Jury Rejects Drunk Driver's Explanation That His Booze Breath Was From Beer-Battered Fish
A jury in Wisconsin has rejected a drunk driver's explanation that he smelled of alcohol during a traffic stop because of the beer-battered fish he'd eaten earlier that day.
According to a police report obtained by the Smoking Gun, the driver, 76-year-old John Przybyla, was driving with a revoked license, and was visibly intoxicated at the time of his traffic stop.
"I told John I could smell an odor of alcohol emitting from his breath and asked him how much he had to drink," the police report reads. "John said he had not been drinking. I asked John where he was coming from and going to. John said he had been at a fish fry on STH 02 [Wisconsin Highway 28] and was going home. I asked John how much (alcohol) he had to drink and he said he wasn't drinking and had beer-battered fish."
The officer also noted that there was an open can of beer in the passenger's seat.
Przybyla's latest drunk driving conviction is his 10th, and he has also been charged with driving with a revoked license.
After a sample of his blood was drawn to test his blood alcohol level, Przybyla told his arresting officer that "he was going to sue us for taking his blood because it was against his religion."