Blood & Urine Tests

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”

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.

 

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.

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.

DUI Science: Fat vs. Thin/Man vs. Woman/Young vs. Old

October 6th, 2011
Marine of the United States Marine Corps runs ...

After consuming alcohol, will a fat person or a thin person have a lower BAC?

Alcohol loves water and will move into spaces where water is the most prevalent.  Fatty portions of the body have a low water content and absorb little of the alcohol, while muscular portions of the body have a high water content and absorb much alcohol.  As it is carried to all parts of the body by the blood, the alcohol distributes itself in proportion to the water content of the various parts of the body.  It is the presumed relationship between the amount of alcohol in the blood at a given time and the amount of alcohol which will be present in the breath which is it he basis for the theory that we can test breath and infer a BAC result.

So we can conclude that the fatter the person, the more alcohol will remain in the bloodstream which will result in a higher BAC result.  The better a person’s physical fitness level, the more alcohol will be taken up by the rest of the body, the less which will be left in the blood, which results in a lower BAC.  This may upset the traditional assumption that the bigger the person (i.e. the size of the container) the more alcohol that the person can consume and the lower the BAC.  The “lean” to “fat” ratio, however, is an important factor.

Women have, on average, a higher percentage of body fat.  Older people have, on average, a higher percentage of body fat.  Does this mean that the breath tests are biased against older people and women.  Based on the science the answer is, yes!  The higher the percentage of body fat, the more alcohol will stay in the bloodstream, the higher the BAC which will result from the alcohol consumed, as opposed to the same amount consumed by a lean, muscular person of the same weight.

Is this fair?  It will be up to your experienced DUI trial counsel to make the argument that the breath test machine unfairly evaluates the inference of alcohol in your bloodstream.  Hire an OVI attorney who has the understanding of DUI science, so that he or she can make the case to the jury.  This defense is not applicable in all cases and a careful and deliberate process should be used to determine if this is a valid defense in your case.  Charles M. Rowland II was the first attorney in the United States to earn a Forensic Sobriety Assessment certification and the only attorney in Ohio to hold such a distinction.  He has been trained in the same manner as law enforcement officers to administer and evaluate the standardized field sobriety tests as devised by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and he holds certification on both the BAC DataMaster and Intoxilyzer 8000 breath test machines.  If you want an attorney who has the experience to represent you and an attorney who limits his practice to the defense of the drunk driver, contact Charles M. Rowland II at (937)318-1DUI [318-1384] or 1-888-ROWLAND [888-769-5263] today.