Posted by Jonathan Rands on August 30, 2010
Recently, Island County Judge, P. Strow found in favor of all DUI defendant’s when he ordered the production of breath testing bias. The order for production came in lieu of a order to suppress the tests which is what the defense originally requested when the prosecution had not provided information and calculations regarding the limitations of breath testing. Furthermore, it was ordered that such information be disclosed also to the jury during a DUI breath test trial. The ruling cameRead More
Posted by Jonathan Rands on August 21, 2010
This week the Court Of Appeals issued a ruling that appears to lessen the prosecutions burden when it decided the issue of prior offenses for the purposes of the felony DUI statute. The ruling came from Division One of the Appeals Court, State v. Paul 2010 . Division One’s decisions are binding authority on all lower courts (Superior, District, and Municipal) that are geographically located north of Interstate 90 and east to the mountains. The only higher state court is theRead More
Posted by Jonathan Rands on August 14, 2010
This week in Whatcom, Skagit, Island, and many other counties in Washington State, the “Drive Hammered get Nailed” campaign begins and continues through Labor Day. While the message is clear, — You’ll likely get Nailed by local and state law enforcement if you drive hammered, the actual effect is such that some legally sober driver’s will be caught in this overly wide “net” that is cast by law enforcement. There is no doubt that the enforcement of laws is aRead More
Posted by Jonathan Rands on August 8, 2010
Recently it was reported that, the woman in charge of examining dead bodies for local criminal cases was arrested in July on suspicion of driving under the influence of pain pills, according to an incident report filed by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. While many question the wisdom of making such an arrest newsworthy, it demonstrates that members of law enforcement are not immune to DUI and also identifies interesting issues that many are unaware of: DUI means Alcohol and/orRead More
Posted by Jonathan Rands on August 5, 2010
Last Friday the Bellingham Herald ran the following headline and story: Calibration error puts DUI tests across Alaska in doubt. The article written by James Halpin originated from the Anchorage Daily News and states that “Nearly 2,500 breath-alcohol tests conducted in drunken-driving cases across the state over a period of nearly four years used equipment with flawed quality control standards. As a result defense attorneys say the flawed practice calls into question the accuracy of the test. State officials acknowledgeRead More