DUI Case Puts Spotlight on Kentucky State Police Lab Tests

March 22, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The Jefferson County Attorney’s Office says a judge’s decision to acquit a Louisville woman of an impaired driving charge shows the shortcomings of Kentucky State Police lab tests.

The Courier-Journal reported that the judge said the prosecutor failed to show that 38-year-old Monica Holt was under the influence of anything when she was arrested in 2011.

“It doesn’t matter what the commonwealth thinks, you can’t prove it,” she said from the bench on March 5. “You charged her with driving under the influence, and there is no proof what it is.”

Prosecutors said Holt told a jail officer that she took a prescribed painkiller before being pulled over, but her attorney challenged that contention and state police tests showed no drugs in her system.

Forensic analyst Jason Berry testified the lab tests for only 35 to 40 drugs. He said nine others are being added on April 1, but the lab lacks funding to test for more.

“Can you test for everything known?” Frazier asked him.

“We are not a private lab,” he said. “We lack the money, basically, to look for more drugs.”

Warren Diepraam, a former prosecutor fellow for the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, said many state crime labs deal with similar issues. He said there are potentially thousands of substances that could impair a driver and “testing for 40 is often going to result in failure to detect.”

Holt’s lawyer, Jan Waddell, argued the case shouldn’t have even made it to trial considering the scant evidence.

“Miss Holt was the victim here,” Waddell told the jury during the trial. “There wasn’t a scintilla of scientific evidence of impaired driving.”

Holt was arrested after a truck driver called 911 reporting an erratic driver who was nearly hitting other vehicles.

Metro Officer Nathan McCoy pulled Holt over and noted in a citation that she couldn’t answer “the simple question of where she was coming from and fumbled with insurance papers.” He said he did not find any alcohol or drugs in her vehicle, but she failed a field-sobriety test.

“She was under the influence,” Frazier told the jury during the trial, “and everyone in her path was in danger.”

Waddell presented a different scenario. In his opening statement, he said the man who reported Holt followed her closely at a high rate of speed and if she failed a field-sobriety test it was “only because she was nervous

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Oklahoma Insurance Department: Police Chiefs Support Armed Investigators

December 14, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The Oklahoma Insurance Department faced intense criticism after a report revealed it spent more than $180,000 on high-tech shotguns, bulletproof vests and seven police-package vehicles for its anti-fraud unit. Now, the Oklahoma Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) has passed a resolution of support for the department’s actions, the OID announced.

Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak has defended the purchases, saying the help ensure the safety of investigators and are not paid for with taxpayer money.

The OACP passed the resolution after hearing from Doak and the department’s anti-fraud investigators at an OACP meeting on Dec. 13.

“Fraud is something we take very seriously,” Doak told the group. “We know your resources are strained. When you’re stretched to the limit, we can step in and investigate the insurance fraud cases that otherwise would go untouched. We’re here to help you.”

OACP President and Director of Public Safety for the City of Stillwater Norman McNickle said the members of the OACP support the anti-fraud unit 100 percent.

“What Commissioner Doak and his investigators provide is so valuable to Oklahoma law enforcement agencies,” said McNickle. “They target an area of crime that many times goes unpunished simply because of lack of resources or manpower. We’re grateful to the Anti-Fraud Unit for filling that gap. We also believe its investigators should have the proper equipment and weapons to protect themselves in the line of duty. Every law enforcement officer knows that a ‘routine’ investigation can turn deadly in the blink of an eye.”

The OACP also voiced support for the OID’s legislative agenda, which includes a bill allowing law enforcement officers to pull over a driver for failing to obtain current auto insurance.

Source: Oklahoma Insurance Department

 

Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Texas / South Central NewsTopics: anti-fraud unit, John D. Doak, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Association of Chiefs of Police, weapons purchasesHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Wife Files Lawsuit In Hawaii Police Restraint Death

January 25, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle6 Comments

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in the case of a Hawaii man who died while being restrained by police.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Michele Y.M.H. Torres, the wife of 37-year-old Aaron Torres, is suing the city of Honolulu and the three police officers who restrained her husband at their home on Feb. 20, 2012 after he called 911.

Torres died while handcuffed, shackled and held face-down.

The medical examiner has determined that Torres suffocated and has ruled the death a homicide.

The autopsy also said Torres had cocaine in his blood, and that a contributing cause and significant condition in the death was his history of chronic cocaine abuse.

The city prosecutor declined to pursue criminal charges against the officers.

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: West NewsTopics: homicide, lawsuit, police brutality, wrongful deathHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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ACLU Opposes ICE Extending Agreements Delegating Immigration Authority to Arkansas Police Departments

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ACLU cites misuse of 287(g) program inconsistent with stated program priorities

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Records Reveal Boston Police Spy on Political and Peace Groups

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Officers Monitor Peaceful Activists, Labeling Legal Activities as “Extremist” and “Homeland Security” Threats

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Former Hackensack, N.J., Police Chief Sentenced for Insurance Fraud

September 21, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A judge sentenced former Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa to five years in prison on Thursday.

Zisa will remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction for improperly removing his then-girlfriend from the scene of an accident in 2008 and filing a fraudulent insurance claim for $11,000 in damages.

Zisa was sentenced to five years for official misconduct and three years for insurance fraud. The terms will run concurrently.

The Record newspaper reports Zisa told the judge he had nothing to add to what his lawyer already said.

In an unusual move last week, the judge overturned three official misconduct convictions stemming from allegations that Zisa failed to recuse himself from a 2004 investigation of his then-girlfriend’s sons.

The judge said he had substantial concerns about the evidence.

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: East NewsTopics: insurance fraud, New JerseyHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Texas Police Say Austin Shoplifting Ring Shattered

April 5, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Texas police say they’ve smashed an international shoplifting ring that pilfered such goods as laundry detergent, batteries and cosmetics for sale at flea markets or smuggling into Mexico.

Austin police Officer Dustin Smart says stolen goods with an estimated worth topping $50,000 was stolen from Austin-area outlets. He says thieves stole from such south Austin retailers as Target and H-E-B until a month-and-a-half-long police sting broke up the operation.

A woman has been arrested and her husband and six others are being sought. According to the Austin American-Statesman, an affidavit says one H-E-B supermarket reported a $10,000 loss of shampoo alone during January.

A raid of a house in south Austin turned up about $35,000 in stolen goods.

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Texas / South Central NewsTopics: Commercial Lines, Safety & Loss Control, shoplifting, TexasHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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