HOUSTON -- Lawyers defending a Houston plastic surgeon accused of running down two women while driving drunk said Tuesday that the doctor's car should clear him, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Dr. Mark Gilliland is charged with two counts of intoxication assault after a March 9, 2005, hit-and-run accident that critically injured Amanda Holland and Joanna Moore.

The vehicle would have had damage under the car if it had driven onto the curb and hit the women walking on the sidewalk, defense attorneys said.

The defense began its case with an expert witness on cars and accident reconstruction.

Gilliland's defense is that the mixture of alcohol and the prescription sleep aid Ambien made the doctor appear more intoxicated than he was, and that Holland and Moore stepped into the street and caused the accident.

"He was wasted when he drove up on that sidewalk or drove through that crosswalk and hit those girls. Those two cannot be separated, which is what the defense is trying to do," prosecutor Warren Diepraam said.

The state has to prove that Gilliland's alcohol and prescription drug intake are a direct cause of the accident.

A waiter with Truluck's restaurant, where Gilliland and two friends ate and drank martinis and wine before the accident, testified that he was not aware that Gilliland was drunk.

Gilliland's dinner companions are expected to testify.

Blood alcohol test results will be allowed as evidence in the trial. The results show that Gilliland's blood-alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit the night of the accident.

Gilliland failed a field sobriety test when he was arrested.

Holland and Moore, both from England, were in Houston working as producers for a television show called "Animal Cops: Houston." Moore said she hasn't been able to work for more than a year because of her injuries.

The two felony intoxication assault charges each carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 fine. Gilliland also faces unrelated charges of leaving the scene of the accident.

Jurors will be allowed to consider a lesser charge of driving while intoxicated, a Class B misdemeanor.