A California attorney is asking a judge to dismiss charges against a man accused of driving under the influence of drugs after tests came back showing nothing more than caffeine in his system.
Authorities arrested Joseph Schwab in August 2015, after he nearly collided with a vehicle driven by an Alcohol Beverage Control officer on Interstate 680 in Solano County, according to the District Attorney's Office. The officer said Schwab nearly caused several collisions while swerving in and out of traffic.
The officer stopped Schwab, 36, and noted that he appeared highly agitated and "amped up." His pupils were dilated, and the officer spotted numerous, legal workout supplements in the vehicle, authorities said.
The officer determined Schwab was too impaired to safely drive after putting him through a number of field sobriety tests. He agreed to submit to a blood test, and a sample of his blood was sent to the county forensic laboratory for testing. The results came back negative for all the substances it was tested for, but did test positive for caffeine.
"There's no evidence of anything else in his system," defense attorney Stacy Barrett told the Fairfield Daily Republic.
She told KCRA she was in disbelief when she saw that authorities were pursuing the case.
"I actually consulted with the other attorneys in my office to make sure that I wasn't missing something," she told the news station.
Still, prosecutors stood by the arrest in a news release Tuesday, saying that Schwab's blood was not tested for all illegal drugs, and the officer who arrested the 36-year-old is "qualified as an expert in (drug recognition evaluation)" and determined his level of sobriety based on her training.
Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams told KCRA that although prosecutors lack a positive drug test, authorities are convinced Schwab was under the influence of a drug that was not tested for at the forensics laboratory.
"This is a case without a blood result, so it makes it a very difficult challenge to prove in court," Abrams told the news station.
Schwab is expected to face trial Jan. 11.
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