Three Reasons the Urine Results Mean Little in Your Hillsborough or Pasco DUI Case
Client’s that agreed to give a urine sample after a DUI arrest are often fearful of what the pending results may show. While every case is different, we try to help the client understand three main reasons that the results of the pending urinalysis by themselves carry minimal evidentiary value.
1. Urine results are markers of what was once affecting the system, not necessarily what is currently affecting the system.
This is common sense, but it is often overlooked: a urine result is only a marker of what was once affecting the system, not what is currently affecting the system. Obviously, for a result to be in the urine, it has since been eliminated from the system. The prosecutor must prove to the Jury that your system was under the influence of the susbtance in question at the time of driving, not before. Your Tampa or Pasco Criminal Attorney must make the jury aware of this obvious fact.
2. The urine results are not usually quantified.
In most of the counties in Florida, they do not quantify the amount of the foreign substance in the urine. Without knowing the amount in the substance, it is impossible for an expert to draw a conclusion as to whether the defendant is under the influence or not.
3. It is impossible to draw a conclusion based upon an un-quantified urine result whether the person was actually under the influence of the substance identified at the time of driving.
Most of our clients are aware that, if one were to have a job interview coming up, he better make sure you were not around anyone smoking marijuana a month before the test. That’s because Marijuana metabolites can be found present in urine for up to a month after the body ingests the substance. However, the effect of marijuana, or the body being under the influence of marijuana, lasts for a matter of hours. This same principle applies to most substances that are eventually found in the urine. Cocaine, for example, only influences the body for a matter of hours, but can be found in the urine up to 72 hours after ingestion.
While this is all good stuff for your Tampa or Pasco DUI Lawyer to use during cross examination of the state’s toxicologist, it may be worthwhile to ask your DUI Attorney about employing a Forensic Toxicologist to test on your behalf. A good forensic toxicologist may be just what the Jury needs to understand that in your DUI trial, the urine results offered by the prosecution should not be given much evidentiary weight.
At Denmon & Denmon, our Attorneys have working relationship with top forensic toxicologists in the Tampa Area. If you have a DUI cases where a toxicology expert may be helpful in your case, call our office at 813-554-3232 and ask to speak to an attorney.
Winning Drug DUI’s: Therapeutic Effect « Tampa DUI Lawyer | Pinellas DUI Attorney | Pasco Hillsborough New Port Richey said,
September 4, 2011 @ 3:30 pm
[...] there are multiple defenses here, including exposing the urine test as being nearly meaningless, your best defense may the therapeutic effect defense. This applies if you are, indeed, under the [...]