I have posted before on Gas Chromatography and its principles. Gas Chromatography and why is it is so important to Pennsylvania DUI arrests Crimping a Headspace Vial in Gas Chromatography: How not putting the "lid on the jar" can lead to disaster in a DUI case A large problem in Gas Chromatography: No uniform standard…
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Defending DUI Drug Cases: Part 3 from PA DUI attorney Justin J. McShane
Pennsylvania DUI attorney Justin J. McShane, Esq. presents his lecture "Defending DUI Drug Cases" in Hartford, CT in December 2009. In Part 3: "Pharmacology," expert DUI Attorney McShane explains the differences, both in testing procedure and impairment determination, between DUI Alcohol and DUI Drug cases. The McShane Firm is the premier DUI/DWI law firm in…
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If he was an analytical chemist or a DUI defense attorney he would say “Show me the separation!!”
Who can forget Cuba Gooding Junior in the movie Jerry McGuire shouting “SHOW ME THE MONEY!”??? If he was an analytical chemist or a DUI defense attorney facing a purported result from a Headspace Gas Chromatograph with a Flame Ionization Detector, he would yell: “SHOW ME THE SEPARATION!!!!!!” Well, that is one of the things that a…
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The Carryover Effect: Lack of Blanks between tests leads to false positive or inflated BAC results
Imagine. You go into your doctor’s office for a routine physical. As part of that routine physical, the doctor takes your blood. You come back two weeks later where the doctor delivers the single worst sentence you have ever heard in your life: “I’m sorry but you have cancer.” Then comes ever worse news from…
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Defending DUI Drug Cases: Part 2 from PA DUI attorney Justin J. McShane
Pennsylvania DUI attorney Justin J. McShane, Esq. presents his lecture "Defending DUI Drug Cases" in Hartford, CT in December 2009. In Part 2: "Drug Identification and Quantification," expert DUI Attorney McShane details the difference between impaired and metabolite states, and explains why "the numbers by themselves are meaningless or junk." The McShane Firm is the…
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A wakeup call: Independence in Crime Labs is not enough
While independence is necessary for any laboratory to insure against bias, it is just a start. Without meaningful double blind unannounced proficiency-based testing of every technician conducted by yet and another independent certified set of laboratory auditors, then it means nothing. We also need the technicians to be true credentialed scientists having graduated from brick…
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Defending DUI Drug Cases: Part 1 from PA DUI attorney Justin J. McShane
Pennsylvania DUI attorney Justin J. McShane, Esq. presents his lecture "Defending DUI Drug Cases" in Hartford, CT in December 2009. In this introduction, expert DUI Attorney McShane presents an overview of how DUI lawyers can use forensic science to successfully defend clients accused of DUI-D cases. The McShane Firm is the premier DUI/DWI law firm…
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What’s more important Sports or Courts?
Olympic doping lab world’s most sophisticated A dope-testing lab considered the most sophisticated in the world is up and running for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. I read this article the other day and it got me thinking: What’s more important making sure a cheater doesn’t win a race or making sure an innocent…
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Why saying the sample was run on a gas chromatograph is nearly meaningless
Saying the sampling was done on a Gas Chromatograph is like saying that you won a car. Both description are useful in that they help differentiate. In the case of all vehicles, it is useful to distinguish cars from trucks or motorcycles. Whereas in the case of chemical testing, it is useful to distinguish gas…
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A large problem in Gas Chromatography: No uniform standard for GC run position or composition
I try to learn everything that I can about analytical testing. Not being a scientist and only being a lawyer, I am an outsider to this fascinating world. I find that as I learn more, more questions present themselves. As an outsider last year l learned something that really kind of surprised me. When Gas…
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