A lot of people don’t realize how mistake-prone the legal system really is. I have been defending Pennsylvania DUI and criminal cases for many years and can tell you that there are many mistakes made. People are mistakenly identified, falsely charged and wrongfully convicted. If you don’t believe me take a look at the innocenceproject.org…
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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….
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Sources of Error in Forming Conclusions in a DUI context
In Pennsylvania DUI cases and in Pennsylvania DUI prosecutions, there is always the possibility of error by anyone from police officers to technical supervisors to toxicologists to forensic scientists to breath test operators to blood test operators to eyewitnesses to judges and even Juries. It is important for all of us to try to identify…
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Harmless Error Analysis: Is it really harmless?
t’s New Year’s day. Happy New Year. I might be the only one blogging on DUI today, but if you are reading this, then that means that you are like me in that we both want to learn as much as we can about DUI and the emerging trends nationally when it comes to DUI…
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Do the Breath Machines Always Flag Acetone and Diabetics?
It is a national problem to be sure. It is an endemic and systemic problem. It is a problem that is pervasive and well-known within the scientific community. Yet, it is condoned. In his latest blog post, Bob Keefer, a fellow member of the National College for DUI Defense, Inc and a true trailblazer in…
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