COURT HOUSE — An appeals panel upheld a Middle Township Municipal Court decision and Superior Court appeal that found a local man guilty of DUI for driving on a “cocaine hangover.” When David Franchetta, of Del Haven, was pulled over in the early morning of April 20, 2005, no drugs or alcohol was found in his blood stream, but police found his speech and body movements to be altered. A breath test found his blood alcohol content at zero percent and a blood test later showed only a cocaine byproduct. An expert explained that Franchetta was not high at the time of his arrest, but was suffering the downside of cocaine use. The appeals panel found that a drug hangover constitutes being under the influence of drugs. Franchetta has to report to Middle Township by July 16 to be sentenced as a second offender to a two-year license suspension and 30 days of community service.
