We have blogged on here a lot about the need for forensic science reform and how the current state of forensic science with no meaningful oversight is not unlike the Wild Wild West. Consider this reporting from CNN. If these claims of CNN turn out to be true, it is just amazing. Perhaps we have […]
Is your Crime Lab Out of Tune? What is a Tune Report and Why is it important in GC-MS work?
What is a Tune Report and Why is it important in GC-MS work? Would Eric Clapton ever play a concert or for a recording on an out-of-tune guitar? Of course not. The tune on a GC-MS instrument is as important if not more than the tune on Eric Clapton’s guitar. When the result matters, Clapton […]
It depends on what your definition of “positive” is? TLC in marijuana testing
Like Bill Clinton’s famous re-framing of the issue in this video: It depends on what your definition of “positive” is? TLC in marijuana testing We have posted here before about the Thorton-Nakumura protocol that is used throughout the United States for the prosecution of illegal possession of marijuana (in its solid drug dose pre-consumption form). […]
Even the government acknowledges the difficulty of proving impairment in a DUID case
Even the government continues to acknowledge the difficulty of proving impairment in a DUID case. Just a day ago…. NHTSA’s Understanding the Limitations of Drug Test Information, Reporting, and Testing Practices in Fatal Crashes by Amy Berning & Dereece D. Smither was released. This recent publication reads as follows: In addition, while the impairing effects […]
What does reprocessing mean on a chromatogram?
What does reprocessing mean on a chromatogram? Reprocessing of the data generally means that after the data is acquired, the chromatograms are subjected to some sort of manipulation, meaning data processing. I know that to defense attorneys that when they read the word “manipulation” that is like nails on a chalk board to them inherently. […]
The United Kingdom Moves to DUID per se enforcement
The prosecution of Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID) is fraught with difficulty for a prosecutor. In a typical court case, the opinion as to phsychomotor impairment that impacts safe driving due to a specific drug is just messy. In some cases it may be very obvious, but in most it is coin-toss. There […]
What else smells like marijuana? Is “smells like marijuana” a valid perception by police?
Judge: “What else smells like marijuana, counsel?” Attorney: “Is ‘smells like marijuana’ a valid perception by police?” The problem is that “smells like marijuana” reports are entirely an unverifiable subjective opinion. It is unverifiable because even if marijuana is found that might be a function of random chance as opposed to olfactory detection. Smell is […]
CODIS, NDIS, SDIS, Familial Searching (Partial Match and moderate stringency) and Arrestee and Offender Database Searches versus expungment
Are results expunged from the CODIS or SDIS databases and why should I care one way or another? Maybe you are like me. I like it when crimes are solved. I like it when the true perpetrator is arrested, fairly tried and convicted. I like that there are prisons to house the truly dangerous. But […]
210 Graduates in 40 states: Congratulations to the Graduates of ACS Gas Chromatography 12
Congratulations to the graduates of the 12th class of the American Chemical Society Hands-on Gas Chromatography class. This makes for 210 graduates in 40 states. Today’s graduates include: First name Last Name State Tim Bussey CO Gregory Willis GA Thomas Addair KS John Thurston KS Barton Morris MI Neil Rockind MI Steven Hernandez NJ […]
Be careful of who your coach is: Lawyers teaching science to other lawyers
[10/16/2014 Second update: NCDD Regent Don Ramsell has taken down his ad hominem attack, but the error on the NCDD website and its quiz still exists. Now in a bizarre attempt to re-frame the quiz, he explains what I can only assume that he meant for the quiz to mean (as a trained lawyer, he […]
The myth of “therapuetic range,” “cookie cutter pharmacology,” and why DUID Impairment cases remind me of Forrest Gump
There is a myth among prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges that is propagated time and again all over courtrooms in the US that involves the idea of “therapeutic ranges” when it comes to DUID cases and prescribed drugs. The notion is that there is a one-size fits all chart that we can all refer to […]
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