Posted on 11/07/2013 7:04:47 PM PST by BenLurkin
SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) —Letters have been sent to 900 people accused of drunken driving, notifying them that Orange County’s crime lab issued faulty blood test results.
An audit of the Orange County Crime Lab at the beginning of October uncovered the mistakes, which affect about 200 DUI cases but will only clear the names of about 20 people, said Bruce Houlihan, the lab’s director.
The errors began when some data weren’t properly saved, Houlihan said, adding that the lab uses two machines to analyze blood samples and averages the results.
“Because of the size of the error, we didn’t actually notice it,” Houlihan said.
About 200 cases will see slight adjustments in the blood-alcohol level, with 20 of those dropping just below the legal limit of 0.08 percent. That won’t necessarily amount to a free pass, Orange County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Farrah Emami said.
“In regards to a case of 0.07, we’ll review those, but even in the case of .07, that’s not automatically grounds for a case to be dismissed,” Emami said. “There are cases we prosecute based on 0.07 and we secure convictions in those cases.”
Prosecutors have reviewed about 3,000 cases handled between April and October, and about 2,200 people were charged with drunken driving, Emami said. Letters have been sent to 900 defendants with resolved cases, notifying them of an error at the lab.
“Of those, 900 have been resolved either through a guilty plea or conviction,” Emami said. “Our office sent letters to all 900 cases that have been resolved, notifying them of an error at the crime lab and they can check their case on the Orange County Crime Lab website to see if their case could be potentially impacted by the error.”
By Dec. 1, corrected blood test results will be published on the lab’s website, Houlihan said.
People arrested on suspicion of DUI between April and October should ask their attorneys how to proceed, Emami said.
Of about 1,300 pending cases, defense attorneys were notified directly in case the botched results could affect the outcome of a case, Emami said.
“The large majority of our cases will not be impacted,” Emami said.
Reminded me of this case: “A technician in the NYPD’s forensics lab has been suspended for allegedly falsifying drug-test results, throwing into question “maybe thousands” of criminal cases”
http://nypost.com/2010/05/11/a-lab-tech-wreck-for-the-nypd/
Massachusetts Chemist Expected To Plead Guilty of Faking Drug Test Results in Thousands of Cases.
I think we have a trend here. The government has the power to destroy lives on faulty/fake drug test results. And it happens way more often then we think.
Surely you don’t think the police departments are going to hire the best and brightest for their forensics lab, do you? Those billets will go to union thugs with a GED and loyal service to some Trumka flunkie.
The legal limit is 0.08, and they convict for within the legal limit?
Being falsley accused and arrested can ruin your life. I saw this today:
When Shannon Renee McNeal was pulled over by Ferguson police on Aug. 6, 2009, it set off an odyssey of frustration that began with more than 24 hours behind bars.
The 37-year-old Metro bus driver had been arrested on a felony drug warrant intended for another woman, Shannon Raquel McNeal, 23. The younger McNeal had been killed in a drive-by shooting on the Poplar Street Bridge seven months earlier.
The mistake was made by a deputy court clerk who clicked on the wrong “Shannon McNeal” on a computer list while creating a case file. When Shannon Raquel McNeal missed a hearing after her death, a judge issued an arrest warrant that had all of the wrong McNeal’s information on it.
The children in the car were screaming and crying, McNeal said, and she begged, “Please don’t arrest me in front of my kids.”
At the station, she again denied being the other McNeal. Her fingerprints also didn’t match. But Ferguson police told her that she would have to sort it out in St. Louis.
Late that day, McNeal was taken to the St. Louis Justice Center. Again, her fingerprints did not match, she said.
She again protested, but she said she was told to explain it to a jail caseworker.
The story of the woman falsely arrested because of a clerical error and the police ignoring the fact that her fingerprints didn’t match; another news story I read about her said she lost her job because of the arrest (she later got it back), then lost her car and had to move in with a friend because of that.
You know, you hear about the city attorneys and judges getting pulled over for let’s call it imbibing...
and in EVERY SINGLE CASE I can remember hearing the details about, the accused REFUSED the field sobriety test and also REFUSED the blood alcohol tests
Kinda says something about it. Just not sure what.
Because in every case I heard about the very next day, they are back at work, and not in the pokey...
Makes ya go “Hmmmmmmmm????????”
Did she sue these idiots? I hope so.
The incompetents should all lose their jobs.
“Surely you don’t think the police departments are going to hire the best and brightest for their forensics lab, do you? Those billets will go to union thugs with a GED and loyal service to some Trumka flunkie.”
Keep in mind that the NY and LV labs that you see are among the best funded and staffed labs in the US, if not the world. It is incredibly prestigious to work for either of them. Other labs definitely don’t have all that “cool stuff” and super-smart people. In “flyover country”, the “forensics lab” might consist of a fingerprint kit and some bottles of casting plastic for tire tracks, operated by a guy who took a few courses after high school...
Using the obamacare website coding?
The unpublished fact in this situation is this:
Alcohol is an odd drug. It doesn’t have anything like a regular curve dosage response.
The average person will actually drive better after two drinks than if he/she were totally sober, alcohol in low doses (up to about .06-.07) IS A STIMULANT!!
But ya go downhill quick after that!
I don’t know if she sued, but one article said the cops blamed it on the fact that she “was in the system”. Her name was in the system because one of their clerks erroneously put it in!
I think the main problem is the corruption in the sciences today. Climate “science” is completely corrupted, and it’s a short jump to politically corrupt the crime labs in order to clear up all those criminal cases for the DA.
Thanks to MADD the DUI industry has become a major money maker for lawyers and the courts.
Typical DUI with no accident or injuries cost the individual a minimum of $5000 the last I heard.
Google Rosemary Lehmberg, Travis County District Attorney (d).
She got a DUI recently, plead guilty, served a couple weeks in jail, and YOUR RIGHT, like all Democrats, she’s back on the job!
Yep. Because it's not about the number, but about being "impaired".
It should be a lot higher. And loss of drivers license for life should be thrown into the mix.
Rusty, think about your electronic medical files being “in the system”. Sleep well.
Wow. Just wow.
No accident, no injuries, but “throw away the key”.
You are aware that the allowable BAC level has been being lowered for political reasons, not scientific or safety, right?
A short history of BAC levels and DUI charges:
Back in the day, DUI was charged at the discretion of the cop. This caused some problems, so the AMA was consulted, and they came up with a level of 0.15% for impaired driving.
Folks “got the message”, and the carnage went down, and after a time, the number of DUI arrests fell dramatically.
Then MADD got involved, and lobbied VERY hard to have the allowable BAC limit lowered to 0.10%. When this occurred, there was a huge spike in DUI arrests. Once again, folks got the message, and DUI arrests fell off after a time.
AGAIN, MADD lobbied for lower limits, got them down to 0.08% now, and (wonder of wonders), there is another spike in DUI’s.
The lowering of BAC levels has nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with getting as many folks “into the system” so they can be monitored, charged and fined after paying through the nose for their court date.
In BC you WILL have your car impounded for 30 days, and your licence suspended for a period if you blow 0.05%! That is the equivalent of two 8 ounce glasses of wine in a hour for a 180lb man! It is also one third the actual BAC agreed upon by the AMA as “impaired”. You have committed no offense (the law still states 0.08% for impaired driving), but you will be punished anyway.
As an aside, I had a roommate (now deceased) who was confined to a motorized wheelchair. He was arrested and charged for “drunk driving” IN HIS CHAIR because his MS affected his speech, causing him to slur his words. Should he have had his only mode of transportation seized and sold, and have to spend time in jail because the badge monkey didn’t care about the facts?
Fortunately the desk sergeant was considerably smarter than the officer. I didn’t enjoy the drive to pick him up at 2 AM, mind you...
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