• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Manchester and Associates

Manchester and Associates

Pennsylvania Criminal & DUI Defense

  • Home
  • About
    • Brian V. Manchester, Esq.
    • Gregory E. Davidson, Esq.
    • Karen E. Kuebler, Esq.
    • Support Team
  • Practice Areas
    • DUI Defense
    • Drug Crimes
    • Financial Crimes
    • Sex Crimes
    • Violent Crimes
    • Other Criminal Offenses
    • Vehicular Homicide
    • Other Traffic Offenses
    • Juvenile Cases
    • Appeals
    • Civil Asset Forfeiture
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Court Locations
    • Bail Bondsmen
    • Criminal Law
    • Downloads
  • FAQs
  • Client Testimonials
  • Contact Us

July 17, 2018 By admin

Anatomy Of A Successful Dismissal Of A DUI & Vehicular Homicide While DUI Charge

My client was charged with multiple charges relating to the death of his passenger while he was driving his 4-wheeler on a road. Here’s how I got his charges dropped:

Relevant facts

After he was questioned by the police, he was taken to a local hospital where his blood was drawn. The hospital-based blood test result was a little over .03 which is 250% BELOW the legal limit of .08 for a DUI in Pennsylvania.

The prosecutor was not pleased with this result so an expert was retained by them who did a report that my client’s blood was greater than .11 at the time of the accident. The government’s expert used a process called retrograde extrapolation. Retrograde extrapolation is a dubious scientific technique that even the foremost blood test experts in the world including A.W. Jones cautions against using.

Using Real Science To Debunk Bad Science

Compounding the bad science of retrograde extrapolation, the blood test used on my client was a hospital based enzymatic method. While hospital-based blood tests for alcohol are fine for medical purposes, they are severely inadequate and not scientifically supported in the legitimate scientific realm of experts.

These tests are subject to false positives and large uncertainty. Forensic traceability of the tests results is missing and the uncertainty in the results are huge.

Because I had previously looked into the blood testing method used on my client’s blood, as had my expert, we were prepared to take this blood test on before this incident ever happened. In fact, I lectured on the problems with hospital-based blood tests several times nationally.

Filing Motions To Exclude Evidence

So, when I was retained by my client and I identified the method used for testing his blood, I filed several motions in limine (a motion to exclude evidence) to not only attack the scientific problem of retrograde extrapolation, but also the issues with the hospital-based blood test.

The day before the hearing the government’s expert then said he could not opine on the retrograde analysis that he in two different reports said he could. The District Attorney then called me and told me he was dismissing the DUI and Vehicular Homicide While DUI Charge.

This was a great victory for my client and is proof that Pennsylvania DUI charges and even the more serious Pennsylvania Vehicular Homicide While DUI charges can be successfully defended. It can only be done with knowledge of the many different sciences used in the testing of blood as well as the laws pertaining to admission of scientific evidence. That and knowing the right experts to use.

If you are facing a Pennsylvania DUI charge or a Pennsylvania Vehicular Homicide While DUI charge call my law firm at 1-800-243-4878 for a complete and thorough analysis of your case.

Filed Under: Vehicular Offenses Tagged With: Vehicular Homicide

Primary Sidebar

Search Blog Posts

Post Categories

  • Assault (3)
  • Bail (3)
  • Child Pornography Defense (1)
  • Civil Forfeitures (5)
  • Constitutional Rights (6)
  • Court Procedure (2)
  • Crimes (10)
  • Criminal Cases (4)
  • Criminal Defense (32)
  • Domestic Assault (1)
  • Driving License Issues (2)
  • Drugs (7)
  • DUI (33)
  • Federal Crimes (1)
  • Felony or Misdemeanor Charges (2)
  • Homicide (1)
  • Immigration Consequences (1)
  • Juvenile (2)
  • Medical Marijuana (1)
  • News (5)
  • Professional License Issues (3)
  • Sex Crimes (7)
  • Title IX/Student Discipline (5)
  • Uncategorized (1)
  • Vehicular Homicide (1)
  • Vehicular Offenses (8)

Post Tags

Aggravated Assault Aggravated Assault By Vehicle Aggravated Assault By Vehicle While DUI clearfield clearfield county clearfield dui Coronavirus Covid-19 Domestic Violence Driving Under the Influence Drug Crimes DUI Expungement Gun Laws Huntington County Involuntary Vehicular Manslaughter LSD Charges Manslaughter mckean county dui Miranda Rights News Articles Pennsylvania Law PFA restraining order Scientific Defense Simple Assault Texting While Driving Vehicular Homicide Zoom Bombing

Footer

Manchester and Associates

124 West Bishop Street
Bellefonte, PA, 16823

1-(800)-243-4878
Email Us Here

Additional Information

Terms of Service
Privacy Policy
Legal Disclaimer

Copyright © 2021 Manchester and Associates - PA. All rights reserved.
Call Us Now