State of Arizona, ex rel. William G. Montgomery, Maricopa County Attorney v. the Honorable Myra Harris

Summary

The court held that the metabolite provision of Arizona's DUI statute does not criminalize driving with a non-impairing metabolite of a proscribed drug in the driver's body. Because Carboxy-THC is non-impairing, its presence could not support the charged offense, and the court vacated the court of appeals' decision while affirming dismissal of the charge. The court reached this result by finding the statutory language ambiguous and construing it consistently with the legislative purpose of preventing impaired driving.