How Long Island Criminal Defense Lawyers Challenge Blood Test Results

How Long Island Criminal Defense Lawyers Challenge Blood Test Results

When you’ve been accused of a crime like DWI or DUI, the prosecution will often rely heavily on blood test results to try and secure a conviction. But any good Long Island criminal defense lawyer knows that these lab reports aren’t infallible. There’s almost always room for challenging blood test results, whether it’s questioning the accuracy of the test itself or the procedures used by the lab technicians. This article will break down some of the most common ways Long Island DUI attorneys fight to get unreliable or improperly obtained blood evidence thrown out.

The Testing Methods and Machines

One major avenue for challenging blood testing is by scrutinizing the actual testing methods and equipment used. There have been issues with inaccurate readings from faulty devices or contamination of samples leading to irregular results. Your lawyer can bring in expert witnesses to testify about problems with the specific make and model of device. They can also highlight how a tech’s failure to properly use or calibrate the equipment in line with manufacturer guidelines makes the findings questionable.

For example, gas chromatographs like the popular Intoxilyzer 5000 have faced accuracy criticisms, especially if maintenance and calibration isn’t done per standards. It’s also key to analyze what exact tests were run – enzyme assays, immunoassays, etc. – as some are more unreliable than others. Your lawyer may argue that another form of testing should have been used instead to confirm any positive results.

The Testing Procedures

Even with accurate devices, there are still so many opportunities for human error in collecting, handling, and processing blood samples. Contamination or degradation can lead to falsely high readings. That’s why forensic toxicologists have such rigid procedures for ensuring the integrity of specimens. When labs take shortcuts or make mistakes, it gives Long Island defense lawyers openings to undermine the test findings.

Some common procedural flaws include:

• Not properly cleansing skin at draw sites
• Using expired collection kits
• Allowing samples to spoil from inadequate storage/transport
• Mix up of vials between patients
• Poor handling techniques that could skew results

Your attorney can put the technicians and nurses who dealt with your blood work on the stand. Getting them to admit to any breaches from accepted protocols helps illustrate doubt around the accuracy of the final lab conclusions.

The Testing Laboratory

Beyond just the individual testing processes, Long Island criminal lawyers also frequently challenge the reliability of the labs themselves. Shoddy certification standards, lack of personnel training, and previous instances of result-faking have plagued some facilities. It’s led to many states tightening up regulations around forensic blood testing. But problems still slip through the cracks.

Does the lab that analyzed your sample have accreditations from oversight bodies like the American Board of Forensic Toxicology? If not, it raises valid questions around adherence to quality standards. How much experience and certification in blood toxicology does the lab director and the technicians have? Are there well-documented procedures and controls to prevent tampering? What’s the error and contamination rate from proficiency testing?

These are all issues that can be raised to portray the lab as potentially unreliable. And in some cases, prior scandals or falsified tests may have direct relevance. Your lawyer can argue that the mere association with a disgraced facility is enough to distrust any results.

Expert Witnesses

Given the scientific complexity around blood testing methods, Long Island criminal attorneys often lean on expert opinion to contest lab analyses. They’ll retain respected toxicologists and lab technicians to review all the documentation from your specific test results. These experts can then testify about any problems or irregularities they spot with the controls, procedures, or final interpretations.

Since judges and juries generally lack technical backgrounds, being able to point to the views of credentialed third-party specialists makes the defense arguments much more credible. It’s no longer just a lawyer saying the results are wrong – you have scientists saying it too!

Getting an expert to categorically reject the findings as unreliable is huge. But even just raising some doubts around accuracy can be enough to either get the blood evidence thrown out or at least temper its impact if admitted. The prosecution needs to prove intoxication beyond a reasonable doubt. So creating pervasive uncertainty around the blood test conclusions makes their job much harder.

The Blood Draw Itself

So much focuses on the testing side of things, but Long Island DWI attorneys also challenge the initial blood draws that supply the samples themselves. There are strict limitations around who can conduct a draw, how soon it needs to be done after an arrest, and what notices/consents are mandatory.

Common grounds for contending an illegal sample procurement include:

• No warrant obtained
• Forced draw over objections
• Sample taken too long after arrest
• Lack of medical qualification for technician
• Failure to properly sanitize draw sites

The admissibility of blood test findings relies on adhering to all governing statutes and respecting a defendant’s constitutional rights. So if your lawyer can demonstrate that the blood draw itself broke laws or regulations, it gives strong grounds for suppression. No test results matter if the underlying samples were already illegally obtained!

Fighting Back Against Junk Science

In many ways, blood testing still retains an air of infallibility in the public eye. That makes it such a powerful prosecutorial tool. But any decent Long Island DWI lawyer knows that it’s far from perfect. There are countless ways these lab reports can end up distorted or just plain wrong.

By being willing to ruthlessly scrutinize all aspects – the devices, the technicians, the procedures – skilled criminal defense attorneys can chip away at the perception of unquestioned reliability. And when you couple that with credible expert witness testimony, it makes getting unreliable blood evidence barred much more achievable.

Of course, it’s still an uphill battle – no judge or jury wants to believe that such critical proof might be totally misleading. But introducing reasonable doubt is half the fight when combatting “junk science” being used to convict. And beyond just winning in court, contested blood testing also massively strengthens your leverage in plea bargain negotiations too.

So make sure that whoever you entrust with your DUI or DWI defense plans to aggressively contest any blood evidence being used against you. There’s always an argument to be made. You just need an attorney with the technical chops to make it!