2/9/16 Arizona Court of Appeals refuses to vacate conviction for DUI Drugs Inactive Metabolite after Arizona Supreme Court said inactive metabolites cannot be the basis for a conviction.
In the Werderman Case the defendant was convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison for Felony DUI when the only substance found in her blood was inactive metabolites. Inactive metabolites are drugs which are still present in the blood but are no longer having any impairing effect on the person. After the defendant was sentenced to prison the Arizona Supreme Court held no one can be found guilty of DUI if the only type of drugs found was inactive metabolites. Werderman asked the courts to vacate her conviction because she said the Supreme Court’s decision was a change from the prior law in effect when she went to trial. The court of appeals said the question of whether the presence of inactive metabolites alone in the blood could be the basis for a conviction was not actually decided when her case went to trial and therefore the Supreme Court was not a clear change in the law. As a result on May 29, 2015, the Court of Appeals said there is no legal basis to vacate her sentence. Werderman must serve out her sentence even though the Supreme Court said a person is not guilty if only inactive metabolites are found in their blood.
http://www.apltwo.ct.state.az.us/Decisions/CR20150049OPN.pdf
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