Carolina Criminal Defense & DUI Lawyer UpdatesIntermittent fasting has gained popularity for a range of personal and medical reasons, from weight management and metabolic 
health to religious observance and athletic discipline. While it may offer certain physiological benefits, fasting also triggers changes in the body’s metabolic pathways that may complicate the interpretation of forensic alcohol testing in DWI cases.
This can become relevant in North Carolina, where the outcome of driving while impaired charges hinge on the reliability of breath or blood alcohol test results.
Defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges, and forensic experts are occasionally called to consider whether intermittent fasting affects the body’s internal chemistry and the resulting reported BAC.
a range of charges depending on the circumstances. Two of the most serious offenses are Felony Death by Vehicle and Second-Degree Murder.
preliminary roadside screening with a handheld device, the real focal point often comes from the Intoximeter EC/IR II machine. This desktop breath-testing device measures deep-lung air and generates an official reading that prosecutors regularly use as evidence at trial.
(SFSTs) to gauge whether enough evidence exists for an arrest or further chemical testing. Roadside dexterity tests—commonly the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test, the Walk-and-Turn test, and the One-Leg Stand test—remain a subject of debate. Questions arise about whether these tests are truly “standardized,” whether they reliably they measure impairment or are overly subjective, and how courts treat SFSTs as evidence.
screening at the roadside and an evidentiary test under the state’s implied consent laws. These procedures are guided by statutes like G.S. 20-16.2, which defines the expectations placed on a driver once probable cause is established. Although both tests relate to detecting alcohol, they serve different functions and carry different legal consequences.
license violations and to enforce the “drunk driving” (impaired driving) laws. The process must follow certain constitutional and statutory guidelines to avoid arbitrary or discriminatory stops.
circumstances, raise doubt about whether a reported BAC reflects the true breath alcohol content.
impairment. Q
Alcohol moves through this system in phases, from the first drink through the next morning. The effects of hangovers extend beyond the social hours of the night before, through sunrise, and into what many call “the morning after.” Scientists call this process veisalgia. The rest of us know it as a hangover.