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Drug Evidence and Scientific Testimony: Rigorous Advocacy Put to the Test

NCJ Number
168776
Journal
The Advocate Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1996) Pages: 104-109
Author(s)
J J Martorano; M Solomon
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
One of the most challenging tasks confronting trial attorneys is the cross-examination of scientific experts; many lawyers are comfortable with the rules of evidence and the art of summation, but few maintain that same level of confidence during the cross-examination of witnesses who are well-versed in highly technical fields.
Abstract
The problem is compounded by the fact that courts are very slow in keeping up with scientific advances. Both judges and lawyers often confer upon expert testimony an aura of infallibility and fail to critically examine the technologies applied by experts or the analytical methods they use. In order to maintain a fair and credible judicial system, courts must be in a position to recognize and understand accepted and validated scientific methods in order to be able to identify and challenge questionable scientific claims. In drug cases, the identification and analysis of substances is known as chemoforensics, the application of knowledge, methods, and procedures from the field of chemistry to substances used as evidence. Standards and conditions for proper drug identification are outlined; the use of color and microcrystal tests and other validated drug identification methods is discussed; and absorption spectrophotometry, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and high performance liquid chromatography techniques are examined. The need for police laboratories and the legal profession to be knowledgeable of developments in the scientific community is emphasized.