Maryland Attorneys Attend New Orleans 19th Annual Mastering Scientific Evidence in DWI/DUI Cases

June 20, 2012 - PRLog -- Bowie, MD - There are countless lawyers in Maryland and across the nation who have experience handling cases relating to driving while intoxicated (DWI) and driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol and/or drugs.  However, how many attorneys regularly enhance their knowledge of the science behind drunk driving arrests in order to provide their clients with the latest DUI/DWI information and defense strategies?

The 19th Annual Mastering Scientific Evidence in DWI/DUI Cases is an event for such attorneys, organized by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and the National College for DUI Defense (NCDD). The law firm of Alpert Schreyer is proud to announce that Maryland criminal defense lawyers Andrew D. Alpert and H. James West attended the advanced training seminar, which continues to be a leading DWI/DUI Scientific Evidence seminar in the country.

Making a Conscious Effort to Access More Data
At the19th Annual Mastering Scientific Evidence in DWI/DUI Cases, which was held in New Orleans, Louisiana from March 22-24 covering 19.25 CLE including 1.5 Ethics, attorneys were provided the opportunity to not only interact with other lawyers in their field and top DWI/DUI experts, but also attend engaging and informative presentations.

Some of the main programs included: What Lawyers Need to Know About the Government Program; Bad Government Science; Gas Chromatography for Lawyers: Understanding How it Works; Mass Spectrometry for Lawyers: Understanding How It Works; Intoxication by Drugs (Blood & Urine)—Why Levels Are Not Like Alcohol; Pharmacology of Drugs (Blood & Urine)—Differences with Alcohol; Electrochemistry 101—The Basis for Fuel Cell Devices; Examples of Problem Chromatograms: Finding What Ethically Helps the Case (1.0 ethics); Effective Ways to Stop the Misuse of Retrograde Extrapolation; Making the SFST’s Your Friend; Analysis of Drugs in Urine and Blood: Sample Preparation. Liquid Chromatography Testing for Drugs; and, NCDD Dean: Ethics in the Defense of a Science Case (.5 ethics).

Seminar Highlights
Most notably, the seminar hosted breath test machine breakout sessions to allow attorneys a chance to get a closer look at the breath test machines Datamaster, Draeger, EC-IR, Intox 5000, and Intox 8000, and discuss defense issues relevant to specific jurisdictions throughout the U.S. All the main breath test machines used to detect blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels were available at the seminar for participants to evaluate. Considering that Andrew Alpert is one of only a small number of attorneys in the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia who has been Certified as a NHTSA Standardized Field Sobriety Test Instructor, and who personally owns several breath testing machines, he offered invaluable insight to these discussions. More information on Mr. Alpert can be found at http://www.andrewalpert.com/andrewalpert.html and information on Mr. West can be accessed at http://www.andrewalpert.com/hjameswest.html.

The end of the seminar featured a mock jury trial in which a NCDD Regent or Fellow defended a case that was derived from a real-life case scenario that was tried in front of a real-life jury. A unique aspect of this experience is that the mock jury was informed that the case that they are hearing was a real case and that their verdict would be a real verdict. What lawyers attending the seminar took away from this mock trial was typical forensic matters relating to the most common forms of scientific evidence that often come about in DWI and DUI blood and breath test cases throughout the country.

Taking a Fresh Approach Back to the Courtroom
Andrew Alpert and H. James West returned to Maryland from the renowned seminar with priceless and relevant information about DWI/DUI defense strategies, scientific knowledge, evidence evaluation and presentation, and more. As these two drunk driving defense lawyers in Maryland continue to assist those who are facing life-altering DWI/DUI charges, they now have a new arsenal of defense tactics and knowledge to persist in obtaining successful case results. To learn additional accomplishments of Alpert Schreyer, please visit http://www.maryland-dui.com/.