| The results of DuPage County Prosecutor Jane | | | | ethanol. Results of .20 to .30 were found in |
| Radostits' postmortem alcohol results were 0.25, | | | | decomposing bodies where there was absolutely |
| after her fatal crash. This result was reported to | | | | no evidence of alcohol consumption, according to |
| be 'three times the legal limit' of .08. This assumes | | | | Gary Kunsman, chief toxicologist with the Bexar |
| that these results are scientifically reliable, when | | | | County (Texas) medical examiner's office. |
| they are not necessarily so. | | | | Microorganisms in the body, including yeast, can |
| The problem is that blood alcohol tests performed | | | | produce alcohol in body tissues after death. |
| on decedents are highly unreliable, because the | | | | Bacteria in some areas of the body escape and |
| human body creates its own ethanol from the | | | | can generate ethanol in the blood, brain, liver, and |
| after-death fermenting of natural sugars and | | | | other tissues within a few hours of death. |
| yeasts that are no longer being cleansed by the | | | | In his paper "Pitfalls in Forensic Toxicology," T. |
| liver. | | | | Richardson of the Toxicology Lab at England's |
| Post-mortem ethanol production, according to | | | | Manchester Royal Infirmary said that disruption of |
| aircraft crash investigation reports by the | | | | the body can enhance post-mortem alcohol |
| Transportation Safety Board of Canada, is the | | | | production. |
| result of bacterial action after death. The | | | | I am asking that this be reported, not to condone |
| presence of ethanol depends on various factors, | | | | drinking and driving, and not to excuse such |
| such as the condition of the tested specimen, the | | | | behaviors, but because I believe the actual alcohol |
| environmental conditions to which the tissues | | | | level reported is both misleading and because the |
| were exposed, and the time duration before the | | | | family and friends of Jane Radostits and the public |
| specimen was recovered. To confirm the | | | | at large deserve the full truth. |
| conditions for this phenomenon, testing was | | | | Donald J. Ramsell |
| conducted on specimens from individuals who | | | | Past President |
| would not have been expected to have ingested | | | | DuPage County Criminal Defense Lawyers |
| alcohol because of age or cultural background. Of | | | | Association |
| the six specimens tested, five tested positive for | | | | 128 S. |