Types of Expert Witnesses in Your Florida DUI Case
Although most DUI cases are tried without expert witnesses, hiring an attorney who has worked with Experts in various fields related to Alcohol and Drug use and in arrest procedures used in DUI cases may be the difference between winning and losing your case.
Your Attorney as a DUI Expert
The first place you should look for an expert when considering who to hire to handle your DUI case is your attorney. In Florida, there are 4 Board Certified DUI Defense Experts.
David Katz of Katz & Phillips, P.A.
James Phillips, of Katz & Phillips, P.A.
Tom Hudson of Hudson Law Office in Sarasota, FL.
Flem Whited of the Whited Law Firm in Daytona Beach, FL.
All four of these gentlemen are Board Certified as DUI Defense Specialists by the National College for DUI Defense which is accredited by the American Bar Association as the only recognized organization which may confer Board Certification in DUI Defense. Nationally, there are just under 60 attorneys who have been able to achieve this honor by passing a rigorous written exam, presenting an appellate brief and oral argument and demonstrating the level of skill and experience needed to be recognized as a Board-Certified DUI Defense Expert.
Experience Matters to Become a DUI Defense Expert
Although the qualifications have changed over the years, when David Katz first achieved Board Certification as a DUI Defense Expert the requirements included taking 20 DUI cases to a verdict at trial within the 3 years prior to applying for Board Certification. In addition to those 20 DUI trials, Mr. Katz had to also have 40 contested hearings at which witnesses were called and evidence presented within the same 3-year period. If you think this is easy, think again. Many criminal defense attorneys do not have 20 trials in their careers let alone in a 3-year period.
Expert Witnesses in your DUI case
Beside hiring an Expert DUI attorney to represent you in your case, it may be necessary to hire expert witnesses. The Expert DUI Defense attorneys at Katz & Phillips, P.A. know and have worked with some of the top experts in the world.
Toxicology Experts
A Forensic Toxicologist is an expert who focuses on the quantities and effects of various drugs and poisons on human beings. This type of expert might be used in your DUI case if the state claims you have certain intoxicants in your blood. The State of Florida will call a toxicologist employed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to testify about the testing done on your blood sample. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement conducts tests on blood and urine samples to determine the presence of chemical substances or alcohol in a person’s blood. Typically, unless it is a test for alcohol the State’s experts can only tell if you have the metabolites of a given substance in your system. They do not identify the quantity present. They also cannot tell when the substance was taken. To become a Toxicologist working for FDLE, a bachelor’s degree is required Many drugs stay in your system long term for days or longer, and the intoxicating effects may have worn off well before you ever got into a car.
The Expert DUI Defense Attorneys at Katz & Phillips, P.A. have worked with leading experts in this field including: Dr. Jimmie Valentine, Suzanne C. Perry and Stefan Rose. Any expert used by Katz & Phillips, P.A. will have far greater education then a State toxicologist.
Pharmacologist
Pharmacologists are responsible for researching and studying the chemical compounds that comprise medications and other medical products. A Pharmacologist is trained to understand how medicines and other drugs work and how they’re processed by the body. Katz & Phillips, P.A. has worked with Dr. Fran Gengo who is a Pharmacologist who works and teaches at the Dent Institute which is the largest Neurologic Institute in the United States.
Lab Auditors
A lab auditor reviews the practices and procedures used in a laboratory to ensure they meet scientific standards and that the practices and procedures that are put into place are actually followed. Scientific tests are only accurate and reliable if the procedures used in performing them are scientifically sound and those procedures are actually followed to the letter. Lab Auditor and chemist Janine Arvizu has worked with the expert DUI defense attorneys at Katz & Phillips, P.A. on numerous occasions, including at hearings in which thousands of breath test results were suppressed in Orange, Seminole and Lake Counties.
Field Sobriety Tests and Drug Recognition Experts
A major part of each DUI prosecution is typically performance on field sobriety tests performed roadside. These tests are designed to gather evidence of impairment for a prosecutor to present to a jury. However, there is a standardized method for the instruction and administration of these exercises. The experienced expert DUI attorneys at Katz & Phillips, P.A. have all received the same training that officers receive in properly administering these exercises. We know what is supposed to be done and do not need an outside expert witness to review your exercises to know if the officers administered them incorrectly. However, if there are mistakes in the administration of the exercises, an expert witness may be useful to tell a jury what those mistakes are and why they invalidate the test results. The Expert DUI Defense attorneys at Katz & Phillips, P.A. have received training from Anthony Palacios, one of this country’s leading experts on Field Sobriety Tests and DRE. Further, Anthony Palacios, Jay Zager, and Charles Smith have all worked as expert witnesses with the Attorneys of Katz & Phillips, P.A. on DUI cases.
Computer Software and Engineering Experts
One major battle that the attorneys of Katz & Phillips, P.A. have been a part of that most other DUI defense firms do not touch is the admissibility of the breath test results. Due to hearings in which the attorneys of Katz & Phillips, P.A. participated or played the role of lead attorney for the Defense, thousands of breath test results have been suppressed in Orange, Seminole, and Lake Counties for years. In fact, at one time, for several years, if you hired Katz & Phillips, P.A. to represent you on your Lake County Florida DUI in front of Judge James Baxley, your breath test results were not admissible against you. If you hired any other law firm, your breath test results were admitted into evidence in your trial. The work to suppress breath tests required many different expert witnesses and days and days of hearing time. One such expert was Dr. Harley Myler an Electrical and Computer Engineering Expert who teaches at Lamar University in Texas. Dr. Myler was a key contributor to the success of suppressing the breath test results throughout central Florida.
Database Experts
Other key experts in suppressing the breath test results in Central Florida were database and records experts Stephan Daniels and Thomas Workman. Both of these gentlemen are experts in mining data from the tens of thousands of breath test result affidavits and inspection reports placed online by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and other law enforcement agencies across the country. By reviewing this data, anomalous unexplainable results can be found which call into question the accuracy and reliability of these mysterious machines. The expert DUI attorneys at Katz & Phillips, P.A. have worked extensively with both of these gentlemen and first introduced Thomas Workman to the DUI defense community in Florida.
Call Katz & Phillips, P.A. For Expert Legal Representation in DUI Cases
As you can see, the expert DUI defense lawyers at Katz & Phillips, P.A. have extensive experience working with all manners of expert witnesses both in DUI cases and in other criminal matters.
We have also worked with firearms experts, psychiatrists, forensic psychiatrists, polygraph experts, and hypnagogic hallucination experts. Call us today to find out how the vast and varied experience of our DUI Defense Expert Attorneys can be put to use in defending your case.