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What Do Drivers In Arizona Need To Know About DREs?

(The content below was transcribed from an interview done with Acacia Law. We think you'll find it much easier
and more enjoyable to read this way.)

Interviewer: Is the cop who pulls you over also a DRE, or Drug Recognition Expert? Can you tell if you are being investigated by one?

Acacia Law: They will not be the officer who pulls you over. They do not wear different outfits. However, they are certified DRE experts. Some officers are simply certified to draw blood or administer a breath test using an Intoxilyzer machine. DRE experts are separately certified for their particular area.

Most of the time, you are not stopped by somebody who is an officer whose specialty, focus or certifications rest specifically in DUI arrests. They are usually patrol officers who make observations.

After they make observations, they call one of these specialists to the scene. They may also bring the person to the station if they have reasonable suspicion. There, they have them analyzed by the person or people who are, in fact, certified in that area.

DRE experts usually are far fewer than officers who are HGN certified, Intoxilyzer certified, or authorized to either draw blood like a phlebotomist or take a urine sample; and keep appropriate chain of custody and all other parameters required by law.

They are a smaller, more focused group. All of them are small in comparison to the total number of police officers you have to deal with out there. They may spend a whole night going from scene to scene, analyzing different suspects. However, they have not participated in any stop, at all.

If you interview them, the best they can tell you is they remember drawing blood from the individual's arm. However, they do not have any recollection if they were impaired or not; or if they appeared to have signs and symptoms of impairment. They normally do not remember.

They may draw blood from 10 to 20 people a night. They do not recall the individuals. They basically go in and mechanically do their job. For example, if they have to draw blood, they will be called in.

They go into the room and draw two vials of blood. The fill out the paperwork; put samples in a refrigerator; and go away. That is the extent of their involvement in the case. When they are called to the stand, it is surprising to most jurors.

There is an assessment whether or not the person was impaired; and the person certified to extract the physical evidence has no recollection, whatsoever. Obviously we try to make a point of that.

It is hard sometimes for a jury to grasp that this person was impaired. This is because, based on the so-called expert or certified officer's recollection, nothing out of the ordinary occurred.

Interviewer: If DREs do not recognize a person, what do you ask them?

Acacia Law: A lot of times, I have them say exactly that. They say, "No, I do not recollect them. However, this is my handwriting. This is the paperwork; and these, in fact, are the blood vials I drew."

Now, I have had plenty of officers insist they can identify the person sitting next to you. However, it is really difficult to believe, to be quite frank. Think about it. It makes sense they forget the person. Ordinarily, if a case goes to trial by jury on a DUI, it is anywhere from 6 to 12 months after the event.

Interviewer: If DREs on the stand can not recollect anything that happened, how do they know they drew the blood of your client?

Acacia Law: That is part of the argument you make. Still, they are very careful with respect to their chain of custody in terms of forms they fill out; where a particular sample is taken; where it is held; and how it is transported.

They must know where the extra sample is held in the event the defense wishes to have its own experts test the same sample. When they draw blood, they take two vials. One is for the state; and one is for the defense if they wish to apply it.

Obviously, 6 to 12 months later, they do not remember the person if they have done 40 or 50 of these a month. It is beyond credibility. I have heard them state it; but I find it difficult to believe.

I think they simply draw the correct conclusion that the person seated next to me is the defendant. Therefore, it is safe to identify them as the person whose blood they drew that evening.