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 LAWS MAKING HEADLINES |
| Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, United States Supreme Court decision on June 25, 2009. DWI LAB CERTIFICATES NOT ENOUGH UNDER NEW SUPREME COURT RULING: Scalia wrote the opinion in the recently reviewed case of Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts. The court ruled that the Sixth Amendment right for a defendant "to be confronted with the witnesses against him" was not satisfied by a simple lab sheet. The lab analyst who made the determination that the white powder in the Melendez case was cocaine had to testify too, Scalia wrote. This case would appear to apply to the blood/alcohol results contained in lab certificates that have been admitted at DWI trials throughout the State of New Jersey. This new ruling would appear to require the prosecutor to now present the lab clinician and give live testimony at trial, or face an objection to the admissibilty of the test results. |
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| Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, United States Supreme Court decision on June 25, 2009. DWI LAB CERTIFICATES NOT ENOUGH UNDER NEW SUPREME COURT RULING: Scalia wrote the opinion in the recently reviewed case of Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts. The court ruled that the Sixth Amendment right for a defendant "to be confronted with the witnesses against him" was not satisfied by a simple lab sheet. The lab analyst who made the determination that the white powder in the Melendez case was cocaine had to testify too, Scalia wrote. This case would appear to apply to the blood/alcohol results contained in lab certificates that have been admitted at DWI trials throughout the State of New Jersey. This new ruling would appear to require the prosecutor to now present the lab clinician and give live testimony at trial, or face an objection to the admissibilty of the test results. |