Expert Witness (Anna Sandiford) by Anna Sandiford

Author:Anna Sandiford
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2010-10-03T21:00:00+00:00

I received a phone call from the solicitor asking what I could do about it. I advised that although as a forensic scientist I couldn’t do anything, I was aware that having a tattoo needle hammering into the skin isn’t the same as having a needle inserted into a vein for the collection of a blood sample. With needle phobia it’s not just the action of the needle in the skin, it’s the psychological aspect as well, which is often the thing with which people seem to struggle. Phobias are often irrational.

I suggested the solicitor seek a professional medical opinion, which he did. The case came to trial and the defendant was successful because the medic distinguished between needles involved in having a tattoo and the manner in which a blood sample is taken from a vein. Maybe the defendant had been drink driving, but he wasn’t guilty of Failing to Provide because he had a real medical condition that precluded giving a blood sample. If only the police had asked him to pee in a pot.

Here’s an interesting one, an English case. Solicitor calls. Their client is a Jehovah’s Witness who failed a breath-screening test, which means alcohol was detected in a breath sample he blew into a roadside-screening device that is extremely reliable in detecting alcohol — if the test showed a fail then the driver has consumed so much alcohol he’s over the legal limit to drive. The police station breath-testing device wasn’t working so the driver was required to provide a blood sample. He refused on religious grounds. The driver was required to provide a urine sample. He refused on religious grounds. Can I help? My response: why did the defendant fail a breath-screening test when he wasn’t supposed to have been drinking alcohol to excess anyway, as drunkenness is forbidden as part of the same set of religious beliefs he was quoting? Seems to me he was being a mite selective in applying the tenets of his faith. Human beings eh? We’ll try anything!

A common misconception is that a woman’s menstrual cycle somehow affects her blood alcohol level, and there has been specific research to address exactly this issue. It’s also a well-known fact that women’s moods can change, sometimes rapidly, at various parts of their cycle and I remember some research shown as part of a TV programme that assessed whether diet made any difference. Apparently, it does — eating dairy products at certain stages through the month can reduce the effects of mood swings, although they won’t necessarily get rid of them altogether. But can the menstrual cycle, on its own, adversely affect a woman’s blood alcohol level? In a word, no. It just affects how you feel, not the actual numerical blood alcohol concentration.

There is a defence to drink driving I encountered several times in England and Wales, not actually directly related to the drink-driving offence as defined in the Road Traffic Act, but in relation to the ability to provide a sample of breath for analysis.

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