As with many other legal proceedings, scientific accuracy can play a crucial role in a DUI or related conviction. In fact, there are many aspects of evidence and criminal procedure related to DUI trials where scientific accuracy is important in securing a conviction, which leads to the important question of just how accurate scientific evidence really is. Working with an experienced Colorado criminal defense attorney who focuses on working with clients facing DUI charges is an important step in making sure that your attorney understands the scientific evidence that is part of your case as well as how to successfully evaluate its credibility. There are many cases in which scientific evidence is flawed, and those flaws could mean the difference between conviction and acquittal.
Evaluating Scientific Evidence
You may be wondering how scientific evidence could be faulty. If there is a scientific procedure involved in evidence collection, what could go wrong? The short answer is, quite simply, a lot. There are strict rules governing the collection of evidence in a DUI case. For instance, chemical testing must be completed within a certain window of time in order to ensure that it provides valid, accurate results that can support a DUI conviction. If such samples are not collected within the proper time frame or go through a process in which they could become contaminated, it is essential for your attorney to point these things out. Even something as simple as forgetting to certify a sample and the results of the tests performed on that sample could have a significant impact on your case. Recently, Colorado judges have determined that improper certification on breathalyzers may require courts to throw out hundreds of chemical testing results, which will make securing convictions depending on those results much more difficult.
Some Important Numbers
Professionals are always developing new technology to help improve the criminal justice system and ensure evidence is accurate. While our criminal justice system is designed to protect innocent people from wrongful convictions and imprisonment, human and technological errors can still occur. As a matter of fact, hundreds of people originally convicted for crimes have since been exonerated because of the availability of new evidence and/or scientific procedures that can be used to prove their innocence. One of the most popular scientific methods used in proving innocence is DNA testing that was not utilized in the original trial or that may have originally been mishandled.
The Innocence Project works to secure exonerations by using DNA testing and other methods to help free those whom have been improperly convicted. According to their statistics, around 47% of wrongful convictions occurr because of improper forensics testing and related technology. While their legal team is not likely to take up your case concerning a wrongful DUI conviction, experienced criminal defense attorneys like those at Tiftickjian Law Firm understand the important role scientific evidence plays in your DUI case and will work with you to ensure that all scientific evidence presented complies with the law and is accurate and reliable.
Legal Assistance
It is important to keep in mind the role that scientific evidence plays in your DUI charges. The Colorado criminal defense attorneys at Tiftickjian Law Firm have a deep understanding of this role, and will use the experience they have in evaluating scientific evidence for accuracy and admissibility to work with you, too. Contact the criminal defense team at Tiftickjian Law Firm to schedule a consultation where you can find out more information about the charges you are facing as well as what options might be available to you in your defense.
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(image courtesy of Drew Hays)