Captain Jason Berry
Government and Media Relations
(360) 596-4010 – office
(360) 596-4015 – fax
http://www.wsp.wa.gov
*** For Immediate Release***
Date:
September 22, 2010
Contact:
Mr. Robert Calkins
Phone:
(360) 596-4013
E-mail:
robert.calkins@wsp.wa.gov
WSP Chief Pleased That Court Recognizes Lab Improvements
-Breath Test Back in King County DUI Cases-
(Olympia)—Washington State Patrol Chief John R. Batiste is pleased that a three-judge panel in King County has agreed to resume admitting breath test readings in DUI cases.
Batiste said yesterday’s ruling reflects two years of hard work by staff in the State Toxicology Lab following the Patrol’s discovery of improprieties by a lab manager.
“I’m exceptionally proud of the work done by lab staff in response to the previous concerns,” said WSP Chief John R. Batiste. “They’ve proven that judges and juries can count on the results they get from our lab.”
As part of fixing earlier problems, the lab sought international accreditation for its breath test program. At the time accreditation was granted, it was only the fourth lab in the world to have met that standard.
“The breath test is a valuable tool for juries to use when someone has put us all at risk by driving while impaired,” Batiste said. “If you choose to drink and drive in Washington, we’re coming after you with every tool we have.”
But Batiste expressed concern about an unrelated ruling issued at the same time, requiring the lab to provide a margin of error, called “uncertainty” along with all breath test readings.
Police statewide make about 40,000 DUI arrests each year. Only a small number of those are close to the relevant levels of .08 or .15. Batiste said there is no point in computing uncertainty in cases where a person is so far over the limit that uncertainty has no chance of proving them innocent.
“This is clearly an attempt by the defense bar to clog up the criminal justice system with unnecessary work,” Batiste said. “Neither the law nor common sense suggest that we should be doing lab work that is meaningless to a jury.”
The State Patrol has provided uncertainty when requested by defense attorneys, most often in those few cases where someone was near the .08 per se intoxication level.
“If someone is near a .08 and uncertainty could move them to a lower level, then a jury ought to hear that. But we should not be using our scientists’ time to do calculations in cases where no amount of uncertainty would prove the person innocent.”
.08 is the state’s per se level of driver intoxication. Additionally, if a jury finds a driver had a breath reading of greater than .15, additional penalties are imposed.
491 people died in traffic crashes in Washington in 2009. Impairment was a factor in more than half of those. While traffic fatalities overall are falling dramatically in our state, the number of impairment-related fatalities is not dropping as fast.