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Torts Keyed to Goldberg
Lawson v. Halpern-Reiss
Citation:
212 A.3d 1213 (2019)Facts
During the early morning hours of May 10, 2014, plaintiff drove herself to Central Vermont Medical Center after lacerating her arm. Upon arrival at 2:12 a.m., the charge nurse detected a heavy odor of alcohol on plaintiff’s breath. The treatment team administered an alco-sensor test which revealed a breath-alcohol concentration of .215, over two and one-half times the legal limit. The nurse understood that plaintiff did not have a ride home. After plaintiff’s laceration was treated, she was cleared for discharge at 3:05 a.m. Shortly before discharge, the charge nurse approached an on-duty police officer in the emergency room and informed him that plaintiff was “blatantly intoxicated,” had driven herself to the hospital, and was about to drive herself home. Based on this information, the officer arrested plaintiff on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, though the resulting criminal charge was later dismissed.
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