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DUI - Supreme Court Demands Lab Techs Testify

By Steven Rodriguez

A new ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to impact the prosecution of DUI (driving under the influence) and DWI (driving while intoxicated) cases in California and across the U.S. The Supreme Court ruled that when crime lab or breathalyzer reports are used to establish that a defendant was under the influence of a high level of alcohol or illegal drugs, the prosecutor must make a laboratory technician available during court to testify in person. In its decision, the Supreme Court equated such lab reports to witnesses for the prosecution. Under the Sixth Amendment a defendant has the right to “be confronted with the witnesses against him,” wrote Justice Antonin Scalia. In drug, drunk driving and other cases in which lab reports play an important role in the prosecution’s case, Scalia wrote that defendants were “entitled to be confronted with the analysts at trial...continue to full post

Full post as published by LA Criminal Defense Blog on August 03, 2009 (boomark / email).