Day 2 of the Science as Your Best Defense Seminar started off strong with an interactive presentation by Author and Attorney Ted Vosk from the State of Washington. Attorney Vosk’s book, Forensic Metrology, was provided to each attendee. In addition to margin of error and uncertainty, probability and frequency were demonstrated and discussed. The biggest take away was that one can never actually know a person’s actual breath alcohol content, but we can only believe what the amount is based on information and inference.
Dr. Andreas Stolz, who is credited with discovering additional elements on the periodic table, gave a detailed presentation on Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry. Dr. Stolz is amazingly smart and to hearing his thoughts and opinions on issues I deal with on a day to day basis was nothing short of amazing. He thoroughly discussed standard deviations and the role statistics plays in analyzing blood and breath test results. All and all this was an amazing presentation that was assisted by noted Michigan Attorney Mike Nichols.
Dr. Jimmie Valentine and Minnesota Attorney Chuck Ramsay led the final official presentation on understanding how the blood and breath machines are maintained, calibrated and validated. A thorough understanding of this is necessary for any DUI attorney as the results of a blood or breath test are only as good as the equipment used and the people operating the equipment.
