Archive for the ‘Evidence’ Category

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Common Medications can Cause False Positives on Drug Tests

Jul
20
Jessica, on the topic of  Evidence, drugs
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photo: ep_jhu

photo: ep_jhu

The result of a drug test may be positive, but that does not mean that the one being tested used the alleged substance. The test may have revealed a false positive. There are many reasons for a false positive result on a drug test. The lab that performs the test may have tainted the sample, the lab may also have poor quality equipment or lab technicians, or you may another type of medication or food in your system that taints the results. Some of the more common prescribed and OTC drugs that can cause a false positive on a drug test are:

  • Vitamin B2 – (THC false positive)
  • Tylenol 3 – (may detect traces of opiates)
  • Robitussin DM – (Heroin, Opiates, Morphine false positives)
  • Adderall – (could, as an amphetamine show a false positive for Meth)
  • Ibuprofen – (false positive for THC/Marijuana)

A longer list can be found at this AskDocWeb article as well as a long list of references providing information on the numerous types of false positives. If you have incorrectly failed a drug test it is important to contact a qualified criminal defense attorney who can accurately prove in court that your diet or use of vitamins and prescription medication may have created an inaccurate result. A failed drug test could cause you to be fired from your job, prevent you from applying for new jobs, impose large fines and perhaps even create jail time. Therefore, having a lawyer equipped to deal with drug scarios is important in mainting your job and life.

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Another Death Penalty Case Eyewitness Recants Testimony

Jun
10
Jessica, on the topic of  Evidence
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photo: Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice Henry "Hank" Skinner

photo: Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice Henry "Hank" Skinner

Henry Skinner is on death row in Texas for the 1993 murder of his girlfriend and her two adult sons. Skinner has always maintained his innocence, even when he came within 47 minutes of being executed in March before the Supreme Court agreed to a stay of execution. In his trial the jury only deliberated for a period under two hours, and reportedly strongly based their decision on the testimony of Skinner’s neighbor and DNA evidence. However, not of all the DNA evidence collected was tested, including the hairs that were found grasped in a victim’s hand. After new tests, the hairs, and other DNA evidence did not match Skinner. More importantly, the star witness Andrea Reed, Skinner’s neighbor and ex-girlfriend, has recanted her testimony. Reed stated in the trial that she spoke with Skinner immediately following the murders, when he stopped her from the calling the police and made many incriminating statements about the murders. Reed now claims that the detectives and police frightened her into testifying false information, more about her false information can be seen in the article Hank Skinner Death Penalty Case . . ., Politics Daily. Leaving out all of the DNA evidence and not exposing the lies of the star witness Reed in the first case is a fault of Skinner’s Court Appointed Attorney. Perhaps now, before the Supreme Court Skinner will have a more skilled criminal defense attorney, something that could save his life.

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Fictional Videos change eyewitness memories

Jun
01
Jessica, on the topic of  Evidence, Uncategorized
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photo: Gone-Walkabout

photo: Gone-Walkabout

The validity of eyewitness testimony has long been debated. How can someone’s memory be perfect during a tramatic event when they hardly remember normal everyday details? Yet another study has been performed by psychologists on the topic, this time to prove that fake video can easily change an eyewitness’s recollection of an event. Psychologists at the University of Warwick showed members of a gambling-type game doctored video of their opponent cheating during the game. Over half of the participants agreed to sign an official statement verifying the cheating even though the test subject did not witness any cheating in reality because it did not occur. This study continues to prove the theory that memories are often influenced by outside information, even if it is completely fictional. Fabricated evidence could lead an eyewitnesses to falsely accuse a defendant, and enter additional evidence into a criminal case that is only correlated to the case through a lie. Wired.com published an article on this study to show how serious photographic and video evidence can be to a criminal case.

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Jury Agrees Tight Jeans Will Stop Rape

May
27
Jessica, on the topic of  Crimes, Evidence
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photo: Ro / wererabbit

photo: Ro / wererabbit

Australian Nicholas Gonzales was acquitted of rape. The sexual contact between Gonzales and his alleged victim was deemed consensual, partially because the jury agreed that it is extremely improbable that the female’s skin tight jeans could have been removed without her help and consent. The jury asked for more information about how the defendant had removed the jeans, and apparently it was not given. In South Korea and in Italy the same type of rape defense has also been used. In Seoul, South Korea a man convicted of raping a woman while she was wearing the same type of skinny jeans had his sentence overturned. In Italy however, courts upheld a rape conviction involving a victim wearing skinny jeans. This definitely shows that the conviction of sexual assault charges can hinge on a single detail in the case which is why having the best possible criminal defense lawyer is important.

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Utah Grandma Found Not Guilty of Sex Abuse

May
19
Jessica, on the topic of  Evidence
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Utah Grandmother Bente Hansen was accused in 2006 of sexually abusing her grandchildren but was soon found not guilty at jury trial before Third District Court Judge Terry L. Christiansen. The lack of physical evidence aided in her acquittal. In cases where eyewitness accounts provide the strongest evidence they are usually seriously relied on by the jury.  However, Hansen’s Utah criminal defense attorney Clayton Simms was able to effectively argue that the lack of physical evidence combined with eyewitness testimony which was only given after extensive therapy was not reason to convict Bente Hansen.  Although Taylorsville police have described the related cases as some of the most troubling sex abuse and incest cases they’d ever seen their opinion did not prove true in the case of Bente Hansen. (”Grandma is not Guilty”, Salt Lake Tribune, Reavy, 9/8/06).

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