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Maryland Casualty Co. v. Lorkovic6/1/1994
BR>
Probably a couple of hours.
Q
Okay. What time did you go to bed?
A
I would anticipate somewhere around 3 o'clock in the morning California time.
...
Q
What time did you wake up?
A
I believe I had a wake-up call for 5:00 or 6:00.
...
Q
[cross-examination] ... What did you do on the plane? Did you sleep?
A
I don't recall. I believe I slept though.
There is no dispute that Lorkovic conducted his employer 's business during his trip to California. It is also undisputed that on the evening of Thursday, August 16, 1990, when his business was completed, Lorkovic spent time with a friend that included having "several drinks at one or two bars." Lorkovic did not return to his room until after 2:00 a.m. and, although he does not remember how many drinks he had, Lorkovic admits he was drunk when he got to his hotel room.
Lorkovic had a 7:30 a.m. flight that Friday morning, so he requested a wake-up call. He slept about three hours that night and was apparently not bothered by pain. He boarded the 7:30 a.m. flight back to Baltimore but does not remember whether he slept or drank alcohol during the flight. At one point in his testimony he did state that he believed he slept on the flight home.
Lorkovic arrived in Baltimore between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m. Baltimore time; thereafter, he secured his car and began the approximately 60-mile drive to his home. The parties have stipulated that no vehicle defect, tire trouble, or defect in the roadway in any way caused or contributed to the happening of the automobile accident, and that the accident occurred as described in the motor vehicle accident report completed by the Baltimore County Police Department. Lorkovic testified that he thought about stopping at his office, which was on the way home, but chose not to because he was wearing jeans. He exited Middletown Road off of Route 83 and recalls that he had the air conditioner on and he decided to open the window to get some air in the car because he "felt like was going to fall asleep...." The next thing he remembers was that his car was off the road and his side mirror hit a fence pole.
Lorkovic was taken to shock trauma at the University of Maryland Hospital. The University of Maryland toxicology examination of Lorkovic, based on specimens taken more than an hour and one-half after the accident, determined that he had a blood alcohol content of 206 mg/dl. The record contains a letter and attachments from Dr. Brent G. Petty which states that given Lorkovic's blood alcohol level, "it is probable that it impaired judgment, coordination and response time while driving." The attached reference, a portion of 2 EMERGENCY MEDICINE CONCEPTS AND CLINICAL PRACTICE (Peter Rosen ed., 2d ed. 1988), states that blood alcohol concentrations of 150 to 250 mg/dl will cause lethargy difficulty sitting upright without assistance," based on the occasional drinker. Chronic drinkers can, however, function at much higher alcohol concentrations because of tolerance. Id. On the other hand, patients may be comatose with low levels of alcohol in mixed alcohol-drug overdose situations. Id.
Maryland Casualty suggests that given Lorkovic's blood alcohol level after the accident, the level at which alcohol oxidizes in the blood (a rate of 13 to 25 mg/dl/hour in the
nonalcoholic), and his statement that he is only a social drinker, he would either have had to drink on the plane or been near comatose the night before his flight home.
LEGAL ANALYSIS
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