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San Diego Blood Tests Defense Attorney
California DUI Lawyer
Drunk Driving Defense in CA
While blood tests are generally more accurate measures of a person’s intoxication level than any other chemical test, they are still not perfect. If your blood test was performed incorrectly, a good San Diego DUI attorney can help get the results dismissed as evidence against you. A lack of chemical proof to your DUI conviction may cause the entire case to be dropped.
California has a very detailed set of rules regarding the removal of blood for a DUI test. If you took a blood test for your DUI, ask yourself the following questions:
Was there a white powder in the blood tube? This white powder should be a correct mix of anticoagulants and preservatives. Without the proper mix of the two, blood tests are likely to be inaccurate. Blood clotting will generally result in higher blood alcohol levels. A lack of preservatives may cause the sample to ferment, guaranteeing a much higher BAC reading.
Was the tube shaken after you gave your sample? If not, the powder containing preservatives and anticoagulants may not have been adequately mixed in with your blood.
Did the technician swab your skin with alcohol before the test? Your skin must be cleaned before any blood samples are removed, but if an alcohol swab was used, your reading will be inaccurate. The technician must use an alcohol-free cleaning swab to perform this test.
Do you suffer from diabetes? Certain health conditions, such as diabetes, have been known to produce false highs in BAC blood tests.
Did you wait a long time before the test was administered? A BAC above 0.08 at the time of testing does not necessarily imply a person was above the limit while driving. Because alcohol absorption and alcohol burn rates affect the amount of alcohol in a person’s system over time, the BAC can rise and fall dramatically throughout the night. If your blood test was taken over an hour after you were pulled over, a skilled San Diego DUI attorney may be able to show you were below the legal limit while driving.
Was the technician qualified to administer your test? This requirement can be tricky. The blood drawer must be a professional nurse, physician, paramedic or trained laboratory technologist employed by a clinical laboratory. Even if the person was trained and certified to do blood tests for the police forensics department, they are not employed by a clinical laboratory and cannot perform a blood test on a DUI suspect. So if a person was not hired by a clinical laboratory, or if they were not specifically trained to administer these types of tests, the results from the blood test are void.
Was the technician supervised? If your blood draw was not supervised, there is no way to ensure the technician followed the proper protocol. If he or she was unsupervised, the evidence may be inadmissible.
Was the blood stored right? Once the blood sample is taken, it must be stored at a proper temperature and handled correctly. Your attorney should be able to follow the path a blood sample traveled after it was extracted and until it was tested to ensure it was properly cared for throughout its journey.
Even if all of the details above seem to be clear of legal problems, an independent analysis of your blood sample performed by your San Diego blood tests defense attorney may show errors in the sample analysis. Sometimes blood samples get mixed up, sometimes people make mistakes. It is very possible for the laboratory to have inaccurately measured your BAC results, an error your attorney may correct. Additionally, if the prosecution fails to bring a blood expert to trial to analyze your results, we may be able to get the blood results dismissed from your trial.
If you have been charged with a DUI in California, contact San Diego DUI attorney Henry Root today for your free initial consultation.