Judge: Drunk-driving laws unconstitutional?

chicagotribune.com >> Nation/World
Judge: Drunk-driving laws unconstitutional Items compiled from Tribune news servicesPublished August 12, 2005
McLEAN, VIRGINIA -- A district judge has ruled that key components of Virginia's drunken-driving laws are unconstitutional, citing a decades-old U.S. Supreme Court decision.The state laws presume that someone with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 or higher is intoxicated, denying their right to a presumption of innocence, Judge Ian O'Flaherty ruled in dismissing charges against at least two alleged drunken drivers last month.Corinne Magee, a defense lawyer who first successfully argued the issue to O'Flaherty, said the ruling is based on a 1985 Supreme Court case that deals with prosecutors' obligation to prove all elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.