subject: Dui Drug Recognition Protocol Is Not Scientifically Reliable [print this page] On March 5, 2012, Judge Michael MOn March 5, 2012, Judge Michael M. Galloway entered an order in the Circuit Court of the State of Maryland confirming what DUI defense attorneys have known all along. The D.R.E. protocol isn't scientifically reliable, not accepted by the scientific community and is otherwise black magic/voodoo. Even though it needs to be mentioned that the judge stopped short of calling the DRE protocol black magic and/or voodoo.
The DRE program is a program which was devised in 1979 by the Los Angeles Police Department to assist in the prosecution of impaired driving cases. If the arresting officer does not believe that an individual is impaired by alcohol, which can be readily, but not accurately, detected by a breath test, the officer can call for the assistance of a DRE. DRE stands for Drug Recognition Expert. The suspect is then taken through a 12 step evaluation by the DRE which measures blood pressure, pulse, muscle tone and other factors. After the 12 step process is complete, the DRE states his or her "expert opinion" regarding what category or what categories of drugs the person was using at the time the person was driving.
There are several interesting pieces of information that were brought out in the hearings before Judge Galloway that will prove useful to an attorney defending a DRE case. Initially, the 12 step process is not required. It is just preferred. The DRE has the discretion concerning which parts of the protocol he or she wishes to utilize and can completely disregard the others. A second interesting fact is that a DRE will not change their opinion even when no drugs are present in the Defendant's blood. The rational given by the State's expert was that it doesn't matter what's found or not found because there are limits on what a lab can test for.
Other testimony for the defense proved that certain drugs were improperly lumped into single categories, how the DRE material misstated the effects of certain drugs, drugs were outright misclassified and that the misinformation contained in the DRE manual renders opinions based on it specious at best.
After the hearings, the defense filed motions to exclude the evidence in the various cases that were before Judge Galloway. Judge Galloway issued a 37 page ruling that may be seen by clicking the link below.
