Subscribe in a ReaderInteresting Times in DUI (Continued)
October 24th, 2007 Filed Under Legal News
The Skagit County case regarding the toxicology lab issues has come to a close. The results are disappointing. The article by the Seattle PI provided the following:
Tuesday, the judges found that Gordon and Formoso’s actions amounted to governmental misconduct and that there was evidence that Logan’s “action or inaction” did as well. They also cited other troubles:
- A computer wasn’t calculating data about the ethanol-water solution correctly, which could lead to “potentially devastating effects” if it miscalculates breath-test results.
- Lab workers didn’t notice documentation errors, showing “the certifications are not carefully read by the analysts before they are signed.”
- Scientists who test the solution were trained to discard results that are incorrect.
- They share a computer password, which could allow them to alter others’ results, raising “the potential for false data entry.”
The judges noted that “we are living in a ‘CSI’ era where the public has come to expect solid scientific evidence in criminal case.”
Although accurately reporting data is essential, they wrote, the importance of making sure that sworn statements are accurate “appears to have been lost on the toxicology lab.”
In the end, the Court denied the defense motion(s) to dismiss as a result of the perjury issue(s) raised. Where jurors trust science to discover truth, we all have been deceived. The current practice of breath testing is questionable, at best. But to add that the people in charge of the State’s toxicology lab have been engaged in falsifying document and committing perjury shocks the conscience.
The fight is by no means over. Defense Attorneys throughout Washington State are preparing to argue this issue in other courts. It is our collective hope that these issues will be won and then addressed at the State toxicology lab.
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