One more cup of coffee

Idaho Man Unable To Handle Caffeine

By Joseph Friedrichs, 12-11-09

An Idaho man accused of striking two college students with his car is undergoing a mental examination this weekend to determine if he can be released on bail.

Daniel Noble, 31, of Moscow, Idaho, was charged Wednesday with two counts of vehicular assault, two counts of hit-and-run and one count of resisting arrest after he struck two Washington State University students.

Noble’s attorney, Mark Moorer, said it was likely Noble suffered delirium during the incident Monday. The delirium, Moorer claimed, could have been caused from a variety of things, ranging from face cream to excessive caffeine consumption.

Excessive caffeine consumption? Come on, really?

The legal term for being messed up by coffee beans is “caffeine psychosis.” Essentially, think of this as the modern-day version of the 1979 Twinkie defense, a term coined by reporters during their coverage of the trial of defendant Dan White for the murders of San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone.

During his bizarre court appearance Wednesday, Noble initially refused to sit behind his desk, then asked his attorney to sing a duet, and sat with his hands in a prayer-like position. Noble had consumed no caffeine before he entered the courtroom. Nor had he applied any face cream.

Although there was no official report as to what duet Noble requested his attorney to sing with him, the following are likely possibilities: “40 Cups of Coffee” by Tennessee Earnest Ford; “One More Cup of Coffee” by Bob Dylan; or “409 in Your Coffee Maker” by Green Day.

Noble’s job as a financial specialist in the University of Idaho’s Trust and Investment Office kept him up around the clock, his attorney said, so Noble drank coffee and energy drinks - enough caffeine to potentially cause him to act out of character.

“It may not have been one thing,” Moorer said, “(These things) may have all worked together like the perfect storm that caused this event.”

According to the Seattle Times, the two struck pedestrians, Neil Waldbjorn, 19, of Malaga, Wash., and Hogun Hahm, 23, of Pullman, remain hospitalized in satisfactory condition at Pullman Regional Hospital. Each suffered a broken leg.

Noble’s wife said she noticed a change three days before the incident, Moorer told the judge.

She said Noble was not sleeping well and woke her up to ask questions in a manner “not typical of conversations they would have,” the attorney said.

Whitman County Superior Judge David Frazier ordered Noble to undergo the evaluation at the mental hospital in Medical Lake. A report is expected Monday, and the judge will decide if Noble should remain in jail as a danger to himself and the public.

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