Legal Question in DUI Law in Wisconsin

Whether or not all alcohol would be metabolized out of your system19 hours after your last drink would depend upon how much alcohol was in your system after you had consumed that last drink. It is theoretically possible for you to have been drunk enough 19 hours earlier for you to still have some alcohol left in your system after 19 hours, but not very likely; you would need to have been at a nearly lethal BAC. According to the theories used by the WI DOT's expert witnesses, the body removes (metabolizes) around .01 to .02 of alcohol from your system every hour, making it rare for any alcohol to remain much longer than 10-15 hours. However, in reality there is great individual variation from these statistics; some people metabolize more slowly for medical reasons. You should therefore retain an experienced criminal lawyer immediately and discuss the prospect of hiring a private toxicologist as an independent expert witness if you are charged. Also, if little alcohol is found in your system, the standard protocol is to test for drugs. You could be charged with driving while drugged with even small amounts of any psychoactive substances in your blood. The penalties for that offense are identical to those for driving drunk. My comments here are not intended as legal advice unless you subsequently retain me and revisit these issues. Good luck!