I almost got a MIP back in 2004 right before my 18th birthday. Hays County Sheriffs showed up at a party where my room mate's car was being used as sound equipment. After they picked up the obvious minors they told the rest of us we could go. I asked to stay so I could find my room mate and drive him home (He was 21 and wasted). The officer I asked gave me permission, but told me to stand in a spot. Then another came up and asked for my ID, and I complied.jwp wrote: ...since you always have a measurable amount of ethanol in your blood (your body makes it), albeit usually a very low amount (probably below what breath analyzers can detect)... Lots of things other than alcohol can cause those structures to appear in the exhaled breath: smoking, diabetes, paint, adhesives, cleaners, some non-alcoholic foods, etc, etc...
They then moved everyone inside and I noticed that he had my ID on a clip board and was writing something. Naturally I asked what he was doing, and bam - MIP. Come to find out within 50 feet of the keg = possession, I told him I was within 50 feet of my gun on his hip and asked if I could have it back, he wasn't impressed by my superior reasoning skills. He also didn't care that I'd asked to stay to keep my drunk room mate off the street, and I couldn't find the other officer who had told me to stand in that spot. Cue sinking feeling in stomach.
I then asked for a breath test. He said no, it's not MIC, so it doesn't matter. I explained that I don't drink (didn't start 'til I was 21) and that I could go to judge with a clean breath test at 3 am in the morning and get the stupid MIP dismissed because he was a jerk. Another officer overhearing it said he'd give me the test, mentioning 3 times that if I blew anything I'd be in more trouble. I blew a 0.00 and after a talk with the unhappy officer, I got a written MIP WARNING.
I guess my point being, I'm pretty sure that the levels without alcohol are under the breath test's detection, at least in my instance, otherwise I would have been screwed.
