Richard Creighton Was So Drunk, He Might Not Have Been Drunk, Attorney Argues

This alleged drunk driver was apparently so drunk, he may not have been drunk at all.

The Metro West Daily News reports that Richard Creighton was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of liquor and driving to endanger after police pulled him over this week in Framingham, Mass.

Creighton blew an eye-popping .41, according to the paper. The legal limit is .08.

Sounds like a slam-dunk case for prosecutors. Or does it?

The Boston Herald spoke to veteran defense attorney William Harvey III who said, at that level of intoxication, Creighton shouldn't have been physically capable of driving.

"It could be a red flag that the machine isn't operating correctly, because it's so grossly high," Harvey said. "That's close to toxic levels, alcohol poisoning, where he should be dead. He shouldn't even have been able to put the keys in the ignition."

That defense might work, but the News also reported that police said Creighton "could not stand on his own after his arrest, so police did not conduct a field sobriety test."

This wouldn't be the first time someone with an alleged blood alcohol level of above .40 was able to operate a vehicle and get arrested, however. A Queensland, Australia woman blew a .407 when she was pulled over by cops, according to MSNBC.

From our partners

• Pot Pigs: Farmer Pioneers Marijuana-Fed Pork - Newser.com
• Sexual Mood Killers - Cracked.com
• What Your Tattoo (and Where It Is) Says About You - Guyism.com

Comments

[Razpooten]

12:35 AM on 05/11/2012

It all depends on what the meaning of the word "is," is.

[Razpooten]

12:34 AM on 05/11/2012

There is no such thing as alcohol tolerance a drunk will get just as drunk at ten as he will at 50.

[Dasher2]

11:24 PM on 05/10/2012

I've seen plenty of people with the ability to dance (at least in their minds) that blew over a .4

[Hawkson]

06:37 AM on 05/11/2012

...or sing, lol.

[itzfatcat]

12:54 PM on 05/10/2012

At one time I drank (20 years or so - beer and some times rum). After I drank more than 2 or 3 servings, I always had a reaction - sick. So I had a built in saftey device. Thank goodness. Quit all togther when my son got his 2d DUI. Got jail time. I sure didn't want that so I quit. Don't understand why people don't pay attention. DUI/DWI is costly and can mean jail time or bad accidents.

[seriously77]

10:48 AM on 05/11/2012

you don't understand why people don't pay attention? For the same reason you didn't pay attention during those 20 years or so that you did it. Too many people have the "it won't happen to me" mentality.

[seanymph007]

12:50 PM on 05/10/2012

Cut the BS and issue the DUI; if he lies about drinking, and you have a positive boold test, charge him and his attorney with perjury as well.

[rickcaron]

12:38 PM on 05/10/2012

If he is a practiced hard drinker it is not hard to be lucid at high b/a levels. You build a tolerance to alcohol and many other drugs. The more you do it, the more it takes. Once the liver becomes damaged it then takes less and less because your body will no longer filter toxins properly. This is all common knowlege, I am surprised it became a story.

[Nurse Slack]

04:36 AM on 05/12/2012

It depends on the person and their tolerance. Before my dad died of renal failure from alcohol abuse he could only drink 1 beer before getting smashed. 20 years before that he could drink a case with a 5th of vodka and you'd never know he was drunk. When they get to the point of drinking like this man death isn't too far away.

[PPPELOSI]

11:53 AM on 05/10/2012

Oh, Oh. I can see another headline coming during the next month or so - "San Francisco Stoner Claims He Was So Stoned That He Wasn'nt Really Stoned."

[Kvothe]

12:34 PM on 05/10/2012

Thanks for the laugh.

[wilsonrev1615]

12:51 PM on 05/10/2012

lol, change that to Texas resident & I'll give it a try...

[jgamble28]

11:37 AM on 05/10/2012

How could you be so drunk that your not drunk. That doesn't make sense at all. I love the lawyers reasoning. The judge should throw the book at the driver and the lawyer. lol

[seriously77]

10:52 AM on 05/11/2012

The lawyer doesn't mean that literally. You have to read between the lines. He's saying the breathalyzer was so high that it was broke and his client was, in fact, sober (or at least not at that level of intoxication).

[Fuzzybuster]

11:15 AM on 05/10/2012

I'm embarressed to admit that I've blown over .28 and over .3 something. I was walking and talking, and the cops at the time told me I should be comatose for a girl my size. I'm gratefully sober since then.

[tlmillard]

10:55 AM on 05/10/2012

If you drink all your life, your body can tolerate more alcohol---that's why he wasn't dead. If you are so incapacitated that you can't stand up, you can't drive and shouldn't be trying--no matter WHAT is making you that way. If he has that much alcohol in his blood, then it MUST be the alcohol that is keeping him from being in control of himself, and all that equals DWI, case closed, Mr. Lawyer.

[rachelle13]

10:40 AM on 05/10/2012

Stupid...I'm so scared of DWI they cost way too much $$, would rather just sit on my own couch and have as much wine as I want!

[Michael James Fry]

10:27 AM on 05/10/2012

If the guy was indeed a Drunk Driver ~ Then he should be considered as such.

[gbaker9916]

10:27 AM on 05/10/2012

No mention of video. I hope we soon have video in EVERY police vehicle. To protect both the defendant and the arresting officer(s). Let a jury decide for themselves by seeing what actually happened.

[seanymph007]

12:41 PM on 05/10/2012

... with harsh sanction for officers who shut it off in the middle of thier 'interrogations'!

[foolecoole]

10:23 AM on 05/10/2012

this man was so drunk he wasnt even drunk......yeah huff. you keep giving me stories like this and I keep laughing at you.

[all im sayin is]

10:19 AM on 05/10/2012

This story makes my day. Following this logic...I'M A MILLIONAIRE!!!