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

Summary

The Arizona Supreme Court held that the phrase "its metabolite" in the drugged-driving statute does not encompass every metabolite of a proscribed drug, but only metabolites capable of causing impairment. Because the only substance detected in the defendant's blood was Carboxy-THC, a non-impairing metabolite, the court vacated the court of appeals' decision and affirmed dismissal of the charge. Justice TIMMER, dissenting, would have applied the statute according to its plain meaning as a zero-tolerance ban on any metabolite and affirmed the court of appeals.