2017 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 23 - Law Enforcement and Public Safety
CHAPTER 31 - FIREARMS
Section 23-31-420. Presumptions.

(A) Upon the trial of a civil or criminal action or proceeding arising out of acts alleged to have been committed by a person while using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, the results of any test administered pursuant to Section 23-31-410 or 23-31-415 and this section are admissible into evidence, and the amount of alcohol in the person's blood at the time alleged, as shown by chemical analysis of the person's blood or breath, creates the following presumptions:

(1) If there was at that time five one-hundredths of one percent or less by weight of alcohol in the person's blood, it must be presumed that the person was not under the influence of alcohol.

(2) If there was at that time in excess of five one-hundredths of one percent but less than eight one-hundredths of one percent by weight of alcohol in the person's blood, this fact does not give rise to any inference that the person was or was not under the influence of alcohol to the extent that his normal faculties were impaired, but this fact may be considered with other competent evidence in determining whether the person was under the influence of alcohol.

(3) If there was at that time eight one-hundredths of one percent or more by weight of alcohol in the person's blood, this fact creates an inference that the person was under the influence of alcohol.

(B) The percent by weight of alcohol in the blood must be based upon grams of alcohol per one-hundred milliliters of blood. The provisions of this section must not be construed as limiting the introduction of any other competent evidence bearing upon the question of whether the person was under the influence of alcohol.

HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 464, Section 2; 2003 Act No. 61, Section 1.