Uh-Oh. CHP motocop on trial for DUI

[summitsix]

Man, this is not good.





CHP Officer To Be Tried For DUI, Injuring Cyclist

(AP) SAN RAFAEL A California Highway Patrol officer will stand trial on charges he was drunk when he slammed into a bicyclist with his motorcycle.

Denis Gallotti, 43, is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 7 on two felony counts of drunken driving and an allegation of causing great bodily harm, a Marin Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday.

If convicted, Gallotti could be sentenced to six years in prison.

Gallotti, who was off duty at the time of the June accident, had a blood alcohol level of at least .09 when he lost control of his motorcycle and collided with the bicyclist, according to testimony in a preliminary hearing.

The state's legal alcohol limit is .08. The cyclist, Samuel Burr McMillan, 50, of Mill Valley, suffered numerous fractures.

[HoolieB]

Although not relevant, I'm consumed with curiousity: do you know what sort of motorcycle he was riding while plastered?

[Tesa]

WHOA... I saw this and thought maybe it was the off duty CHiPpy I posted about a couple months ago... is this a new trend? Not good!!!

[codzilla70]

:ass:

[Manx]

He's fucked.

And if he gets "time", he probably will be.

:eek:

[MoreMyk]

Originally posted by HoolieB
Although not relevant, I'm consumed with curiousity: do you know what sort of motorcycle he was riding while plastered?

Not to condone a DUI, especially by an off duty CHP on a bike, but .09 is hardly plastered.

[Zombiesai]

I would tend to agree here....In all likelyhood..they said that he lost control..but more likely he just didn't stop in time and hit the bicyclist.

but they better throw the damn book at that guy. Officers should be the example for law abiding citizens.

[Aeteocles]

kinda sucks that if he goes to prison, someone will get word that he's a cop and he'll have a rough time in there...

being a cop shouldn't be a liability.

[HoolieB]

Originally posted by MoreMyk
Not to condone a DUI, especially by an off duty CHP on a bike, but .09 is hardly plastered.

I see your point, and you caught me engaging in hyperbole, but the law is black and white here. And frankly, in my case, .09 is pie-eyed, falling-down, want-to-have-sex-with-everyone drunk, e.g. plastered.

:D

[pAint]

.09 is considered about 2 beers... depending on the size of the person. .09 is not being drunk at all! I know this because i got a DUI (not proud of that whatsoever.) He should have known though... crazy copper.

[codzilla70]

I bet the guy on the bicycle would disagree. A drunk driver hit me and drove away and I was very angry with him.

[jperkey]

I doubt he will get jail time if it a first offense, and even if he does, I don't think they usually put cops in the general population in prisons. He should have known better, though.

[summitsix]

Of all people who know the dangers of DUI, cops know better than anyone how a bad situation (at fault collision) can be made even worse when alcohol is involved.

I agree, .09 is not so bad, but it is DUI nontheless.

Probably won't get jail time, even if he does, it won't be in the general population, it would be easy for an attorney to argue that.

[MotoFool]

Ah, .09 and the open road. Down two Corona's and fire up the machine. But remember, even if you just injure yourself, you've injured someone while under the influence...and that is a felony. Probably better to fire up some breakfast and blast the tunes.

[ZombieDude]

Originally posted by paint
.09 is considered about 2 beers... depending on the size of the person. .09 is not being drunk at all! I know this because i got a DUI (not proud of that whatsoever.) He should have known though... crazy copper.

Actually, it's more like 4.5 beers in one hours time. The average male (approx 150lbs) will gain .02 per drink (1 beer, 1 glass of wine, 1 shot of whatever), and loose .02 per hour. Increasing the weight of the individual doesn't effect the BAC by that much so most of us should be able to use the .02 per drink rule.

Interestingly enough, how you "handle your liquor" does not reflect what your BAC actually is. You can feel stone cold sobor, pass a field sobreity test, but have a BAC of .08 or higher. The law states .08 BAC regardless of how you "handle your liquor."

I would assume that this person was drinking for more then just one hour, so he probably had more then 4.5 beers.... regardless, shouldn't be driving a car, let alone a motorcycle.

Agreed - should have known better.

[Sui]

Originally posted by ZombieDude
Actually, it's more like 4.5 beers in one hours time. The average male (approx 150lbs) will gain .02 per drink (1 beer, 1 glass of wine, 1 shot of whatever), and loose .02 per hour. Increasing the weight of the individual doesn't effect the BAC by that much so most of us should be able to use the .02 per drink rule.

Interestingly enough, how you "handle your liquor" does not reflect what your BAC actually is. You can feel stone cold sobor, pass a field sobreity test, but have a BAC of .08 or higher. The law states .08 BAC regardless of how you "handle your liquor."

I would assume that this person was drinking for more then just one hour, so he probably had more then 4.5 beers.... regardless, shouldn't be driving a car, let alone a motorcycle.

Agreed - should have known better.

4.5 beers??? If I have 4.5 beers in a hour, I can't even find the ignition... lol

[Zombiesai]

Originally posted by ZombieDude
Actually, it's more like 4.5 beers in one hours time. The average male (approx 150lbs) will gain .02 per drink (1 beer, 1 glass of wine, 1 shot of whatever), and loose .02 per hour. Increasing the weight of the individual doesn't effect the BAC by that much so most of us should be able to use the .02 per drink rule.

Interestingly enough, how you "handle your liquor" does not reflect what your BAC actually is. You can feel stone cold sobor, pass a field sobreity test, but have a BAC of .08 or higher. The law states .08 BAC regardless of how you "handle your liquor."

I would assume that this person was drinking for more then just one hour, so he probably had more then 4.5 beers.... regardless, shouldn't be driving a car, let alone a motorcycle.

Agreed - should have known better.



WHOA WHOA WHOA!!!! Whats this copycat crap? Not only are you copying my bike....but now you are infringing on my name too? uncool dude...un...cool.


good info though.

[HoolieB]

Originally posted by Zombiesai
WHOA WHOA WHOA!!!! Whats this copycat crap? Not only are you copying my bike....but now you are infringing on my name too? uncool dude...un...cool.


good info though.

*cough* check member numbers *cough*

[Kurt'sSV]

Originally posted by Sui
4.5 beers??? If I have 4.5 beers in a hour, I can't even find the ignition... lol

No shit. +1 on that. I think ZombieDude's numbers are a little off.

Too bad for the CHP guy. Just because you wear a badge, doesn't mean you can't F up once in a while. He should have been more aware of his actions.

[MoreMyk]

Originally posted by HoolieB
I see your point, and you caught me engaging in hyperbole, but the law is black and white here. And frankly, in my case, .09 is pie-eyed, falling-down, want-to-have-sex-with-everyone drunk, e.g. plastered.

:D

Ok, so what are you doing tonight?

[ZombieDude]

Originally posted by Kurt'sSV
No shit. +1 on that. I think ZombieDude's numbers are a little off.

Yes, my numbers are a "little off" I was rounding all the number to the "average" weight. I like to round the number as when I get drunk, I have a hard enough time with the "point oh two" rule. I have attached the below for more specific numbers on weight & sex (girls really can't hold their liquor as well as men!)

BAC Table
Approximate BAC, With the Alcohol From One Drink in the Blood Stream
According to Body Weight and Sex


Weight 100# 120# 140# 160# 180# 200# 220# 240#


Male .037 .031 .026 .023 .020 .018 .017 .015


Female.045 .037 .032 .028 .025 .022 .020 .018


Now, estimating that the human body metabolizes between .015%BAC and
.025%BAC per hour (we use .016%BAC to be on the safe side) we can see that
the man will have no alcohol in his body at the end of one hour while the
woman's blood alcohol content will be approximately .029%BAC (.037%BAC minus
.016%BAC). Therefore, at the end of three hours of drinking one drink per
hour, the woman will be near the drunk driving level for Wisconsin,
.087%BAC, but the man will still be very close to zero because his body
metabolizes a bit more than his BAC goes up for one drink. By the way, this
clearly demonstrates why the rule-of-thumb of "one drink an hour" is such a
dangerous benchmark.


So, putting it all together, you take gender (woman) and body weight (120
pounds), to determine a person's magic number, which is .037%BAC in this
example. Multiply the magic number by the number of drinks consumed (or that
you plan to consume) .037%BAC x 8 drinks = a subtotal of .296%BAC. Then
multiply metabolism rate times the hours spent drinking (.016%BAC x five
hours = .080%BAC) and subtract that total from the above subtotal (.296%BAC
- .080%BAC = .216%BAC). The .216%BAC is the approximate peak BAC for this
drinking episode.

[Ikazuchi]

two words for ya....

[No_Brakes23]

Originally posted by Aeteocles
kinda sucks that if he goes to prison, someone will get word that he's a cop and he'll have a rough time in there...

being a cop shouldn't be a liability.


Yes it should. With great power comes great responsibility.