"DRIVING" NOT REQUIRED FOR MINNESOTA DWI CRIMINAL CONVICTION

Posted on March 26, 2009 by Chuck Ramsay

This week the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld a DWI conviction of a man who was not driving his vehicle. In State v. Fleck, a jury convicted Daryl Fleck of “Driving while Impaired” even though he was not driving.

The court held:

Because Fleck's keys were readily available to him and there is no evidence in the record that his purpose for being in the vehicle was inconsistent with driving, the evidence that he was in physical control of the vehicle was sufficient to support convictions for driving while impaired under Minn.Stat. § 169A.20, subd. 1(1), (5).

The policy seems absurd. The court’s interpretation of the statute criminalizes potential use, not actual control. 

Coincidently, a day after the Minnesota ruling, an Arizona court ruled the opposite way. In doing so, the court explained its reasoning in Arizona v. Zaragoza:

Indeed, many impaired adults have ready access to a vehicle, and therefore the potential use of one, but retain the sound judgment not to drive. Had the legislature intended to more broadly reach those impaired persons merely at risk to control a vehicle, we believe it would have inserted specific language so indicating.... the language it chose suggests it intended to punish actual behavior that creates a potential for harm.

The Arizona court seems to make more sense. We should penalize those who actually drive, not those who could potentially drive. 

What’s next? Arresting citizens for what they could possibly do?

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

U.S. Senate to Examine Forensic Science Problems: National Academy of Science's Report Alarming

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Chuck Ramsay

I've continuously blogged about the sad state of our country's police labs. Now, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a hearing on “The Need to Strengthen Forensic Science in the United States: The National Academy of Science's Report on a Path Forward” for Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.

Register for the webcast of the hearing.

Let’s hope our citizens begin to take notice of the shoddy work being done in our crime labs.

 

Tags:

Police Crime Labs: Lack of Accuracy, Reliability A Nationwide Problem

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Chuck Ramsay

A Detroit, Michigan on-line news site reported this week that the massive errors found in Detroit Crime lab to be the “tip of the iceberg.” According to the report, the chief prosecutor has identified 147 cases of convicted and imprisoned people that will require the retesting of evidence as part of the investigation into the now - closed Detroit police crime lab – unveiling the first of potentially thousands of cases that are at risk of unraveling because of mishandled evidence.

The Detroit crime lab is not alone according to a report by an independent agency, the National Research Council.   The report reveals problems in West Virginia where the State Police found more than 100 convictions are in doubt due to repeated evidence being falsified. More than ten convictions have already been overturned. In Oregon, a man settled for two million dollars after the government erroneously said his fingerprints matched those found in the 2004 train bombings in Madrid, Spain. In Maryland, a judge declared fingerprint evidence untested and unverifiable and suppressed the evidence. 

I previously have noted in my blog reports of similar errors from around the country. I have also noted the errors in Minnesota as well.

See previous blogs:       Defective Breath Test Software Jails Innocent Drivers  posted Oct. 2008

                                   Judges Find Washington Crime Lab Untrustworthy     posted May 2008

The problem will continue in Minnesota and elsewhere unless and until government officials, judges, prosecutors and citizens stand up to oppose such sloppy government procedures. 

 

Tags: , , ,

MINNESOTA LAWYER REPORTS BREATH TEST SOFTWARE ERROR

Posted on March 9, 2009 by Chuck Ramsay

The State of Minnesota has confirmed what Ramsay & Associates first revealed more than six months ago.  Minnesota's breath test machine, the Intoxilyzer 5000, periodically reports faulty test results.  See, Lawyer Unveils Government's Efforts to Conceal Broken Source Code, Sept. 22, 2008.  The manufacturer, CMI Inc., discovered the cause of the problem and provided a corrected version of the software.  The state concealed the problem and refused to install the corrected version, fearing to inflame the so-called "source code issue." 

"We had noticed on some instruments in some blowing patterns ..., the instrument doesn't willingly accept the breath sample," admitted a Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension forensic scientist under oath. 

The Minnesota Lawyer, a weekly newspaper reported, "She said that CMI provided updated software to the BCA but 'we did not test it, we did not validate it, it was not approved, and it was not installed.' She said she 'believed' the software was not updated because of the ongoing source code litigation."

See, "More Intoxilyzer Arguments Bubble Up," from Minnesota Lawyer (password required). I am grateful Minnesota Lawyer is leading the media in telling this stunning story of government cover up.  I am disappointed with other media outlets, attorneys, and government agencies who have turned a blind eye to this outrage.

Tags: