Skip to main content

Not a Plain Vanilla DUI Case

By Tanya Roth, Esq. on July 07, 2010 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Maybe what we have here is a case of difficulty getting the kids to school on time. Pulling this off everyday can be rough, in a Desperate Housewives kind of way. So rough in fact, possibly this one woman decided she just couldn't face the daily drop-off without out a little liquid refreshment -- even if it is summer vacation. But why hit the Scotch when there is something else available and in a conveniently small bottle? Vanilla extract. And a chaser of Diet Coke. These two ingredients make a recipe for a rather unusual DUI case coming out of Tennessee, late last week.

According ABC2 News, Kelly Moss of Germantown, TN was spotted slumped over the wheel of her car which was parked in front of Arlington Middle School. To be more specific, the car was parked more or less in the driveway and partially on the sidewalk in front of the school. If this was not enough to alert local police to a potential problem, the partially empty bottles of vanilla extract and can of Diet Coke allegedly found in the front seat were. The vanilla bottles were labeled 35% alcohol, by volume.

ABC2 further reports an affidavit signed in the case alleged Moss's speech was "slurred and fragmented" and stated she could not walk without assistance. Moss allegedly would not or could not comply with the field sobriety tests.

Before you complain that DUI laws are for those driving under the influence of hard drugs or alcohol, not under something you use to make Toll House cookies, consider this. The DUI laws aim to prevent impaired driving while under the influence of a wide variety of substances such as drugs and alcohol, but they may also include prescription drugs and other even more mundane substances, such as anti-histamines.

Kelly Moss is charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants and refusing to submit to a blood-alcohol test. According to ABC2, this is her third DUI arrest, and she was being held on $4,000 bond pending a hearing.

Related Resources:

Copied to clipboard