What does 12 cents buy you these days? Nothing I know of. But in law in Lebanon County, it is the total difference between valid and non-validated testing. It is the literal price of justice. All because good Samaritan Hospital wanted to save 12 cents per test and the local DA did not ask to […]
In chromatography, you see what they want you to see: Get the Electronic Data Files
In chromatography, you see what they want you to see: Get the Electronic Data Files By: Justin J. McShane, JD, F-AIC and Josh D. Lee, JD What evil lies in the heart of man? The Shadow knows… What evil may lie in the heart of chromatographers? The Electronic Data Files (EDF) know… In courtrooms all […]
“But they did a calibration on the machine” Do they really? Calibration versus calibration check
Prosecutor: “The instrument was calibrated.” This phrase is uttered in courtrooms all across the United States many times every day. But is it true? Probably not Calibration is the imperfect act of teaching the machine what response from an unknown yields typically related to a concentration. It should be done using Certified Reference Materials (CRMs […]
Complete Ruling in Commonwealth v Schildt
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. JASON RICHARD SCHILDT IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS DAUPHIN COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA NO. 2191 CR 2010 OPINION “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” These famous words were first spoken by […]
Open Letter to the Department of Health about the Linear Dynamic Range Challenge
I sent the following letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Health right after Judge Lawrence F. Clark, Jr.’s ruling in the Linear Dynamic Range Challenge. So far, there has been no response, but it has also only been a couple of days. Let’s hope that they truly care about justice and science and the safety […]
Press related to the Linear Dynamic Range Challenge and the Initial Calibration Challenge
Yesterday (January 7, 2012) our office filed a motion that seeks to suppress all BrAC tests in pending cases in the state of Pennsylvania. This would cause all per se DUI cases to be dismissed in Pennsylvania regardless of the BrAC reported results. Here has been the press coverage on the successful Linear Dynamic Range […]
The Demonstrated Linear Dynamic Range Challenge in PA DUI Breath Tests
“You gotta prove it before you can use it, and then prove it again.” Would you use a pacemaker in a loved one if it wasn’t proven to work correctly before you used it? Would you use a baby car seat with your child if it wasn’t proven to work correctly before you used it? […]
Integration and the need for electronic data files
Boss Tweed (pictured below) was a notorious political crime boss in New York. He had a quote that was attributed to him: “Remember the first rule of politics. The ballots don’t make the results, the counters make the results. The counters – keep counting.” This is also true in chromatography. We have written in this […]
More on Enzymatic Assay for Determination of BAC in a forensic context
Enzymatic Immunoassay (EIA) is a quick and indirect means of determining ethanol content. It’s original development was strictly for the purposes of a very quick determination of whether or not there was the possibility that there was ethanol in a patient. It was designed for the clinical emergency environment where we need a very quick […]
The importance of t0 in forensic chromatography
If you are bored and want to have a little fun, call up your local crime laboratory, ask for someone who preforms their chromatography (it doesn’t matter if it is liquid chromatography or gas chromatography). When you get that person ask them a simple question: What’s the t0 (pronounced “t subzero”) for your method that […]
Why per se Driving Under the Influence of Drug Based Prosecution is Not Scientific and How Probation Violations for Marijuana Use May Be Wrong
I cannot imagine that a single rational and sane person cares for drug impaired drivers to be on the road among us driving what amounts to a guided missile weighing about 3,000 to 5,500 pounds or more. As has been shown time and again, a drug intoxicated driver can be a weapon of mass destruction. […]
The McShane Firm | DUI Lawyers
Pennsylvania DUI Blog