Schuler's fast food defense

New York (WABC) -- A surveillance video captured Diane Schuler stopping at a Sunoco gas station the day of the now infamous taconic crash.

One hour earlier, she was also videotaped at a nearby McDonalds, ordering food for 5 children.

Private investigator Tom Ruskin says, "she doesn't do anything out of the ordinary, eating, and attending to children.

Ruskin says although the McDonalds tape has not been released to the public, Schuler can be seen interacting with employees, ordering a complicated meal at McDonalds.

He says she had to persuade the cashier to put in a special request.

Ruskin explained, "The fact that two children want tenders shows that she wasn't intoxicated or high at that time."

But, a lawyer for the Bastardi family calls all of this irrelevant given the timeline of events.

Bastardi's attorney says, "At 9:30 Schuler leaves the campground in upstate, arriving at the McDonalds at around 9:50. She then stops to get gas and is seen looking for Tylenol at 10:45."

That's nearly 3 hours before the deadly crash on the Taconic that took place at exactly 1:35 in the afternoon.

Dr. Richard Besser, Senior health and medical editor for ABC News can't speak about Diane Schuler specifically, but says it's possible for a person of Schuler's size to become legally drunk within a relatively short period of time.

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