A SWEDISH man who had a blood alcohol level nearly 10 times the countrys legal limit was acquitted of drunk driving after a court could not rule out the possibility he was sleepwalking when he got behind the wheel.
Swedish news website The Local said the 51-year-old man, who was not identified, awoke late one evening last May in the driver’s seat of his car, which had catapulted into a ditch in Karlskrona in southern Sweden.
According to court documents, the man had a blood alcohol level of 0.185 – nearly 10 times Sweden’s legal limit of 0.02.
He was wearing a nightshirt, sweatpants and slippers and told officers he was on his way to replenish his supply of snus, a wet snuff tobacco product.
“He fell asleep around 9pm. After that, he doesn’t remember anything except that his next memory is that he woke up in the ditch outside his car together with a male named Magnus,” according to the Blekinge District Court’s ruling.
In tossing out the drunk driving charges, The Local said, the court cited an opinion written by the man’s doctor saying he may have suffered from sleepwalking.
The doctor said the man had previously displayed what could be interpreted as sleepwalking after taking the same pills he took the night of the accident.
As a result, the court said, “It cannot be shown beyond a reasonable doubt” that the man “was aware of his actions when he drove his car.”
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