Drinking to Keep Warm Defense Works in DUI Case

Employing an unusual but not untested tactic in defense against drunk driving charges, a Missouri man was acquitted by a jury of his DUI charges after testifying that he got drunk after crashing his car to keep warm, not before.

Thomas Drummond told the court he had been out with friends the night of the accident, reports The Southeast Missourian. While navigating icy conditions he missed a turn on an unfamiliar road, then attempted to turn around and drove into a culvert, he testified.

Drummond said he wasn't intoxicated when he drove into the culvert but was two hours later when emergency workers and authorities arrived, the Missourian reports.

"It was the day before the Super Bowl and he had just done some shopping," Defense Attorney Stephen Wilson said Monday. "It was 32 degrees or colder out and he had brandy in the car, so he kept warm."

Earlier this year, Bravo TV's Real Housewives of New Jersey star Joe Giudice made similar claims when he flipped his pickup truck late one night. After crawling out of his destroyed Ford truck, Giudice said on the TV show that he had a couple of shots of whiskey with friends who happened to live nearby to calm his nerves before police and emergency crews arrived.

Regardless, police took custody of Giudice because of outstanding municipal warrants and charged him with a DUI, reports The Newark Star-Ledger.

Giudice was not as lucky as Drummond, however, as he was fined $864, had his driver's license revoked for 12 months and was sentenced to 30 days of community service, reports the Examiner.