Drunk-to-keep-warm defense works for DWI suspect

JACKSON, Mo. – A southeast Missouri man has been acquitted of drunk driving after claiming that he consumed alcohol to keep warm after — but not before — he lost control of his vehicle on an icy road.

Thomas Drummond of Jackson told a court that he had been driving home after a night out with friends last February when his vehicle veered off the slick highway and into a culvert. Drummond says he was not intoxicated while driving, but that he was by the time emergency workers arrived more than two hours later.

The Southeast Missourian reports a jury acquitted Drummond last week.

Defense attorney Stephen Wilson says it was a set of facts you don't see every day.