DUI arrests can be an overwhelming experience. People often feel intimidated, and forget that they have certain rights during the stop and following the arrest. For example, many people do not realize that they have the right to independent testing after a Palm Beach Gardens DUI arrest. Independent testing refers to the testing of blood and urine. The results of these tests are often used by the prosecution to prove that a person was driving while impaired. However, government blood and urine testing do not always yield the same results as an independent test might, and it is typically a good idea to get a second opinion. If you have been charged with a DUI offense and want to pursue independent DUI testing, speak with a qualified DUI lawyer that could help you get that process started.
Why Should Someone Ask for Independent Testing?
Every time a person takes a blood test or a breath test, they should ask for independent testing after a Palm Beach Gardens DUI arrest. Although police are trained, a person cannot always trust that law enforcement that they took the sample correctly. There are certain factors that might come into question with blood testing, like whether they took the blood correctly, used the right needle, chemicals, and that they stored it everything properly. In terms of urine testing, individuals might want to make sure that the urine was put in a clean uncontaminated jar and handled correctly. A person might not know who is taking these samples or what equipment is being used to run these tests on, and who is going to testify.
It is the attorney’s job to make sure that the testing was done correctly, and it is a person’s right to have what is called a split sample taken from law enforcement; that is, if they have a sample of the person’s blood, then they should give the person a part of it so that they can send it to their own independent lab for its own independent testing. That is not an independent sample, but that is an independent testing of the government’s sample. A person should always ask for an independent sample to be taken.
Value of Working With a Medical Team
If someone is considering getting independent testing done, they should seek their own independent medical team that is trained in medical diagnosis, that does not have an interest or care about the case other than the accuracy of the toxicology test, whether it be blood or urine. The person wants someone like that taking a blood or urine test from them, not law enforcement.
Individuals should ask for independent testing when law enforcement is already testing them. If a person got arrested on Friday and they come to the attorney’s office on Wednesday, telling the person to get an independent blood test or urine test is not going to do much good because it is going to show what is in the person’s blood or urine four or five days later.
However, there are times after way after an arrest when an attorney could get independent blood or urine testing done. For example, if an individual was involved in an accident as a result of the alleged DUI, blood could be taken from the crime scene and tested.
What to Do if Someone Has Already Given a Test to the Government
If the person has already given one to the government but it is already too late, if the person wants to pay for it, they have the right to have whatever the government has. Whether they have the person’s blood or their urine, the person has a right to have part of that sample sent to a lab of their choice for it to be tested by toxicologists of their choosing to see what the results would be.
Oftentimes, the results are different. The question is whether or not it is different enough to swing the case one way or the other. Certainly, instruments are calibrated differently in different sensitivities so the person will probably get a different number. Sometimes the government conducted testing might say that a person was just over the legal limit, but the independent testing says that the person was well below the limit. It is definitely an investigative tool that attorneys recommend.
Consulting a Palm Beach Gardens DUI Lawyer
An experienced attorney would always recommend independent testing after a Palm Beach Gardens DUI arrest unless the person thinks they are going to blow the independent test. A person does not want anyone knowing what is in their blood or urine. But if a person takes a government test, the government would use that result against the person, which is why it is important to get independent testing done. A qualified DUI lawyer could help an individual get independent blood tests done, and could then use the outcome to build a solid defense for them.
