Keanu Reeves in the movie The Matrix noted that the matrix is all around us, you just haven’t chosen to see it. He had no idea that his statement would hold true in analytical testing for ETOH and drugs of abuse testing in DUI prosecution as well. The matrix is the substrate form which we…
read more »Month: March 2010
The variables of the Gas Chromatography process
I have posted before on Gas Chromatography and its principles. Gas Chromatography and why is it is so important to Pennsylvania DUI arrests Crimping a Headspace Vial in Gas Chromatography: How not putting the "lid on the jar" can lead to disaster in a DUI case A large problem in Gas Chromatography: No uniform standard…
read more »Defending DUI Drug Cases: Part 3 from PA DUI attorney Justin J. McShane
Pennsylvania DUI attorney Justin J. McShane, Esq. presents his lecture "Defending DUI Drug Cases" in Hartford, CT in December 2009. In Part 3: "Pharmacology," expert DUI Attorney McShane explains the differences, both in testing procedure and impairment determination, between DUI Alcohol and DUI Drug cases. The McShane Firm is the premier DUI/DWI law firm in…
read more »If he was an analytical chemist or a DUI defense attorney he would say “Show me the separation!!”
Who can forget Cuba Gooding Junior in the movie Jerry McGuire shouting “SHOW ME THE MONEY!”??? If he was an analytical chemist or a DUI defense attorney facing a purported result from a Headspace Gas Chromatograph with a Flame Ionization Detector, he would yell: “SHOW ME THE SEPARATION!!!!!!” Well, that is one of the things that a…
read more »Police Oppose Anti-lying Policy
Should a police officer have to be ordered to tell the truth? My office and I have litigated thousands of DUI and criminal cases all over Pennsylvania. In this time I have met hundreds of Pennsylvania police officers. In my opinion, most are very sincere in trying to perform their sworn duties with integrity. However,…
read more »The Carryover Effect: Lack of Blanks between tests leads to false positive or inflated BAC results
Imagine. You go into your doctor’s office for a routine physical. As part of that routine physical, the doctor takes your blood. You come back two weeks later where the doctor delivers the single worst sentence you have ever heard in your life: “I’m sorry but you have cancer.” Then comes ever worse news from…
read more »Defending DUI Drug Cases: Part 2 from PA DUI attorney Justin J. McShane
Pennsylvania DUI attorney Justin J. McShane, Esq. presents his lecture "Defending DUI Drug Cases" in Hartford, CT in December 2009. In Part 2: "Drug Identification and Quantification," expert DUI Attorney McShane details the difference between impaired and metabolite states, and explains why "the numbers by themselves are meaningless or junk." The McShane Firm is the…
read more »A wakeup call: Independence in Crime Labs is not enough
While independence is necessary for any laboratory to insure against bias, it is just a start. Without meaningful double blind unannounced proficiency-based testing of every technician conducted by yet and another independent certified set of laboratory auditors, then it means nothing. We also need the technicians to be true credentialed scientists having graduated from brick…
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