The district court judge, Ralph McClanahan, also declined to discuss the case. In a written statement, McClanahan said it is the prosecutor's job to get convictions, not the judge's. The power of 0.10 In Pike County, police are so aggressive about stopping drunken driving that they're known to charge motorists with DUI even if the driver's blood-alcohol concentration is less than 0.10, the point at which a driver is presumed drunk. That point will change to 0.08 in October under the new DUI law. Legally, it's OK to charge someone with DUI as long as his or her BAC is 0.05 or more.
Prosecutors can use other evidence to prove a driver was drunk, such as police testimony.
In Louisville, Jefferson County Attorney Irv Maze makes it a practice to prosecute DUI cases in which the BAC is 0.08 or more. But Pike County Attorney Howard Keith Hall seldom even tries. People in Pike County are suspicious of government and police, and drunken-driving crackdowns in particular, Hall said. Community attitudes appear similar halfway across the state in Kenton County, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. So Edmondson makes the deals.