A Dane County drunk driving conviction was thrown out today by the state Appeals Court. Driving erratically is not necessarily evidence of driving drunk, according to the ruling by the three-judge panel, which overturns an OWI conviction in a Dane County case. Mitchell Lange was arrested after crashing his car into a utility pole while being chased by police in Maple Bluff in January of 2007. Lange was found unconscious amid a strong odor of gasoline, but officers did not smell alcohol, and Lange did not admit to anything. The Appeals Court ruled, just because Lange had crossed the center line, had been speeding, and the fact it was around bar time, did not constitute probable cause for a drunk driving arrest.
