DEFENSE MOVES TO BAR DA'S OFFICE IN LAB CASE.Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer Charging the District Attorney's Office with misconduct in the fight over the sheriff's crime lab's handling of DUI evidence, defense attorneys contend prosecutors can't be impartial and should be removed from roughly 300 cases. In a 46-page motion, two of the defense attorneys involved in the battle stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office knew of possible sloppy slop·py adj. slop·pi·er, slop·pi·est 1. Marked by a lack of neatness or order; untidy: a sloppy room. 2. or unlicensed alcohol testing nearly five months before an April 10 memo to the county's defense bar described competency and licensing problems. The motion also claims that the District Attorney's Office continued to file cases and failed to investigate the accuracy of drunk-driving charges although the state suspended the lab's alcohol testing license and ordered it to stop its breath testing program. The attorneys want Ventura Superior Court Judge Steven Z. Perren to disqualify To deprive of eligibility or render unfit; to disable or incapacitate. To be disqualified is to be stripped of legal capacity. A wife would be disqualified as a juror in her husband's trial for murder due to the nature of their relationship. the District Attorney's Office and appoint the state Attorney General's Office. The hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 19 so prosecutors can respond to the motion and both sides can prepare for the latest round in the fight. ``This is the cornerstone document to what's going on What's Going On is a record by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. Released on May 21, 1971 (see 1971 in music), What's Going On reflected the beginning of a new trend in soul music. . Our issue is there are all these issues in this and how can the district attorney be fair,'' said Robert Huber For the U.S. Representative from Michigan, see Robert J. Huber. Robert Huber is a German biochemist and Nobel laureate. He was born 20 February 1937 in Munich where his father, Sebastian, was a bank cashier. , the Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. defense attorney who joined Deputy Public Defender public defender, governmental official who represents indigent persons accused of crime. U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding the right to counsel to pretrial proceedings and holding that a person cannot be sentenced to even one day in jail unless a lawyer was Brian Vogel in the motion. Prosecutors have said they wouldn't comment on the motion until they file a response, which is due in two weeks. More than 20 defense attorneys have banded together to seek the dismissal of some 300 drunk driving cases that involved blood, urine or breath alcohol analyses by the county Sheriff's Department's crime lab. The lab's manager testified during a recent drunk driving case, in which the results of a breath alcohol test were unsuccessfully challenged, that there were three main reasons for the lab's troubles: The lab did not have a qualified forensic alcohol supervisor on staff between November and May, following Norm Fort's unexpected retirement, said Capt. Leslie Warren. A lab technician failed a routine proficiency test proficiency test n → prueba de capacitación in February, and state Department of Health Services Department of Health Services may refer to:
The lab was told to stop alcohol testing March 19. While the state Department of Justice lab took over blood and urine testing, the unlicensed lab kept doing breath tests because officials interpreted the state's order to mean the lab should not, rather than shall not, Warren said. The defense attorneys' motion states that the District Attorney's Office was kept informed and was involved in meetings dealing with the lab's troubles throughout a period that began in the days before Fort's mid-November retirement and culminated with the April memo sent to defense attorneys about the lab's licensing problems. The motion states that even if the District Attorney's Office did not know the status of the crime lab and that its license would not be renewed until April, prosecutors were obligated ob·li·gate tr.v. ob·li·gat·ed, ob·li·gat·ing, ob·li·gates 1. To bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie. See Synonyms at force. 2. To cause to be grateful or indebted; oblige. to ensure the accuracy of drunk driving cases on the hundreds of occasions when charges were filed. ``Either scenario creates a conflict for the District Attorney in that he has an independent personal interest to protect himself and his members from ethical sanctions and public censure A formal, public reprimand for an infraction or violation. From time to time deliberative bodies are forced to take action against members whose actions or behavior runs counter to the group's acceptable standards for individual behavior. In the U.S. . It is clear that under either scenario, the District Attorney failed to perform his duties not only to the public, but to the defendants, who he is also charged with protecting,'' the motion reads. Further, the motion contends that the prospect for the loss of public confidence in the criminal justice system is an important factor in removing the District Attorney's Office. ``This case has been highly publicized pub·li·cize tr.v. pub·li·cized, pub·li·ciz·ing, pub·li·ciz·es To give publicity to. Adj. 1. publicized - made known; especially made widely known publicised . The credibility and integrity of the District Attorney has been questioned. The citizens of this county are watching closely to see how this ugly mess unfolds,'' the motion states. |
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