Faith on Trial podcast: Hillsong founder Brian Houston’s blood alcohol reading revealed
The DUI report into Hillsong founder Brian Houston has emerged after he was pulled over by police. See what was in the court documents and listen to the podcast.
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Brian Houston was “blackout drunk” when he was pulled over by police in California, court documents reveal.
The founder of Hillsong church was alleged to have recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.23 – almost five times Australia’s legal limit.
Mr Houston, 69, was more than three times California’s legal limit of 0.08.
Documents filed in Orange County’s Superior Court by District Attorney Todd Spitzer detail Mr Houston’s alleged drink driving.
“BRIAN HOUSTON had a blood alcohol concentration of .20 per cent or more, by weight,” the document states.
It lists the BAC, or Blood Alcohol Content, at “. 230”.
Mr Houston was also charged with not having any number plates on the car he was driving.
“BRIAN HOUSTON did unlawfully fail to attach both of the two license plates issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles to defendant’s vehicle, one in the front and the other in the rear of the vehicle,” the document states.
The world-famous pastor’s case was due to be heard in court on Wednesday Australian time for an “arraignment” but it was unclear if he would attend in person.
Mr Houston would need to have consumed more than 10 alcoholic drinks in an hour, according to a US insurance company calculator, to reach 0.23.
Tree House Recovery, an addiction clinic, describes the level of intoxication at 0.20 as “blackout drunk” stage.
“When an individual reaches this stage of intoxication, they are completely disconnected from themselves in mind and body,” its website states.
“Disorientation sets in along with the inability to move properly. Nausea often turns into vomiting at this stage. Dangerously, this is a stage of intoxication where an individual is at risk for choking on their own vomit.”
Mr Houston last week posted about the drink driving charge after his defence lawyer Scott Thomas was contacted by the Faith on Trial podcast, produced by this newspaper.
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Mr Houston confirmed in an Instagram post he had been charged with drink driving after he “made the foolish decision to drive just two or three hundred metres to park the car”.
He said at the time of the incident, just a month before he quit the church in March last year, “all hell had broken loose within Hillsong Church and I was under immense pressure”.
Mr Houston has previously spoken about his relationship with alcohol.
“That has built a narrative out there that I’m an alcoholic and two stories about my alcoholism that are the result of gossip and whispering and innuendo,” he said in an online video.
“The narrative that I’m an alcoholic is false. In fact, I’ve been told by an expert therapist that I do not display the behaviours that are typical of an alcoholic.”
Send your story tips to crimeinvestigations@news.com.au or stephen.drill@news.com.au
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