A Montrealer been Acquitted of being unfit to drive because the gin drunk before the trip contained 77% alcohol instead of 40% and had to be recalled.
“We can’t blame the defendant for the high alcohol content of the gin in his cocktail any more than we can blame anyone for eventually ending up with GHB in his glass of alcohol,” said Judge Katia Mouscardy of the Montreal Municipal Court.
One evening in January 2017, Aroua Ben Mohamed left her friends’ house after drinking two glasses of wine and two gin and tonics over a period of three and a half hours.
She then took the wheel to return home, but was arrested en route by police after calling 911 for hit and run.
“Seeing her trying to park [les policiers] found that his vehicle was severely damaged to the point of being unfit to drive,” the verdict said in February.
blackout
“On the way home, she recalls driving about a block away and then having a power outage until she was arrested. Aroua Ben Mohamed explains that she came to her senses during her summary search.
At the police station, the blood alcohol test showed 175 mg of alcohol per 100 ml, while the legal limit is 80 mg.
Police said Ms Ben Mohamed told officers: “I know I’m drunk, I made a mistake”.
alcohol reminded
The defendant then tried to understand what had happened that evening and did not believe that she had been drugged by her friends.
It wasn’t until months later that she learned that there was a recall for bottles of Bombay Saphire Gin that contained 77% alcohol instead of the 44% stated on the label.
It was the same alcohol as that consumed by Mrs. Ben Mohamed.
expertise
According to defense expert Mohamed Ben Amar, a professor of pharmacology at the University of Montreal, if the gin contained the stated alcohol content, the defendant’s blood alcohol level would have been closer to 0.08.
“The defendant’s blackout occurred while driving because she left the crime scene before the last drink of gin was in her blood,” the expert told the court.
According to Mr Ben Amar, it would have been impossible for the defendant to display all of these symptoms if the gin consumed contained 40% alcohol.
Judge Mouscardy therefore concluded that Aroua Ben Mohamed “did not know and could not reasonably have known that the alcohol content of the gin was 77% and not 40%. She could therefore not foresee that the consumed cocktails were likely to induce intoxication.”
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