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The National College for DUI Defense

By Lawrence Taylor

Until a few years ago, attorneys attempting to defend a client against drunk driving charges were general practitioners who had little, if any, understanding of the nature of the offense. They were unfamiliar with such DUI investigatory methods as field sobriety tests, and there was an almost complete lack of seminars on how to defend these clients. Most importantly, defense lawyers were completely ignorant about the complexities of forensic alcohol analysis ? whether of blood, breath or urine. How does this breathalyzer work? What is infrared analysis? Gas chromatography? How is alcohol metabolized in the human body? What is Widmark?s formula? Hematocrit? What is retrograde extrapolation and how does it work? Are there  physiological variables in alcohol metabolism between individuals? What medical conditions can effect a breath reading and how? How does radio frequency interference affect a breat test? What happens if blood samples ferment or coagulate? Chemical analysis of blood, breath or urine involved knowledge of such highly technical fields as physiology, organic chemistry, physics, biophysics, electrical engineering ? subjects far beyond the experience and training of lawyers...continue to full post

Full post as published by DUI Blog on March 11, 2008 (boomark / email).