January 2008 - Posts

• Judges: Crime Lab DUI Records “Deceptive & Fraudulent”

  In today’s I-told-you-so department: Judges Reject DUI Breath-Test Results Seattle, Jan. 31  –  In a ruling that could affect thousands of cases, a panel of King County judges said Wednesday that the state’s toxicology lab engaged in “fraudulent and scientifically unacceptable” practices that have compromised breath-test readings used to prosecute suspected drunken drivers… In its blistering 29-page ruling, the [...] Posted Jan 31 2008, 03:16 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• DUI Double Jeopardy and Multiple Punishment

  When a person is arrested for DUI, his driver’s license is confiscated by the arresting officer and he is given a notice of “administrative suspension”. He is also given a citation to appear in court to face criminal drunk driving charges. These are usually two very different procedures: (1) the administrative suspension for driving with blood-alcohol [...] Posted Jan 30 2008, 05:16 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• When is a Refusal Not a Refusal?

  When a DUI suspect is arrested, he is asked to submit to a blood, breath or urine test. If he refuses, his license will be suspended — for a considerably longer time than if a test had shown .08% or higher. In addition, many states impose an increased penalty in the criminal phase, usually a [...] Posted Jan 29 2008, 07:16 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Breathalyzers Don’t Measure Alcohol

  That’s right.  What these machines actually detect and measure is any chemical compund that contains the methyl group in its molecular structure. There are thousands of such compounds — including quite a few which can be found on the human breath. And this machine that determines a person’s guilt or innocence will “see” all of those [...] Posted Jan 26 2008, 01:31 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Breathalyzer Results Depend on Body Temperature

  As I have said in earlier posts, law enforcement investigation techniques depend largely upon the fictitious premise that all humans are physiologically identical (see “Convicting the Average DUI Suspect”). Without that presumption, field sobriety and breath alcohol tests would not be possible. I have previously discussed many examples of physiological differences — from person to [...] Posted Jan 24 2008, 11:12 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Justice and Semantics

  The latest weapon in MADD’s politically correct War on Drunk Driving: New Law Strengthens DUI Penalties San Jose, CA.  ABC News  –  Each year, an estimated 17,000 people are killed in drunk driving crashes. In October the governor signed a bill that got by-partisan support to strengthen the law against first time DUI offenders. The bill requires [...] Posted Jan 19 2008, 01:12 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Today, DUI Roadblocks…Tommorrow?

  My last post concerned the current efforts by the Governor of Washington to get legislation authorizing drunk driving roadblocks.  This would trump their own Supreme Court’s holding that these roadblocks  violate the state constitution’s prohibition against stopping citizens for no apparent reason.  But it would appear that, once again, there is a growing backlash against this [...] Posted Jan 15 2008, 01:16 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog