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The Law Offices of LanceT. Marshall is located in downtown State College, PA in Central Pennsylvania. This centralized location allows me to handle DUI defense cases throughout the State of Pennsylvania.
What Makes The Law Offices of Lance T. Marshall Different From Other Lawyers Handling DUI Cases?
My education and experience has taught me not only the PA DUI Law, but the Science of determining blood alcohol content. DUI is not just another crime. It offers a litany of possible defenses such as: 1) whether a person was driving, or in actual physical control of the vehicle; 2) whether a person was driving a motor vehicle; 3) whether that motor vehicle was on a highway of the Commonwealth; 4) whether that person was under the influence of alcohol to a degree which rendered him or her incapable of safe driving; 5) and most importantly, whether a person’s BAC was over the legal limit. It is this last question which so many other so-called DUI lawyer’s avoid and refuse to investigate. At the Law Offices of Lance T. Marshall, I work hard to protect ALLof your rights. The most important rights include that you are presumed innocent and that the Commonwealth must prove each and every element of DUI beyond a reasonable doubt. You also have the right to an effective attorney to represent you in a court of law. Judges, juries, and, prosecutors presume you are guilty if your BAC is above the legal limit. At the Law Offices of Lance T. Marshall, I work hard to teach these same individuals that this is not the case.
DUI cases not only involve the law, they involve science, mathematics, statistics, physiology, chemistry, human performance, medicine, pharmacology, lab procedures and regulations, and more. An attorney who has not studied these fields has no business representing people charged with a DUI. At the Law Offices of Lance T. Marshall, I have handled DUI cases throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ranging from first-time DUI offenders to Homicide by Vehicle while DUI.
Exposing BAC Results In The Courtroom
Too many people, including judges, juries and prosecutors assume blood test results are correct and field sobriety tests are reliable. This is what we hope to expose! At best the blood test results are moderately close to what is in a person’s blood. Sometimes, they are not even close. What a person’s actual blood alcohol content (BAC) is must be proved by the Commonwealth beyond a reasonable doubt.
BLOOD TESTING
Blood testing is very technical. If blood is not drawn correctly it can become contaminated with a bacteria that creates ethyl alcohol. If it is not stored correctly it will ferment. These are just two out of dozens of ways the blood itself can become tainted.
The two most often used tests are done by Gas Chromatography or Enzymatic Immunoassay (Medical Blood). Both have their problems. A simple way to understand what can go wrong in a blood test is to understand that alcohol is a volatile substance and so is blood. All blood tests involve a human being taking blood from a person, preparing the sample, and then putting it into a very sensitive machine that is operated, calibrated, and programmed by a person. Potential errors include, but are not limited to: improper taking of the blood, inadequate preparing of the sample, and failure to calibrate the machine used to test the blood sample.
Not only is there the human error inherent in testing blood, there also exists a natural built in margin of error in every machine, measuring device, and chemical compound used to test for alcohol content. This is a scientific fact. No measurement is ever exact and when it comes to your freedom you need an attorney that will put this information in front of a judge or jury in an understandable way. Too many so-called DUI attorneys stipulate to the BAC, thereby ensuring a guilty verdict for their clients.
BREATH TESTING
Breath testing is done by blowing into a machine in a police station or booking area. Two of the most popular breath test machines are the BAC Datamaster and the Intoxolyzer 8000. These machines are not kept in a neutral third-party location as are blood testing equipment. They are kept and maintained by police officers. The very people who use them and say they are reliable and then testify their results are accurate. Potential errors include, but are not limited to: 1) Ambient failure, the machine will not purge itself; 2) The machine will not ‘zero’; 3) invalid breath sample; etc., etc.,
FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS
Law enforcement officers may try to subject you to any variation of a vast number of field sobriety tests. Some common tests that you may have seen on television include:
- Finger to Nose
- Recite Alphabet without singing
- Recite Alphabet backward
- Pick up coin
- Stand at attention, close eyes, head back and estimate 30 seconds
- Touch tips of your fingers back and forth counting 1,2,3,4 4,3,2,1;
The important thing to know about these Field Sobriety Tests is that there is no scientific study validating any of these tests.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has created a battery of three tests that have been subjected to some scientific study and which the administration recommends for the purpose of DUI investigation. Any agency receiving Government Money in the form of a grant for DUI investigation is required to have their officers trained to perform the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST’s). The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has adopted that recommendation. These tests are:
- Walk and Turn
- One Leg Stand
- Horizontal and Vertical Gaze Nystagmus
The important thing to know about these tests is that even the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test may not be used in Pennsylvania as it is scientifically unreliable.
In order to have any validity the SFST’s must be administered according to strict requirements. Failure to administer the test according to NHTSA standards renders the test unreliable. Even if administered correctly the level of scientific reliability adopted by NHTSA still leaves reasonable doubt as to the conclusion that someone failing to perform the tests as required is under the influence.
A skilled and experienced DUI attorney will take advantage of the fact that SFST were not required by the officer and will take advantage of the fact that the officer failed to administer the SFST’s correctly. After cross-examination of the officer under almost any circumstances the field sobriety testing should leave doubt and the conclusions to be drawn from the test should be negated or work in the client’s favor.
DUI CHARGES BASED ON DRUGS
Most people only think you can be charged with DUI if you take illegal drugs. That is not true. You can be charged with DUI based on taking legally prescribed medicine or legally purchased over the counter medicine. The police are filing these charges more and more and in Pennsylvania you will receive the highest level of punishment even if all you did was follow your doctor’s orders. Defending drug based DUI charges requires even more specialized training and knowledge. Both of which I possess as I handle drug based DUI cases on a daily basis as well.
You will want my knowledge of the Pennsylvania DUI Law and my real world experience earned from representing thousands of people charged with criminal offenses on your side. Ihandle both Vehicular-Alcohol Offenses, Controlled Substance Offenses, and Non-Vehicular Alcohol Offenses in local, state, and federal courts. Regardless of the crime at issue, The Law Offices of Lance T. Marshall will protect your rights and vigorously defend you.
If you are accused or charged with a DUI, you need to protect your rights. My initial consultation is FREE! Protect your rights, protect your future, call me anytime 24 hours a day! (814) 308-8439. If I am not available at the office, call my cell phone, (814) 404-3760. I guarantee I will return your call within 24 hours if not immediately.
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