Crime Lab Admits Twice that their Blood Tests were Invalid
When blood goes to the lab for testing BAC levels, the law and the courts assume that all the procedures will be done correctly so the evidence will be admissible. So when the Orange County Crime Lab reported an error in their testing equipment, it suddenly threw many cases into doubt.
100 cases are going to be affected by this latest mistake. There was a calibration error of .001 percent in a testing machine. A previous mistake not two weeks earlier was making another machine turn out incorrect results for months, throwing things off by .003 percentage points. Over 900 cases were affected by that error.
Defense attorneys will be on the lookout to see if these cases can be retried, and with errors this large it could make juries think twice before automatically accepting blood testing results, especially if the line is very close. The legal limit for alcohol while driving is 0.08 percent, so even these tiny fractions could be enough to bump someone up or down over the line. The sheriff said that when this latest error was corrected, nine people were pushed above the legal limit!
You will need a DUI defense lawyer on your side to challenge the results of your blood test if you think you have been inaccurately measured. Our law firm is standing by to protect your rights. Contact our offices for more information. Milligan, Beswick, Levine & Knox are here to help.
Stephen Levine, is a Board Certified Specialist in Criminal Defense — an honor achieved by only the top criminal law attorneys in California. Mr. Levine has over 40 years of experience in criminal defense and family law serving Southern California, and is a highly regarded Super Lawyer as well as AV Rated attorney.