camera, creating an entirely new set of evidence.

A video released on Auto Blog earlier this week clearly shows the attorney finding the report of his client’s breath alcohol content (BrAC).  Upon determining that the results could be detrimental to the client’s case, the attorney removed the BrAC report and tried to discreetly slide it into his bag, effectively concealing the evidence.  The attorney moved the report from his bag to his pocket.  Then, he pulled the breath alcohol test results out of his pocket and crumpled them into his mouth.

Daily Mail reports that, when the judge and her secretary returned, the lawyer insisted that the breath alcohol test results were missing and that the opposing counsel had no case without them.  The judge’s secretary summoned courthouse guards to search both the lawyer and the judge’s office for the BrAC report, but the guards came up empty-handed.  The guards later reviewed the office’s surveillance footage and discovered the lawyer’s unconventional appetite for victory in the courtroom.

The lawyer’s infraction was so severe that he now faces up to two years in jail and a fine that translates to roughly $3,044.

The effectiveness of BrAC testing is emphasized periodically in reports from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).  The same reports laud the technology in Ignition Interlock Devices as a workable solution to drunk driving woes.  The CDC reports that “ignition interlocks reduce repeat offenses for driving while intoxicated (DWI) by about 70% while they are installed,” but laments that “only one-fifth of those arrested for DWI [are ordered to] have interlocks installed.”

In this instance, an ignition interlock like Smart Start’s SSI-20/30™ could’ve saved this client—and his hungry attorney—a significant amount of money and a lot of strife.  To learn more about Smart Start’s life-saving efforts and revolutionary technology, or to install one of our devices, call 1-800-831-3299.