The science of the Justin Bieber DUI case: How a lawyer-scientist can help [Updated on 26 January 2014 at 905 am EST entitled “The Problem with the Resisting Arrest without Violence charge.”] [Updated on 31 January at 1216 pm EST to include the TMZ link to the GPS records.] There are a lot of my…
read more »Category: False Conviction
Why Do You Support DUI?
In my years of defending DUI cases in Pennsylvania, one of the most common misconceptions I come across is people questioning why I support DUI. The fact of the matter is, I don’t support drunk driving. It is dangerous and many lives are needlessly lost because of DUI each year. Asking a DUI defense attorney…
read more »
The 4th of July to A DUI Lawyer: What would the Founding Fathers think?
Happy 4th of July! A report card from our Founding Fathers I had a thought last night and I gather a lot of my DUI defense lawyer brethren and sistren might think the same. What would the Founding Fathers think of us now? If they could see us and look at our judicial institutions and…
read more »
The Forgotten Victims of DUI
Every year countless lives are devastated by DUI. When most of us think about the victims of DUI, we usually think about those killed or injured in drunk driving accidents. Beyond the tragedy suffered by them lies another group of people who also deserve our compassion and attention, yet they are totally forgotten. The Forgotten…
read more »
Innocent Man Imprisoned for 15 years is Freed
Another example of how a corrupt and over-zealous prosecutor can ruin lives: Jabbar Collins, wrongfully convicted of murdering rabbi 15 years ago, won’t be retried: DA’s office The Brooklyn district attorney’s office won’t retry a man wrongfully convicted of murdering a rabbi 15 years ago – canceling a hearing into misconduct allegations against a top prosecutor….
read more »
Faulty Machines Lead to 400 DUI Convictions in D.C.
Just because someone blows a high number, doesn’t mean they are guilty of DUI. These breath machines are quirky and if not calibrated properly (a very common problem) they can yield artificially high measurements. They are not specific or selective for exclusively drinking alcohol or ETOH. Look what happened in our nation’s capital: 400 drunken-driving…
read more »
Government-Funded Study Calls for Overhaul of Nation’s Crime Labs
Here is an article about the famous National Academy of Sciences study. I thought I should post it as a follow up to my post about the crime labs in San Francisco. Government-Funded Study Calls for Overhaul of Nation’s Crime Labs Forensic science has helped send thousands of suspected murderers, rapists and other alleged criminals…
read more »
They Don’t Do Background Checks?!
Pretty much every large employer does background checks, right? Maybe not on low level staff but definitely on supervisors, especially those whose jobs effect the lives and liberty of thousands of people, right? You would only hope so. Another scandal has rocked crime labs in San Francisco and is directly related to DUI convictions there: Problems…
read more »
Putting Innocent People in Jail
I came across this article and it made me sick to my stomach. It made me mad and when you read it I’m sure you’ll be mad too. A “forensics” lab in San Diego was found to be producing faulty test results that lead to innocent people being convicted of being under the influence of…
read more »
Dude, I just got convicted by a breath test machine that was state-of-the-art in 1984
I frequently talk to people about evidentiary breath testing. I explain the weaknesses of one infamous and silly device called the Intoxilyzer 5000. This is the breath test machine used by the Harrisburg Police Department and other surrounding police departments. After I explained a lot of the shortcomings it seems that about 9 out of…
read more »