Blood & Urine Tests

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MADD’s “In-Car Searches Will Be Ready in 8 to 10 Years”

January 25th, 2012

In 2006, MADD, the government, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and members of the automotive industry created a panel to encourage and support the development of new technology that would stop drivers from operating a vehicle if drunk.  The result was DADSS or Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety.  DADSS uses tissue spectrometry, a technology that employs an estimation of alcohol in tissue through detection of light absorption and distant spectrometry which uses part of the infrared light spectrum to detect alcohol concentration in the drivers’s breath.  In 2008, at MADD’s urging, the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety entered into a $10 million agreement with the federal government to develop such a technology. This system would  search every driver (not just convicted DUI offenders) every single time they started their car.  France will be the first country to require breathalyzers in all of its cars by 2012.  The new plan will force every driver to have a breathalyzer kit in their cars so they can check their alcohol level before driving. In it’s ”Invention Issue,” Time Magazine named DADSS one of the 50 best invention of 2011.  As stated in TIME, the devices are in testing now and will be embedded into a research vehicle by the end of 2013,” TIME continues. “If all goes as planned, they could be on the road in eight to 10 years.” “The goal over time is to equip all passenger vehicles in the U.S. with the technology, since without full implementation the benefits will be reduced,” said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in a statement.

Charles M. Rowland II dedicates his practice to defending the accused drunk driver in Fairborn, Dayton, Springfield, Kettering, Vandalia, Xenia, Miamisburg, Springboro, Huber Heights, Oakwood, Beavercreek, Centerville and throughout Ohio.  He has the credentials and the experience to win your case and has made himself the Miami Valley’s choice for DUI defense.  Contact Charles Rowland by phone at 937-318-1DUI (937-318-1384), 937-879-9542, or toll-free at 1-888-ROWLAND (888-769-5263).  For after-hours help contact our 24/7 DUI HOTLINE at 937-776-2671.  For information about Dayton DUI sent directly to your mobile device, text DaytonDUI (one word) to 50500.  Follow DaytonDUI on Twitter @DaytonDUI or Get Twitter updates via SMS by texting DaytonDUI to 40404. DaytonDUI is also available on Facebook and on the DaytonDUI channel on YouTube.  You can also email Charles Rowland at: CharlesRowland@DaytonDUI.com or write to us at 2190 Gateway Dr., Fairborn, Ohio 45324. “All I do is DUI”

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Forensic Blood Tests: Whole Blood vs. Serum/Plasma

January 10th, 2012

English: Bags of blood collected during donati...Ohio Administrative Code 3701-53-03(A) sets forth the techniques and methods for determining the concentration of alcohol in blood, urine and other bodily substances.  Pursuant to that rule, Ohio allows for testing including gas chromatography and enzyme assays.  To challenge a blood test, it is important to know if the State has tested the blood as whole blood or as serum/plasma.  Operation with a concentration of alcohol is prohibited if the concentration in whole blood is equal to or exceeds .08%, R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(b).  However, the prohibited concentration for whole blood is a concentration equal to or exceeding .096%, R.C.4511.19(A)(1)(c).  The high teir (super-OVI) standard for whole blood is greater than .17% and the prohibited level for blood serum or plasma is greater than .204%.  If your attorney does not understand the difference between a whole blood and a serum/plasma test, he or she may give incorrect advise based on an incorrect assumption.  Secondly, studies suggest that plasma and serum tests can be 16 to 21 percent higher than whole blood tests (Taylor, 2000; Fitzgerald, 1999).  If the report that you receive from the Crime Lab does not specify whether whole blood or serum was tested, consider making a request for independent testing of the sample.

The Ohio rules for collection of blood specimens are set forth at Ohio Administrative Code 3701-53-05.  In State v. Meyers, 146 Ohio App.3d 563, 2001-Ohio-2282 (3d Dist. Allen County 2001), the court allowed the state to use a blood tests that were taken for diagnostic and treatment purposes so long as the tests are in compliance with the OAC regulations.  In State v. Gordon, 2002-Ohio-2140 (Ohio Ct. App. 8th Dist Cuyahoga County 2002) the Eight District Court of Appeals upheld the suppression of a blood draw when the State’s toxicologist did not testify regarding the conversion of the serum alcohol content to a whole blood concentration, nor did the toxicologist testify as to any laboratory procedures for testing blood serum content and converting the results to that of whole blood. See Weiler & Weiler, Ohio Driving Under the Influence, pp. 195-201.

DUI attorney Charles M. Rowland II dedicates his practice to defending the accused drunk driver in Dayton and throughout the Miami Valley.  He has the credentials and the experience to win your case and has made himself the Miami Valley’s choice for DUI defense.  Contact Charles Rowland by phone at 937-318-1DUI (937-318-1384), 937-879-9542, or toll-free at 1-888-ROWLAND (888-769-5263).  For after-hours help contact our 24/7 DUI HOTLINE at 937-776-2671.  For information about Dayton DUI sent directly to your mobile device, text DaytonDUI (one word) to 50500.  Follow DaytonDUI on Twitter@DaytonDUI or Get Twitter updates via SMS by texting DaytonDUI to 40404. DaytonDUI is also available on Facebook, www.facebook.com/daytondui and on the DaytonDUI channel on YouTube.  You can also email Charles Rowland at: CharlesRowland@DaytonDUI.com or write to us at 2190 Gateway Dr., Fairborn, Ohio 45324.

 

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Blood Contamination & Candida Albicans

December 27th, 2011
Feeling Faint

If a blood sample is not properly preserved it can decompose.  One of the results of decomposition is the creation of alcohol.  According to Lawrence Taylor in his seminal Drunk Driving Defense, 6th Ed., pp. 561, “Ethyl alcohol is generated by fermentation of carbohydrates and proteins in the blood sample.  This occurs through the actions of various microorganisms.  The simplest and one of the most common processes is the breakdown of enzymes by one of various species of the yeast Candida, such as Candida albicans.”  The results of the fermentation in the blood vial is dramatic.  For example, a blood sample which contains no alcohol can decompose and cause a reading of .25 percent or even higher, depending on the stage of decay. (See Taylor, Id. at 561).

Proper handling of the blood sample requires the refrigeration of the blood sample.  The problem is that refrigeration can only slow down the decomposition process not end it completely.  Another protective measure is the addition of a preservative, such as sodium fluoride.  Scientific studies (as cited in Taylor, Id. at 563) suggest that sodium fluoride can be ineffective in preventing alcohol production by Candida albicans.  Counsel should also be aware of common human errors which can occur following collection of the blood sample.  It is not at all uncommon for the blood to be collected and the vial not inverted to allow the mixing of the preservative and the sample.  Make sure that your DUI defense attorney is aware of these problems which may prevent the introduction of your blood test, or provide you with a viable defense in your case.

Dayton DUI attorney Charles M. Rowland II dedicates his practice to defending the accused drunk driver.  He has the credentials and the experience to win your case and has made himself Dayton’s choice for DUI defense.  Contact Charles Rowland by phone at 937-318-1DUI (937-318-1384), 937-879-9542, or toll-free at 1-888-ROWLAND (888-769-5263).  For after-hours help contact our 24/7 DUI HOTLINE at 937-776-2671.  For information about Dayton DUI sent directly to your mobile device, text DaytonDUI (one word) to 50500.  Follow DaytonDUI on Twitter @DaytonDUI or Get Twitter updates via SMS by texting DaytonDUI to 40404. DaytonDUI is also available on Facebook, www.facebook.com/daytondui.  You can also email Charles Rowland at: CharlesRowland@CharlesRowland.com or write to us at 2190 Gateway Dr., Fairborn, Ohio 45324.

 

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DUI Science and More Faulty Breath Machine Assumptions

December 8th, 2011

Evidential Breath Testing Measures The Amount of Alcohol In Your Breath Not in Your Brain!

A chimpanzee brain at the Science Museum London

One of the faulty assumptions underlying evidential breath testing is the assumption that the tests are measuring the ability of alcohol to impair your brain.  They do not.  The breath test does not care how, or even if, the alcohol is impairing your brain only that it is in your breath via your lungs via your blood.  The machines do not test venous blood but arterial blood utilizing the scientific principle of Henry’s Law.  As alcohol can be at different rates throughout your body, the machine is not measuring impairment.

During peak absorption arterial blood is higher than  venous blood.  Arterial blood travels to the lungs for normal bodily air exchange and comes into contact with the highest level of alcohol concentration thereby resulting in an overstated (disproportionately high) BAC level.  Venous blood  more accurately indicates BAC levels inside the tissues of the brain and is a better indicator of how much the alcohol is impairing your brain function.

When you start looking closely at the built-in assumptions underlying the tests, you begin to see that evidential breath testing is not the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  Like any other evidence offered in the courtroom it should be vigorously cross-examined just like any other witness against you.

DUI attorney Charles M. Rowland II dedicates his practice to defending the accused drunk driver in Fairborn, Dayton, Springfield, Kettering, Vandalia, Xenia, Miamisburg, Huber Heights, Beavercreek, Centerville and throughout Ohio.  He has the credentials and the experience to win your case and has made himself the Miami Valley’s choice for DUI defense.  Contact Charles Rowland by phone at 937-318-1DUI (937-318-1384), 937-879-9542, or toll-free at 1-888-ROWLAND (888-769-5263).  For after-hours help contact our 24/7 DUI HOTLINE at 937-776-2671.  For information about Dayton DUI sent directly to your mobile device, text DaytonDUI (one word) to 50500.  Follow DaytonDUI on Twitter @DaytonDUI or Get Twitter updates via SMS by texting DaytonDUI to 40404. DaytonDUI is also available on Facebook, www.facebook.com/daytondui and on the DaytonDUI channel on YouTube.  You can also email Charles Rowland at: CharlesRowland@DaytonDUI.com or write to us at 2190 Gateway Dr., Fairborn, Ohio 45324.

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Ohio DUI Blood Testing: Hemolysis

November 8th, 2011

As blood testing becomes a more favored form of evidential testing in Ohio, attorneys must become familiar with flaws in the testing protocol which may create detriments to their clients.  One such area for consideration is the way in which the blood specimen is handled from collection site to the property room to the Court.

Most blood specimens are collected in Vacutainer tubes which contain pre-measured amounts of preservatives and anticoagulants.  Mixing the specimen and the contents of the tube must be done in a prescribed manner involving the gentle inversion of the tube eight to ten times.   The blood must be mixed properly with the preservative to stop the process of glycosis which could generate alcohol fermentation.  Obviously if your blood sample is producing its own alcohol, the test is flawed to the detriment of the subject.  The anticoagulant stops the blood from clotting so that the specimen can be centrifuged and tested pursuant to headspace gas chromatography.

If the tubes are inverted too vigorously, the red blood cells can be broken down.  Hemolysis is the proper name for this breakage of the red blood cells.  Hemolysis can be detected because it leaves a colored tinge to the serum or plasma fluid.  This is of vital importance to the integrity of the test because the method reading is color density dependent.

DUI attorney Charles M. Rowland II dedicates his practice to defending the accused drunk driver in Fairborn, Dayton, Springfield, Kettering, Vandalia, Xenia, Miamisburg, Huber Heights, Beavercreek, Centerville, Springboro,  and throughout Ohio.  He has the credentials and the experience to win your case and has made himself the Miami Valley’s choice for DUI defense.  Contact Charles Rowland by phone at 937-318-1DUI (937-318-1384), 937-879-9542, or toll-free at 1-888-ROWLAND (888-769-5263).  For after-hours help contact our 24/7 DUI HOTLINE at 937-776-2671.  For information about Dayton DUI sent directly to your mobile device, text DaytonDUI (one word) to 50500.  Follow DaytonDUI on Twitter @DaytonDUI or Get Twitter updates via SMS by texting DaytonDUI to 40404. DaytonDUI is also available on Facebook, and on the DaytonDUI channel on YouTube.  You can also email Charles Rowland at: CharlesRowland@DaytonDUI.com or write to us at 2190 Gateway Dr., Fairborn, Ohio 45324.

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