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Lawyer: Coat chewing could've thrown off breath test

An Iowa middle school teacher was arrested and charged with public intoxication Monday.

BERWICK, Pa. — An attorney for a Pennsylvania woman charged with drunken driving hinted his client's coat-chewing could've thrown off the results of her breath test.

The (Bloomsburg) Press Enterprise reports the argument came during a hearing Tuesday for 47-year-old Jana Moschgat. An officer who pulled Moschgat over testified she was nibbling on her coat before he gave her the breath test and that he ordered her to stop.

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Moschgat's lawyer, Travis Petty, asked the officer if he knew the chemical composition of the coat, noting that certain substances can alter the results of the test.

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Moschgat's test showed her blood-alcohol level was 0.151 percent, nearly twice the legal limit for drivers in Pennsylvania. The officer says Moschgat also smelled of alcohol and failed a field sobriety test.

The judge ruled there was enough evidence to send the charges to trial.