If you’ve been arrested in Michigan for drunk driving, and your blood was tested, then it was likely sent by the police to a forensic laboratory that is part will soon be a 20 Billion Dollar Industry. According to an article entitled “Forensic Market to Reach $20.52 Billion by 2015” “[T]he U.S. market for Forensic Technologies and Services is projected to register $20.52 billion in annual revenue by 2015. Surging crime rates, particularly cases related to cyber crime, rising number of terrorist attacks, and stronger role of forensic sciences in bringing suspects to the book, are creating the need for increased adoption of forensic technologies and services.”
While blood testing in drunk driving cases is not specifically mentioned in the article, it does indicate that [F]orensic evidence, as gleaned from the collection of physical evidence from crime scenes, interpretation of laboratory findings, and presentation of the same in judicial proceedings, plays a pivotal role in criminal investigations.” Certainly this is true in a Michigan drunk driving case where a breath or blood tests plays center stage in the prosecutor’s attempts to obtain a conviction.
Nearly all Michigan blood testing for drunk driving cases takes place at a forensic laboratory located in Lansing, Michigan. The lab employs at least two PhD’s and a bevy of “forensic scientists.” In addition to a large investment in professional personnel and support staff, the laboratory also has a great deal of expensive testing equipment, such as 6 Gas Chromatographs. This is the name of the device which is used to test a Michigan citizen’s blood after they’ve been arrested for drunk driving.
Additionally, the Michigan forensic science laboratory has 6 HS/GC (head space gas chromatographs) A Perkins-Elmer Gas Chromatograph costs more than $18,000.00 each new. It doesn’t take much math to figure out that Michigan spends a huge sum of money equipping and running the Lansing laboratory.
If you’ve been arrested in Michigan for drunk driving what does this all mean to you? Well, you might want to discuss with your attorney whether or not there is any evidence that the blood test in your case was not accurate. Michigan has big budget problems, and state witnesses are under enormous pressure to obtain convictions. Your lawyer can help you learn whether or not there are any issues in your case that can lead to a dismissal reduction or acquittal.
Get a FREE confidential CASE EVALUATION on your Michigan OWI/OWVI/DUI by calling (248) 306-9159, or filling out this consultation request form. Call now, there’s no obligation!
This post was written by...
baronedefensefirm – who has written 204 posts on Michigan Drunk Driving Lawyers.
Patrick T. Barone is the author on two books on DUI defense including the well respected two volume treatise Defending Drinking Drivers (James Publishing), and The DUI Book – A Citizen’s Guide to Understanding DUI Litigation in America. He is also the author of a monthly DUI defense column for the Criminal Defense Newsletter, published by Michigan’s State Appellate Defender’s Office. Mr. Barone is an adjunct professor at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School where he teaches Drunk Driving Law and Practice. He is also on the faculty of the Criminal Defense Attorney’s of Michigan’s Trial Lawyer’s College where he provides trial skills training to Michigan’s criminal defense practitioners. Mr. Barone lectures nationally on various DUI defense topics, and he has appeared in newspapers, on television and on radio as a drunk driving defense expert. Mr. Barone has been certified as an instructor and practitioner of the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and has also attended a 24-hour certification course at National Patent Analytical Corporation (the manufacturer of the DataMaster) and has thereby been deemed competent by the manufacturer to operate, perform essential diagnostic verifications and calibration checks on the DataMaster. Mr. Barone is a Sustaining Member of College for DUI Defense. Mr. Barone is the principal and founding member of The Barone Defense Firm, whose practice is limited exclusively to defending drinking drivers. The Firm is headquartered in Birmingham, Michigan.
