Defending Against a Blood Draw

Blood. The most deadly weapon in the government’s DWI arsenal. DWI trials used to be all about an officer’s testimony—how the suspect was driving, what the suspect smelled and sounded like, and how the suspect performed on some balancing tests. Maybe the defendant testified, maybe not. But science had little to do with it.

Today’s DWI trial is all of that with blood science. And blood makes everything more complicated. It has to be drawn based on a properly secured search warrant (usually). Then it has to be drawn correctly to avoid contamination and coagulation. Then it has to be transported and stored correctly. Then it has to be tested correctly in reliable, error-free machines. Finally, a scientist has to consider many factors in order to correctly extrapolate back in time and estimate a suspect’s blood alcohol concentration at the time he or she was operating a vehicle.

All of those “proper” and “correct” steps provide fodder for a criminal defense lawyer—assuming the lawyer knows how to use it. The lawyers at Shellist Peebles McAlister LLP have specifically trained in gas chromatography, the scientific method used by labs across the world to test blood and secure its alcohol concentration. We’ve completed extensive hands-on training at Axiom Labs in Chicago, where the country’s best and brightest scientists specifically taught about weaknesses and potential trouble spots in the area of DWI criminal defense. We now use that training and knowledge to dissect the State’s case and attack the work of government lab analysts.

Do not assume all is lost if the government took your blood. Our lawyers are trained to attack the blood test and everything that led up to it. We have won many cases that seemed unbeatable in the beginning. Contact Shellist Peebles McAlister LLP for a consultation and let our aggressive, creative, and experienced DWI lawyers start fighting for you!