Problems with breathalyzer tests in Massachusetts could result in as many as 27,000 drunk driving convictions being overturned.
The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is scheduled to hear arguments on December 7 in Commonwealth v. Lindsay Hallinan.
Commonwealth Magazine reported that "The case is a capstone to seven years of litigation over the validity of breathalyzer tests and hinges on whether the misconduct of a state agency that hid documents related to the alcohol tests was egregious enough that it merits the reopening of thousands of guilty pleas and convictions."
A decade ago, a similar scandal at a Massachusetts state lab resulted in thousands of drug convictions being overturned.
Springfield lawyer Joseph Bernard, who has led the breathalyzer litigation, told Commonwealth Magazine the SJC should "do the right thing" by giving the 27,000 drunk driving defendants "another shot at a trial to restore confidence in the system."
The Boston-based law firm DeGiacomo & Mikhlin, P.C. challenges the reliability of the Draeger Alcotest 9510 breathalyzer tests at the heart of the controversy.
The firm's website Boston Mass DUI Attorney.com states "The Draeger Alcotest 9510 cannot be trusted. This breath test machine may have resulted in thousands of DUI convictions throughout Massachusetts, which could have been avoided had state police lab officials been honest in the first place."
Commonwealth Magazine says a judge in Salem ruled in 2017 that "the test itself is accurate, but the methods used by the state's Office of Alcohol Testing to certify the instruments between 2011 and 2014 did not produce scientifically reliable results.""
The entire story can be read at:
https://wbsm.com/27000-massachusetts-dui-convictions-could-be-tossed/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resurce. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
-----------------------------------------------------------
