According to court procedures common in Pennsylvania, blood serum tests can be admitted into evidence and used as proof that a driver was impaired. However, the test must first be converted into a whole blood sample number. The district attorney admitted that this is where the mistake happened, with prosecutors in her office failing to perform the necessary calculations.
So far, the DA says only that her office will begin reviewing some recent cases and convictions to see if the mistake impacted any defendants. Criminal defense attorneys in the area are already chomping at the bit for more information about the error and for how long the conversion mistake had been taking place.
Though 15 percent overestimation of a person’s BAC may not seem too bad, the reality is that anyone on or near the line could have been wrongly convicted as a result of a 15 percent mistake. Not only could sober drivers have been charged with DUI, but drivers who were genuinely impaired may have been given additional charges or aggravated sentencing due to the inaccurate tests.
For blood tests to be used in court, often as decisive evidence against a defendant, they must be credible and routinely reliable. This case illustrates the doubts that exist about the accuracy of some sampling and how something as simple as careless human error could jeopardize the freedom of potentially thousands of innocent drivers.
Source: “Oops: County wrongly figured blood-alcohol levels,” published at MSN.com.