CASE 1 – The blood analysis in a drunken driving case

The blood analysis in a drunken driving case

Some time ago I successfully challenged the blood analysis in a case in which my client was charged with driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor. The technique that was used for the analysis of the blood sample of my client was gas-liquid chromatography, a subject on which I had done research at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, a few years earlier.

During my cross-examination of the analytical chemist, a certain Mr. White, who performed the analysis of my client’s blood sample, I exposed the hapless White as a non-expert on the technique that he employed during the analysis, and since, in a matter such as that, only an expert is allowed to express an opinion as a witness, his “expert testimony” was rejected by the court and my client walked free.