New allegations threaten San Francisco DUI cases

 Posted on May 27, 2010 in DUI

More problems are surfacing with the San Francisco district attorney's office for not disclosing the background of a prosecution witness who testified in drunk driving cases.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a supervising toxicologist vouched for the reliability of alcohol detection equipment in blood test results in DUI cases for two years in a Washington State lab. She signed off on the cases even though she had not tested the equipment herself. 

Hundreds of criminal convictions in San Francisco are already at risk because prosecutors withheld police officers' criminal histories or misconduct records from defense attorneys.  

My position on this is that it underscores now more than ever that defense counsel is needed for San Francisco DUI cases, as the District Attorney is now fighting pressure to dismiss cases following exposure of the crime lab problems!