Posted on 01/12/2009 11:26:08 AM PST by Coleus
A former Morris County municipal judge arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated also was charged with refusing to take a breath test when the procedure could not be administered due to his continual burping, a police officer testified yesterday.
After being pulled over in Sparta on Feb. 15 on suspicion of DWI, George Korpita, 48, a former municipal judge in Dover, Rockaway Borough and Victory Gardens, consented to take a breath test. But the procedure could not be administered because Korpita repeatedly burped, Sparta patrolman Jo seph Pensado testified during a bench trial in the Sussex County township's municipal court.
A DWI suspect who burps just before the breath test is given then has to wait 20 minutes before blowing into the device because a belch can skew the results, Pensado said. Korpita signed a consent form to take a breath test, but he then burped repeatedly while Sgt. John- Paul Beebe was trying to administer the test, Pensado said.
"I observed Mr. Korpita burp and belch uncontrollably," Pensado testified.
Korpita was warned the burping would amount to a refusal to take the breath test, and he then again consented to the proce dure.
"Was he still belching?" municipal prosecutor Victor Jusino asked.
"Yes," Pensado replied. "Mr. Korpita burped again -- and again, and again, and again."
Defense attorney George Dag gett asked Pensado if Korpita said he had indigestion, but Pensado could not recall. After court, Dag gett said Korpita had burped some 40 times.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
A variation of the twinkie defense!
new->knew, but I think you probably (k)new that already
*burp* I just wanted to say that... *fart* ...that this post... *burp and fart* ...does have its effects... *fart* ...on my bowels... *burp* ...and intestines...
I hope you’re feeling better. Now go find a toilet.
It’s true. Burping puts more alcohol residue in your mouth and throat and screws up the breath test. However, it doesn’t screw up an officer’s ability to administer other tests (walking a straight line etc.).
LOL! I just found one and did the decent thang. It’s a side effect of that unholy ‘marinading with beer’ scientific project that I am currently engaged in...
I haven’t been burping, but I sure have had a lot coming out the other end since I started taking water pills a couple of weeks ago for high blood pressure. If anybody told me I was full of c**p over the past several days, I could not disagree.
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