California Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID) applies to illegal drugs, legal drugs, and over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription drugs. Therefore, you could face charges for DUI involving sleeping pills like Ambien, even if you were taking them for genuine sleep disorders. A drugged driving offense involving sleeping pills can be complex, as you could be unconscious or asleep while driving, making your conduct involuntary.
However, the Ambien argument is usually a weak assertion because you ingest the drugs knowingly despite a warning label about the risk of sleep-driving, making your actions voluntary intoxication. So, the defense strategy is ineffective and less likely to help you obtain a DUI charge dismissal.
Detailed Explanation of the Ambien Defense
California Vehicle Code (VC) 23152(f) makes it a misdemeanor offense to operate a vehicle while intoxicated by drugs. The law considers you under the influence or intoxicated if you are incapable of driving in the same fashion as an ordinary or sober individual in the same situation due to a drug, OTC, prescription, legal drug, illegal substance, or a combination of alcohol and drugs.
One common drug that leads to DUID charges is Ambien, which is a sleeping pill. One effect of these drugs, and one that is indicated in the warning label, is that they cause unconsciousness, and you could end up sleep-driving, meaning operating the car while not fully awake. If you have been charged with a DUI involving this or any other sleeping pill, you can raise the “Ambien defense.” The defense strategy alleges you were asleep or unconscious when you drove because of the side effects of Ambien. Attorneys argue that your poor driving was involuntary to counter the prosecutor’s claim that it was deliberate.
When proving a DUID involving Ambien, the DA must show that:
- You drove a car
- While impaired or intoxicated by a sleeping pill like Ambien
- And because of the pill, your physical or mental capacities were impaired, and you could not operate the car cautiously as a sober person would while in the same position.
From this definition, you can deduce that the elements of DUID are closely related to those of DUI under VC 23152(a), which requires the DA to demonstrate that your conduct was voluntary.
So, your defense attorney attempts to counter the arguments by asserting that your drugged driving was involuntary and, therefore, you are not guilty of DUID.
The Ambien defense does not apply to Ambien only, which is also called Zolpidem. It applies to other sedative-hypnotic sleeping drugs commonly involved in DUIs, like:
- Dalmane
- Lunesta
- Halcion
- Prosom
- Seconal
- Rozerem
- Carbrotal
- Sonata
- Butisol sodium
- Halcion
- Restoril
- Doral
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires all these sleeping pills to carry a warning label on the bottle and in the product guide that comes with the prescription, warning users of sleep driving due to drowsiness, a side effect of the drug.
The defense also applies to other driving offenses apart from DUID, including:
- Reckless driving
- Overspeeding
- Other traffic violation
Nevertheless, DUI attorneys have discovered the Ambien assertion or defense is not reliable in fighting DUID charges, mainly when the defendant is a regular user or repeat offender and has been sufficiently warned or understands the risk of sleep driving associated with the pills. The court will likely reject the argument that you were unconscious; hence, your actions were involuntary. Again, the fact that you voluntarily took the drugs despite knowing the side effects of the pills makes your intoxication voluntary. So, you cannot avoid criminal liability.
If the defense is to work, your attorney should show that you are using the product for the first time, or it is your first offense, and you were unaware of the sleep-driving risk associated with the pills. That way, your attorney can easily prove that the intoxication was involuntary. Nevertheless, it will be challenging to show your actions were involuntary when there is a record of unconscious driving after ingesting Ambien.
Sleep Driving Amounts to Voluntary Intoxication
Ambien and other sleeping pills cause people to drive while not fully awake or unaware of their actions, leading to the assumption that one can defend themselves against DUI involving these pills by arguing their actions were involuntary.
However, the disadvantage of the Ambien strategy is that California criminal statutes differentiate between voluntary and involuntary intoxication. If you willfully ingest sleeping medication, knowing it could lead to impairment, yours is voluntary intoxication. A good example is going to a local bar and drinking eight glasses of wine.
On the other hand, involuntary intoxication means unintentional consumption of intoxicating substances. An example is drinking soda in a club because you will be driving other companions home, and someone spiked the drink without your knowledge.
The only time you can use voluntary intoxication as a defense is when charged with specific intent crimes like forgery or fraud, including murder and burglary. You cannot use the argument to counter any other charge.
However, with involuntary intoxication, you can use it to defend against many crimes, including DUID and standard DUI. Whether your attorney will use this as a defense strategy depends on the case’s circumstances, although it is rarely used in DUID defense.
The court considers the defense ineffective because your decision to use the sleeping medications when you are aware of the side effects amounts to voluntary intoxication. Therefore, the defense rarely holds in court when fighting DUID charges.
Courts have also confirmed that voluntary intoxication is ineffective in contesting drugged driving accusations. California prohibits driving under the influence of drugs if the substances cause intoxication or impairment. The court focuses on the fact that the drug has side effects that impair your capacity to drive safely, which is why the statute applies to illegal drugs, legal drugs, OTC, and prescription drugs.
For instance, in 2012, the court rejected the Ambien strategy in a case involving a man who ingested Ambien to fight insomnia. Still, unfortunately, after falling asleep, he woke up in the wee hours, entered the vehicle, and drove recklessly, leading to an arrest and DUID charges. The man’s driving privileges were also suspended, leading to an additional driving charge with a suspended license. The man’s attorney raised the Ambien strategy, asserting his actions were involuntary. However, the arguments did not stand in court, leading to a conviction.
Dissatisfied with the court verdict, the defendant appealed the decision, claiming that he was sleep-driving, making his actions involuntary. Nevertheless, the court did not accept the assertion, as the defendant had been using Ambien for many years and was aware that the drugs increased the risk of sleep driving. With the knowledge of the risk of the drug, the court concluded that the man engaged in voluntary intoxication and that he is criminally liable for the DUID involving Ambien. The assertion that the defendant was unaware of the risks of the drugs did not stand in court because the FDA had sufficiently warned the user of the side effects on the warning label, and with years of usage, the defendant must have known of these side effects.
If the defendant could have shown that he was unaware of the risks of the drugs, the Ambien defense strategy could hold in court, leading to a not guilty verdict. For instance, Kidum is an immigrant from Congo who does not read or speak English. After a diagnosis of insomnia, the physician prescribes Lunesta but does not explain the side effects of the drug. Also, Kidum cannot read the product guide or warning label on the risks of the product. On the third day of using the drugs, he wakes up late at night, takes the roommate’s car key, and drives erratically, causing a fatal crash. Under the circumstances, Kidum can use the Ambien defense by claiming that his actions were involuntary as he was unaware of the sleep-driving risks of the substance.
However, when the defendant can read or speak English but fails to read the FDA warning label before taking the medication, the prosecutor will argue that he ought to have read it to understand the risks and, therefore, is guilty of drugged driving.
Penalties for DUID
When your Ambien defense strategy is ineffective in contesting your DUID charges. A first and second drugged driving offense involving Ambien is a misdemeanor. However, the offense becomes a felony if there exist at least three drinking or drugged driving priors within ten years. Also, you will face felony charges for a previous guilty verdict for felony drinking and driving or if a DUID causes physical injuries to another party.
Whether a misdemeanor or felony, any drugged driving offense involving Ambien or other sleeping medications attracts driving privileges suspension, compulsory DUI school, possible jail confinement, and hefty court-imposed fines.
For a first-time DUID involving a sleeping medication, the penalties include:
- At most, six months of jail incarceration
- $390 to $1,000 in court fines
- Six to ten months of driver’s license suspension, although you can convert them to a limited license
- Three to nine months of DUI school
A second violation is punishable by:
- 96 hours to twelve months of jail confinement
- $390 to $1,000 in monetary court fines
- 24 months of license suspension convertible into twelve months of limited license
- Eighteen to twenty months of DUI program
A third offense upon conviction carries:
- One hundred and twenty days to twelve months of confinement
- At most $1,000 in court fines
- Driver’s license (DL) suspension or termination for 36 months, which can be converted to a restricted license for 18 months.
- DUI school for no more than 30 months
If a misdemeanor DUID causes injuries, the punishment you will face includes:
- Five days to twelve months of jail incarceration
- $390 to $5,000 in court-imposed fines and retribution
- Three, eighteen, or thirty months of DL suspension
A felony DUID with injuries upon sentencing carries:
- Sixteen months to sixteen years of prison confinement
- $1,015 to $5,000 in court fines plus victim restitution
- Up to sixty months of DL suspension
Effective Defenses for Drugged Driving Charges
The Ambien defense has proved ineffective in contesting DUID encompassing sleeping medication, so an experienced attorney should explore other defense strategies. The attorney can apply general DUI defenses to contest the charges, including:
- A lack of probable cause by the police to stop you or conduct an investigation
- The arresting officer did not explain your Miranda rights
- The police did not follow the proper protocols under Title 17 when gathering, storing, and evaluating chemical test samples.
However, there are valid legal defenses that are specific to your DUID offense. The first is asserting that having Ambien or other sleeping pills in your blood system does not mean you are impaired. The drugs have more effects on particular individuals than others, while other individuals have grown tolerance due to frequent use. Therefore, it is possible to have signs of being under the influence of drugs but still drive like a sober person would.
Similarly, you can argue that the impairment signs the officer observed have an innocent explanation. If the symptoms were caused by fatigue, injury, insomnia, or sickness, you can prevent a conviction or obtain a charge reduction.
Lastly, you can claim that the chemical results were inaccurate. Blood toxicology results can indicate a false positive. Quantitative analysis can also be wrong. The reasons you can cite for the false result include:
- Inaccurately drawn blood
- Improper urine or blood sample handling
- Contaminated medical tools
- Improper sample storage
Drugged driving offenses are difficult to prosecute because there is no precise way of establishing that an individual is under the influence. Therefore, your choice of defense attorney must stay updated with the more recent research on drug testing to craft compelling assertions for the DA, judge, or jury.
Find a Competent DUI Defense Attorney Near Me
Drugged driving charges can be confusing at times, mainly when the charges stem from the side effects of a prescription drug like Ambien. You could assume you are innocent because your actions were involuntary. However, using the Ambien defense for DUID is usually ineffective. We rarely use this defense at Jonathan Franklin DUI Attorney because of its proven ineffectiveness. Instead, we use valid and proven defense strategies for a charge dismissal or reduction specific to your case. Call us at 323-464-6700 to discuss your DUI charge in Los Angeles.
