A man in Sweden has been acquitted of drunk-driving charges after saying in court that he was simply experiencing a sleepwalking episode during an incident earlier, UPI reported Friday.
According to The Local, the Gothenburg appeals court has ruled the case in favor of the man, who insisted that he was sleepwalking when he was stopped by police while driving on his way home in May.
Digital Journal reported that the 51-year-old's car had speeded into a Karlskona ditch in southern Sweden, thus, he was stopped by the authorities.
He was reportedly arrested and was said to face up to two years in jail on a charge of aggravated drunken driving although his blood alcohol content was found to be way above the normal or legal limit.
Based on his results, his BAL was at 1.85 per mille, about ten times the 0.2 per mille legal limit in Sweden, according to The Local.
The district court's ruling was overturned after the man, his brother, and his girlfriend testified that he is actually probe to sleepwalking episodes.
In his testimony, the man claimed that he has no memory on the entire incident, adding that he could only remember speaking with a police officer but was in shock and was extremely intoxicated during the post-accident interview.
The Blekinge District Court cited the words of the man's doctor which said that he was suffering from a form of somnambulism or sleep-walking and sleep-driving.
"Somnambulism is a well known medical phenomenon where a person can carry out complex behaviours like walking, eating and making food, driving a car and having sex without actually being awake or aware of what's happening," the doctor wrote, according to court documents.
"It can of course be questioned whether it is even possible to be asleep while driving a truck in the circumstances which he claims to have done," the appeals court said in the ruling.
Christer Holmqvist, the man's attorney, said that he was not surprised by the verdict of the court, but was anticipating the prosecutors to push for an appeal.
"I won't be surprised if it's appealed. I understand there is a certain amount of public pressure on a prosecutor to gain a conviction," Holmqvist said.
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