Blood Tests

As of lately, the different law enforcement agencies have adopted a new test when stopping someone for DUI, called a Blood Test. Administering a blood test on someone suspected of DUI is an option available in many states to police under the states' various implied consent laws. (Implied consent means that you agree to submit to a test when asked by police acting with probable cause to suspect alcohol use, or forfeit your driving privileges). The problem with that is in almost all cases, people who get or have already received their drivers licenses were NOT informed that this was a practice by law enforcement or that they gave consent when they received their license. Breath tests are more commonly used by police because they are easier to administer and are probably easier for prosecutor to introduce as evidence in a trial. This is because blood test evidence involve using more witness and a longer chain of custody for the evidence.

States usually require that no other person than a physician, registered nurse or a phlebotomist qualified by the state can draw the blood for purposes of determining the alcohol concentration. Each state typically has guidelines stating how these tests are to be taken, transported, preserved, secured, and analyzed.

The method preferred by most states is a process called "gas chromatography" or "GC". This testing method uses a measuring technique of comparison of a known "standard" to the DUI subject's blood sample. These standards are usually certified pre-mix solutions, which have been tested and re-tested for being reliable "markers" for the GC device.

The internationally accepted "standard" for such testing is a gas chromatography, mass spectrophotometry device, or "GC-MS". This type of equipment is capable of separating and identifying a wide range of drugs, including alcohol. It does this is by duplicating exactly the digitally produced peaks displayed on a graph-like sheet of computer paper. The computer tracks the time of the sample when its introduced and the exit of the sample from the device and then identifies the substance based on how long it took the substance to pass through a column packed with inert material. Charts and notebooks are kept in the crime lab that tells the lab scientists how long the known alcohol sample took to pass through the column. Once the printout of the peaks is done, the laboratory chemist can compare and determine the time of retention to the lab notebooks showing retention times for alcohol or other drugs and chemicals.

A defense attorney that has a lot of experience and knowledge of the law and its systems may be able to challenge a blood test on a number of different aspects. Human's staff and work at hospitals and state crime labs. Humans often make mistakes for a number of reasons. They might be new to the job and haven't done something of this nature before, or they might have been improperly trained. Records may not have been kept properly or maintained. A misstep in a procedure or something may have been overlooked that may invalidate a result. Just because law enforcement officials have taken a blood test that seems to indicate a result over the limit for a DUI or DWI, does not mean the case is over. That is one reason for hiring an attorney that knows how to win and knows the ins and out of the judicial system to represent you and protect your rights.