Curno. He doesn’t drink, he defines himself as a teetotaler: “Just a toast every now and then if I have to celebrate with friends, but nothing more.” And there are three specific tests that support his statement. In October, November and December 2021 he presented himself at the ATS, at the Bergamasco Biomedical Center and at the Papa Giovanni hospital to undergo the test which searches for a particular protein produced by the liver in the event of alcohol intake which may have occurred some time before.
“If the result is 7 it means that the subject is a teetotaler, 14 is an occasional consumer, 21 a habitual consumer and above this figure an alcoholic – explains the lawyer Luigistelio Becheri -. In all three cases my client was under 7″.
So why, on the night between 28 and 29 August 2019, was a blood alcohol level of 1.58 detected?
That night, around 3, he died Mauro Molinari, 55 years old, restaurateur originally from Piazzolo but resident in San Giovanni Bianco. He was riding his Suzuky motorcycle, he was returning home after working for an event, he was traveling along Dalmine-Villa d’Almè.
In a poorly lit stretch between Curno and Mozzo, with roadworks modifying the traffic, the motorcyclist crossed into the oncoming lane and crashed head-on into a Golf driven by NB, a 27-year-old at the time, resident in Stezzano. The 55-year-old ended up on the ground, the driver got out of the vehicle, tried to help and immediately called 112. While he was on the phone, a second vehicle arrived, a Fiat Punto, which hit the body on the ground and the motorcycle, dragging it for around 8 meters. Whoever was driving remained on site for a few minutes, then left without waiting for the police and without providing assistance. He showed up at the police station a few hours later, saying he had fled out of fear.
NB instead remained there waiting, an ambulance and a medical vehicle arrived, the doctors confirmed the death of the restaurateur, the police took care of the investigations and of collecting the testimonies of those who had witnessed the accident. About an hour later the young driver was taken to the emergency room where he underwent blood and urine tests to establish whether and how much alcohol he had in his system. In the report compiled by the health workers, the boy was “lucid, oriented, he remembered what happened”.
“I left the emergency room around 6 in the morning, my dad was waiting for me. The night before I had eaten pizza at my parents’ house, I hadn’t drank anything alcoholic. Following the accident I was agitated and in shock, but they discharged me without prescribing drugs after having done the tests”, he told the court, at the trial in which he is being investigated for driving while intoxicated.
“Has your license ever been taken away?” asked the lawyer. “Never”. And when did you find out that the tests had come back positive for alcohol? “The lawyer I had previously relied on told me this, the moment I found out I was being investigated for vehicular homicide”. That proceeding saw NB’s position dismissed, as he was not to blame for the accident.
So how is it possible that a person who declares himself a teetotaler tests positive for alcohol intake? According to a report produced by the defense, a false positive can occur if, as happened to the 27-year-old, a Valium drip is administered and blood is then taken from the same arm.
In the next hearing, scheduled for April 29, there will be a discussion of the parties’ requests and the sentence will probably be issued.
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