Michael McKinney's blood alcohol content (BAC) was not 0.03 asreported in Tuesday's toxicology report.
Delaware County Coroner James Clevenger said that McKinney's BACwas 0.343. A clerical error in the Delaware County Coroner's Officecaused the discrepency, Clevenger said.
"It was an error made by myself or one of my staff members whenwe transferred the number to my coroner's report," Clevenger said."I caught it first thing this morning and called the lab."
He said that the test from AIT laboratory was correct. Thedecimal in his report was written in the wrong spot, Clevengersaid.
"This is not an error from the testing," Clevenger said. "It wassimply a clerical error."
McKinney's BAC was more than four times the Indiana legal limitof 0.08. Clevenger said that the exact number doesn't matter aslong as McKinney was proven to be intoxicated.
"Once we know that he had consumed alcohol, I don't think itreally matters what numbers are out there," Clevenger said.
How the alcohol affected McKinney's behavior depended on hismetabolism, Clevenger said. How much and how often he drank wouldhave also influenced his actions.
"It's an extremely high level for anyone," Clevenger said. "Somepeople are still drinking and driving at higher levels than this.We also see alcohol poisoning and death at this level."
Sgt. David Clayton of the Indiana State Police said that theaverage person's body will shut down at 0.5. He said that thehighest BAC he's seen was 0.414. In that case, a 20-year old mancrashed his car after drinking a full case of beer the nightbefore.
"He was walking around as normal as can be," Clayton said. "Hewas an alcoholic."
Clayton said that at 0.343, McKinney's speech, mental dexterityand balance would have been impaired -- assuming that he wasn't analcoholic, he said.
"Really, there aren't many things they're going to do well atthat level," Clayton said. "A true alcoholic could functionperfectly."
Diana Godish, associate professor of physiology and healthscience, said that with a BAC of 0.4, most people would pass out.She said that McKinney's friends described him as coherent.
"The reports from his friends said that he wasn't near that,"Godish said. "I'd take that reported concentration with a grain ofsalt."
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