Robo Tripping Theory Put to Test

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seep

Bluelighter
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Published: 12/03 7:01 pm

Geneseo, N.Y. --- New developments in the trial of Kury Spencer specifically address a theory that suggests he was Robo tripping at the time of a serious head-on crash in the Town of Avon last year.

An expert witness for the prosecution testified that Spencer’s blood contained levels of Dextromethorphan, the active ingredient in most cough medicine, that were more than six times the levels of most people who consume an entire 240ml bottle of cough syrup. Spencer’s lawyer disputes the analysis and claims the witness’ testimony is based on “junk science” in its most infant stages.

Spencer is accused of various crimes in the ten count indictment (attached) ranging from traffic violations to Assault in the 1st Degree, a felony carrying a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.

continued here
 
Yeah it's not being used by his defense, it's a witness of the prosecutor.

Doesn't sound like `junk science` to me - I mean if he 6x the amount of DXM in his system that someone would if they drank a 240ml bottle, sounds pretty cut and dry.

Don't trip and drive - or you could be going to jail for 25 years.
 
The dispute is over the relevance of the toxicology results. The metabolism of DXM is not straightforward. 7% of Caucasians are poor metabolizers (CYP2D6) and their blood DXM levels should be through the roof, even after a few mL of Delsym.
 
Robo Tripping Case: Flaws in the Laws?

update: verdict and etc:

Robo Tripping Case: Flaws in the Laws?

Geneseo, N.Y. -- Kury Spencer's lawyer says he will appeal his client's two Assault in the 2nd Degree convictions. Wednesday night Spencer maintained that he was not Robo tripping on cough medicine at the time of a serious head-on crash in Avon last year. The crash left Anita and James Stefano of Livonia seriously injured.

...

As evidence came to Moran’s attention he became convinced that the crash that occurred on Routes 5 & 20 on July 4, 2009 was not an accident, but rather it was criminal. A theory was formed based on that evidence and it suggested that Kury Spencer was under the influence while driving that day; not of alcohol, but rather he was under the influence of Dextromethorphan, the active ingredient in cough medicine that can cause a hallucinogenic high when taken in large doses.

The problem Moran faced was that no DWI or Vehicular Assault law allows for that theory of events.

"In New York, unlike many other states, we are limited in which drugs apply. We are limited to drugs that appear in 3306 of the Public Health Law," Moran explained. "And this is the perfect example of why the law is deficient; ‘Dex’ is not listed in 3306."

...

"As a defense attorney you are like well yeah you're innocent but what exactly are you innocent of? This charge doesn't fit," McCaffrey said. "You didn't drink alcohol, you didn't consume a controlled substance, and it isn't in the Public Health Law, why are we even charged here? That's the problem here."

Moran believes there is a simple fix to the dilemma. In short, he feels just four words could be removed from certain criminal statutes to lift the restrictions on which substances could qualify for DWI, Vehicular Assault, and Driving While Ability Impaired (DWAI) charges.

"Right now the law says, a drug defined in this chapter," Moran said of the specific legal wording on such crimes. "All we need to do is take 'defined in this chapter' out."

On the other hand, McCaffrey wonders if that could create a slippery slope if the true effects of certain drugs are not specifically known.

"I mean they (scientists) are a long way from doing that with Dextromethorphan and cough syrup," McCaffrey said. "I would encourage them to do that, get grants and hire scientists to do it, but again you have to show what effects there is and that it's reliable science."

McCaffrey believes that research may be years, if not decades, away from being complete. Moran on the other hand is not sure any of the research would occur because it potentially involves dangerous experiments with the human body and drugs with unknown effects. Moran argues that his burden of proof as a prosecutor could be met simply by proving the drug’s presence in someone’s body along with other subjective information such as witness or law enforcement accounts of a person’s driving or a field sobriety test.
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full version here
 
This is from the website of a local TV channel from Rochester. Considering the venue, I'm amazed at how detailed, articulate, pellucid and objective the story is. Good journalism.
 
^^ Yeah, except where they refer to it has a hallucinogen. Not every drug that makes you "trip" is a hallucinogen. DXM is a dissociative. Furthermore, hallucination/hallucinogen are the most misused words when talking about drugs and their effects. "visuals" are NOT necessarily hallucinations.
 
caseface99 said:
^^ Yeah, except where they refer to it has a hallucinogen. Not every drug that makes you "trip" is a hallucinogen. DXM is a dissociative. Furthermore, hallucination/hallucinogen are the most misused words when talking about drugs and their effects. "visuals" are NOT necessarily hallucinations.
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I agree that these classifications are not always very useful, but is it wrong to call a dissociative a hallucinogen? Seems analogous to calling a person from Israel an Asian--which is technically correct.
 
caseface99 said:
^^ Yeah, except where they refer to it has a hallucinogen. Not every drug that makes you "trip" is a hallucinogen. DXM is a dissociative. Furthermore, hallucination/hallucinogen are the most misused words when talking about drugs and their effects. "visuals" are NOT necessarily hallucinations.
Click to expand...

DXM is a hallucinogen, but not a psychedelic.
 
That's probably true as a general rule, though I've definitely seen people taking meth who should definitely not be driving.
 
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