Tone-Loc Arrested for DUI, Claims It Was a Seizure
Wild Thing rapper Tone-Loc was arrested for a DUI on Dec. 13, but this is no ordinary rapper gone wild case. Tone-Loc asserts that he was not overindulging in the funky cold Medina before he was pulled over by police, 411mania.com reports. Tone-Loc claims that he was not driving drunk; he was having a seizure.
Tone-Loc was pulled over by the LAPD at approximately 3:00 a.m. because of his erratic driving. Tone-Loc's manager claims that the reason for the erratic driving is that the rapper suffered from a seizure that may have been caused by "bad food he had earlier that day," TMZ reports. His manager also claims that Tone-Loc has an extensive history of seizures and has not drank alcohol in years.
While that is certainly an interesting defense, according to Epilepsy.com, it is worth knowing that a person who suffers a seizure while driving may be civilly or criminally liable for a motor vehicle accident caused by a seizure. So while Tone-Loc may not have been driving drunk, he could have been liable for other criminal charges had there been an accident due to his seizure.
FindLaw states that some common defenses to drunk driving charges are necessity, duress, entrapment, mistake of fact, or involuntary intoxication. However, the best defense is if the driver can prove he or she was sober.
Contact Music reports that the police realized that Tone-Loc was affected by a medical condition and let him go on $5,000 bail. The rapper claims that he sought medical attention shortly after he was released.
Related Resources:
- Defenses to Drunk Driving (FindLaw)
- Drunk Driving Defense During and After a Stop (FindLaw)
- Driving When You Have Had Seizures (NHTSA)