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| Breath test :::... |
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| There are typically two different types of blood alcohol tests administered. Many tampa dui lawyers like the portable breath test because there is more variability in the test and it is harder for experts to explain exactly how it works on the stand. Also there is always a calibration issue and machine recalls are easier to check for. |
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| Blood tests come in two varieties :::... |
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| Serum Tests :: |
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| A serum test is an approximation of the BAC. The blood is separated, the serum from the cells and platelets that makeup your blood. A conversion is assigned to the sample of around 18.8%. This conversion is then reduced by the margin of error in the machine. The margin for error in most machines for medical certainty is roughly 5% representing 2 standard deviations. If your BAC is close to the legal limit a Tampa dui lawyer cam make the argument that to be beyond a reasonable doubt three standard deviations should be used eliminating the final 2.5% of variability, hence the effect on most samples is lowering the BAC by 2.5 points. For example if the dui is .0825 based upon three standard deviations the result would be .08 or right at the legal limit. |
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| If your BAC is very close to the legal limit many Tampa dui lawyers recommend hiring a statistician rather than a medical expert. The purpose of this is the tear apart the prosecutions assertion of medical certainty in the serum tests, hence lowering the BAC test result. A statistician should have the ability to lower the BAC score reported by .005 to .008. |
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| If a serum test is used, ask the person drawing your blood if this is the case – it is wise to subpoena a blood sample two days after the fact for independent testing. Some labs do not add preservative to the blood making additional testing impossible. If the new test is granted via subpoena a new much higher result will occur as the blood ferments and the platelets congeal. If the sample is denied because the sample has gone bad this issue can be uses by the defense to potentially have the blood sample thrown out in court. A jury will certainly not like hearing that the accused was denied the right to retest. |
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| Whole Blood Test :: |
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| Whole blood tests are different in that a preservative and anti-coagulate is added to the blood to keep the sample from going bad. A whole blood sample can be kept for a period of usually up to two years. The key with the whole blood sample is that usually an outside lab is used. This increases the chain of custody for the sample. Often times the whole blood sample is processed by the low cost lab outside of the state. This creates an advantage for the defense if this is the case because a dui trial will take at least two days and since the defense has the right to call the prosecutions witnesses, the prosecution will have to pay for everyone in the chain of custody at the out of state lab for those two days. This will cost the state several thousand dollars and therefore the threat of trial has greater teeth with the state as your dui becomes a loosing financial proposition for the state. |
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