Introduction In DUI prosecutions, accurately determining the level of alcohol or drugs in a person’s system is crucial. Breath and blood testing are two common methods used to measure the presence of alcohol or drugs. However, these testing methods are not infallible, and uncertainty measurements must be taken into consideration when evaluating the results. This…
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Why The McShane Firm? We Know Blood Testing
There are a lot of law firms out there who are willing to take on your criminal or DUI case, but there is only one McShane Firm. So how is the McShane Firm different and better than the rest? In this series, we will take a look at some factors you should consider when choosing…
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Forced Blood Draws are Ruled Unconstitutional by SCOTUS
A few months ago, the Supreme Court of the United States considered the question whether states may attach criminal penalties on a diver who refuses to submit to a blood or breath test to measure the blood alcohol concentration level during a DUI arrest. For Birchfield v. North Dakota case, the Court wanted to know in…
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Attorney Justin McShane Published in Understanding DUI Scientific Evidence
Congratulations to Attorneys Justin McShane and Katherine McShane, of The McShane Firm, who co-authored a chapter in the book Understanding DUI Scientific Evidence. This book is widely respected in legal circles as it is authored by top attorneys and scientists. The chapter they authored is entitled “Pennsylvania DUID Prosecution: The Measurand Problem” . DUI Drugs (DUID) is a…
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Attorney McShane Lectures for the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association
In my time lecturing on forensic science, I have had the honor of instructing scientists, judges, policy-makers, defense attorneys and even prosecutors. I think it is important that all the stakeholders in the criminal justice system know the science involved so we can make sure we are not convicting innocent people. Recently I was invited to…
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But they took a blood test…
Many people think that if the police took a blood test that test came back positive for any drugs or over the BAC limit, they will automatically be convicted of a DUI. This is simply not true. A DUI blood test is a piece of paper with a result. In reality, it is an opinion….
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April’s Fools: On April 1, 2014 Pennsylvania becomes a notice and demand state
On February 19, 2014, effective April 1, 2014, upon the joint recommendation of the Criminal Procedural Rules Committee and the Committee on Rules of Evidence, the Supreme Court adopted new Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 574 to provide procedures for the admissibility of forensic laboratory reports in lieu of expert testimony. Click for Order Click…
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How a Lawyer-Scientist DUI Lawyer can Help: The toxicology of the Justin Bieber case
How a Lawyer-Scientist DUI Lawyer can Help: The toxicology of the Justin Bieber case There is a large difference between a DUI lawyer and a DUI Lawyer-Scientist. As I wrote before, I am not just a lawyer, not just a defense lawyer, but a trained Lawyer-Scientist. There are not too many of us out there,…
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The science of the Justin Bieber DUI case: How a lawyer-scientist can help
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…
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How Much Blood is Actually Tested?
One of the common misconceptions about DUI blood testing is that people think that an entire 10 ml vial of blood is tested. It is not. The actual amount tested can be seen in the picture below. (Note: There is a difference in the two vials. Can you tell what it is?) The vial on…
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