To monitor developments in impaired driving defence and to stay up on new DUI science, one thing we’ve found useful over the years is attending DUI lawyer conferences in the U.S.
DUI law in the United States is significantly different from state to state, but the science and methods of breath and blood testing applied in one jurisdiction is often helpful in developing defences for us here in BC. Also DUI lawyers are typically a fun group. So it’s worthwhile attending these conferences to acquire greater DUI knowledge.
Do you want to know one of the secrets to our success? We hunt for new ideas outside of our area of comfort.
One disappointing thing is that usually the only Canadian DUI lawyers in attendance are from our office. We almost always send someone from our office to the major conferences and usually we’re the only Canucks in the crowd. It’s a little sad. But: Advantage Acumen.
But seriously, without fresh ideas DUI lawyers run the risk of becoming stale. Ideas, like populations of small communities, are subject to inbreeding. Do you want to know one of the secrets to our success? We hunt for new ideas outside of our area of comfort. We’re always on the lookout for more DUI knowledge and we’re always looking for new challenges.
How do we use our DUI knowledge?
If you’re a regular reader of our blog you’ll see that we’re skeptical of breath and blood alcohol testing to identify impaired drivers. For the most part the technology is reliable and reasonably accurate when functioning properly, operated properly and the person tested fits within the expected definition of a subject in accordance with the design of the machine. But what if it’s not functioning properly, operated properly or the person tested doesn’t fall within the expected definition of a subject in accordance with the design of the machine? Then the results are not accurate.
Garbage in, garbage out we often say.
Washington breathalyzers are suspect number 1
In Washington State the police have been using the same evidentiary breath tester as we have in BC. Kyla has helped some Washington lawyers understand malfunctions with the BAC Datamaster because she has one in her office. In fact, we’re pretty certain that she is the only private individual to have the particular model of BAC Datamaster that is used by police in Canada.
Kyla has kept on top of what’s going on in Washington State. A few really sharp DUI lawyers there have taken a run at some of the accepted theories of breath testing and the reporting of breath-alcohol results. They have demonstrated that margins of error are not properly depicted in the way that the results are reported as a measurement.
Kyla is well connected to some of the superstar DUI lawyers in Washington. She’s been following these developments for a few years now. They are interesting developments in DUI knowledge that, at a bare minimum tend to expose the foolish reliance on dogma and assumptions.
If you find yourself in trouble in Washington State and you need a DUI lawyer, give Kyla a call and she’ll put you in touch with one of the superstar DUI lawyers across the border.
You don’t want just anyone. We know the lawyers who know their stuff. Just like in BC, it’s not always clear looking at internet search results who are the top lawyers in another state or province. We know them because we stay in touch and we see them every few months at conferences.
The Virginian
I just returned a few hours ago from a DUI conference in LA. Out drinking with the other DUI lawyers, a lawyer from Virginia told us to watch as he demonstrated a particular trick.
The Virginian first provided a control sample to one of our Alco-Sensor FSTs. He had been drinking hard liquor for several hours. His control sample was .161mg%. That’s double the criminal drunk driving threshold in Canada. The testing procedure was not ideal. That didn’t really matter. They’re almost never ideal in real life situations.
He then put his head to his chest and started to breathe as though he was sleeping. His breathing was slow and low. He looked the way some of our clients look on the video of the breath room in criminal DUI cases. After about a minute he provided a second sample. The reading was .204mg%.
By definition, that’s the reverse of beating the breathalyzer.
What does it mean for the people who put their head down while waiting to blow in the police station?
If the reading is a .200mg% blood-alcohol concentration, they’re probably well over .08. But if they blew .110mg%, I wouldn’t be so sure.
Our DUI knowledge means that we find good defences
We’re always looking for new challenges and we’re always working to expand our DUI knowledge. And you should know that even if you blew .200mg%, if we act for you we’ll probably still find a good defence to your DUI case.
Narrative threads in the history of DUI defence
From a macro perspective it seems to us that many American DUI lawyers are so fixated on explaining the uncertainty of breathalyzer results to juries that they overlook remedies for constitutional violations. Canadian DUI lawyers, on the other hand, seem to miss good, legitimate defences to breathalyzer readings because of a history of relying almost exclusively on violations of the Charter of Rights.
For us it’s important as impaired driving lawyers to move out of our comfort zone. It works for us and our clients. Moreover it serves the people of British Columbia because our efforts make the system fairer and more accountable.
If you need us to use our DUI knowledge to help you or someone you care about, give us a call.