Pubdate: Sun, 07 Oct 2001 Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY) Copyright: 2001 Lexington Herald-Leader Contact: http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/240 Author: John Cheves Note: Staff writer Bill Estep contributed to this report. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) DUI BACKLOG RAISES PRESSURE ON COURTS, ANALYSTS IN TURN Frustrated judges are postponing driving-under-the-influence trials -- and in at least one county, dismissing cases -- because it takes too long for blood tests to return from the Kentucky State Police laboratories. "The judges in my counties have read the riot act to prosecutors because it has taken six to eight weeks to get blood samples back and schedule a trial," said Andrew Coiner, a lawyer who specializes in DUI defense in Western Kentucky. Interviews with a dozen prosecutors, from Calloway to Fayette to Rowan counties, confirm similar tensions across the state. Judges say they're caught between a 1991 law pressuring them to resolve DUI cases within 90 days of the arrest and chronic test backlogs at the labs. Tests are needed to determine the level of alcohol or drugs in a driver's blood. Lab officials said alcohol tests can take a month or more, given current backlogs, while drug tests require up to six months. Delays won't end until more lab analysts are hired to handle the growing workload, said a former supervisor. Fred Chumbler, who ran the toxicology and solid-dosage drug unit, quit this summer after 23 years, in part because of understaffing. Chumbler said he had seven analysts but needed at least three more just to overcome the backlog. The money never seemed to be there, he said. "In a nutshell, I saw no light at the end of the tunnel," Chumbler said. "The crush of cases and the insurmountable backlog, it's a grind on a daily basis that just wears you down." "You would get these calls coming in from different counties saying, 'Well, the judge is going to dismiss the case if we don't get the results back by Monday,"' he said. "I have no doubt there are cases dismissed because they don't have their lab reports back." Clay District Judge Oscar Gayle House dismissed a DUI charge May 14 against Hubert Henson, according to court records. Manchester police said Henson, 49, weaved across a road Nov. 21 and hit another car. The other driver suffered minor injuries, a prosecutor said. Police sent Henson's blood sample to the state police lab in London for alcohol and drug tests, according to records. An initial report in December showed no alcohol, but the subsequent drug study never arrived, said Clay County Attorney Clay Bishop Jr. The toxicology report was completed June 6 and showed "many illegal drugs" present in Henson's system, said Lt. Lisa Rudzinski, state police spokeswoman. By then, though, Henson's case had been dismissed, Rudzinski said. "We don't have anything indicating the court requested the results prior to June," Rudzinski said. Henson couldn't be reached for comment. Dropped DUI cases are a serious concern for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers of Kentucky. "There's enough other factors right now causing DUI cases to be dismissed, with the legal loopholes," said Mike Riley, MADD of Kentucky's victim-assistance coordinator. "It's disheartening to hear of cases being lost, and drunken drivers being put back on the streets, because of lab delays -- especially when the evidence finally proves the driver was impaired," Riley said. Henson's case is one of about a dozen in Clay County this year in which DUI charges were dropped because the labs didn't report back in time, Bishop said. "Right now, the judges and the prosecutors are in a Catch-22 situation," Bishop said. "The Supreme Court has told us 'You will resolve these DUI cases within 90 days,"' he said. "But you can't get back the blood results on time. It lets people off the hook, and it makes our (conviction) numbers look terrible." Most of the state's drunken-driving cases -- about 40,000 arrests a year -- don't require the services of a state police lab. Usually, a police officer gets blood-alcohol data after the suspect blows into a breath analyzer at the local jail or police department. Drivers are presumed drunk with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or more; that number reflects grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood or 210 liters of breath. However, hundreds of blood samples are forwarded to the labs each year. Sometimes a breath analyzer is broken, or police suspect illegal drugs, not alcohol, impaired the driver. If the suspect is hurt in a crash, he might not be capable of a breath test, so blood is drawn instead. Jeff Warnecke, who runs the central lab's forensic biology unit in Frankfort, said the average response time for blood-alcohol tests is about one month, although some cases take longer. The backlog Sept. 15 was 610 cases. The toxicology test backlog, to determine the presence of drugs in blood or urine, was 836 cases on Sept. 15. Lab officials said the caseload jumped 125 percent after 1998 because of increased police efforts to quell drug abuse, especially OxyContin. Some judges are so irritated by lab delays that they issue court-ordered deadlines for the test results. Alcohol or drug data better arrive by the deadline, the judges warn, or lab analysts are summoned to court to explain why they shouldn't face contempt of court charges and jail. "We do that to help them expedite it. We're trying to work with them," said Hopkins District Judge Carl Hurst. So far, lab analysts haven't suffered penalties worse than a judge chewing them out, Warnecke said. But the analysts resent the court orders, he said. Judges aggravate the situation by demanding that cases from their dockets come first, and forcing harried technicians to leave the lab for a hearing, he said. Like Bishop, Chumbler said the "90-day rule" for DUI cases isn't realistic. The General Assembly passed the law to put pressure on counties known for their sluggish DUI prosecutions. "I understand the reason for it," Chumbler said. "Unfortunately, nobody thought to ask, 'Can the labs gets the blood tests done in time?"' - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl