Recent Posts in Melendez-Diaz Category
| April 04, 2011 |
| DUI loopholes? |
| Posted By Shawn Cline |
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Many people simply assume that because they are charged with a DUI, they will ultimately be convicted and that there is nothing to be done to fight the charge. For this reason, they often hire the least expensive attorney they can find and plead guilty as quickly as they can. While there are times when taking a plea agreement is the right course of action for a DUI, there are many other times where aggressively attacking the charges is the right approach. You need a lawyer who is able to recognize the difference, and knows how to do both.
Recent changes in the Virginia Code with respect to DUI have created a uniquely favorable set of conditions for a skilled DUI defense attorney. Virginia Code 18.2-268.9 was redrafted in response to a ground-breaking series of United States Supreme Court cases, beginning with
Crawford v. Washington in 2004 and ending most recently with
Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts in 2009. These cases arose from the premise in the
6th Amendment that "an accused... shall enjoy the right to be confronted with the witnesses against him". This seems like an innocuous concept, but the reality is much more burdensome upon prosecuting attorneys. The number of people that are involved with a simple DUI stop is far more than you might initially think. You may only see the officer that stopped you, but what about the officer that conducted the breath test? What about the technician that made sure the breathalyzer was working properly? If your case involved a blood draw, how many people were involved in the drawing, handling, and testing of that sample? If your case involved a DUI checkpoint, who set it up, and who authorized the checkpoint?
For years in Virginia, prior to Melendez-Diaz, courts would routinely admit into evidence "Certificates of Analysis" which contained statements from various individuals who were not present at trial, but who played a part in the analysis or handling of breath and blood samples. This practice has been substantially limited, by and large because of
Melendez-Diaz and also due to changes in the Virginia Code. But the Code has not evolved as quickly as the caselaw, and there are highly technical avenues for an aggressive DUI attorney to fight for exclusion of documents that would result in a conviction.
You must ask yourself what you are paying for when you hire a DUI lawyer. If you just want an attorney to show up to court and help you plead guilty, then there are plenty of attorneys for that purpose. If you want an attorney who will explore every possible avenue of acquittal, and make the government work for every inch of ground, then CONTACT US... We aggressively attack every DUI charge, and you deserve nothing less. |
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| March 15, 2011 |
| DUI law in Virginia and Melendez-Diaz |
| Posted By Shawn Cline |
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Many people, and unfortunately many attorneys, consider a DUI to be a simple charge. To the uninitiated, it may appear that there is no way to beat a DUI. The defendant generally had been drinking, and the breathalyzer usually indicated as much. Is that the end of the story? Not hardly.
Among the myriad of tools that an aggressive DUI defense has in his tool box is the recent Supreme Court decision in United States v. Melendez-Diaz. At first blush,
Melendez-Diaz has nothing to do with DUI litigation. In fact, the case deals with the requirement in drug cases that the state produce live testimony from technicians from the laboratory instead of printed laboratory reports to show the chemical makeup of suspected narcotics. The basis for this holding is that every American has the right under the
6th Amendment to "confront witnesses against him" in a criminal prosecution. Essentially, the state cannot print out a report from a mysterious lab technician and then present that report as evidence at trial without the defendant having the opportunity to cross examine the technician who conducted the actual testing. That being said, for decades previous to
Melendez-Diaz, that is exactly what was done.
So what does all this have to do with DUI law? Well, if you have recently been charged with DUI, you should have in your possession a green piece of paper with "Department of Forensic Science" printed at the top of the page. There is a complex series of statutes that governs the admissibility of this document, most of which have been recently enacted in response to Melendez-Diaz. An aggressive and informed criminal defense attorney knows that there are ways to fight the admissibility of this document based upon the 6th Amendment and
Melendez-Diaz, depending upon the circumstances. Do not accept the admission of this document as a foregone conclusion. Hire a lawyer who is willing to attack this document to keep it out of the court's consideration.
Contact us right away. We are here to help! |
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