A judge in Ludington heard testimony from a physicist last week, who explained that the Michigan State Police have yet to properly analyze and report the uncertainty in the measurement of a person's blood alcohol content. "Dr. Andreas Stolz explained that the lab's documentation falls short in determining what the sources of error or variance are in the analysis of headspace gas chromatography. In addition, Dr. Michelle Glinn explained that she is not fullly aware of the impact of the differences from the time that an analysis in November 2008 and March, 2011 when the MSP finally produced an 'uncertainty budget,' said DUI attorney Mike Nichols.
The Michigan State Police decided to create a policy for estimating its "uncertainty" in forensic measurements in its toxicology lab. It did so after Judge Peter Wadel ruled that blood alcohol estimates from the Michigan State Police lab are inadmissible in his courtroom until the lab produces an uncertainty budget. The lab agreed. However, the question in this case is whether a budget created 3 years later is sufficiently reliable considering the length of time between the analysis in this case and the development of the uncertainty budget. |