SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California man who was charged with driving under the influence after he only tested positive for caffeine, received news Wednesday that his charge has been dropped.
Joseph Schwab was pulled over on his way home in August of 2015 and eventually charged with driving under the influence,
“I was confident the whole time, I was telling them, I’m not on anything,” Schwab told KCRA 3.
On Tuesday Solano County district attorney Krishna Abrams defended the decision to charge him — despite blood tests that came back negative for every drug except caffeine. On Wednesday there was a reversal.
“I believe that we cannot proceed without a reasonable doubt on that specific charge,” Abrams said.
Abrams still believes some other drug was in Schwab’s system, but that it didn’t show up in the test.
According to toxicology experts, synthetic marijuana, performance enhancing drugs, such as steroids, and designer stimulants, such as bath salts, are rarely tested for in a DUI blood test.
“Do we wish that it could test for more drugs, absolutely, because then we would know what was in his system,” Abrams said.
Abrams says she was not influenced by media inquiries or social media pressure – including comments critical of the DUI charge.
“The attention from the press or the media or the social media would never dictate what we do in a case,” Abrams said. “As my dad always says shut out the noise and do what’s right.”
In a statement to KCRA 3 Schwab’s attorney writes, “Mr. Schwab and I are relieved that the driving under the influence charge is being dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence.”
On Tuesday, Schwab told KCRA 3 he was worried no one would believe him.
“When you tell this kind of story to someone they naturally are not going to believe it,” Schwab told KCRA 3.