Section 92 Contamination by Alcohol Swab

• Library: DWI Experts and the Science of Chemical Tests 2014

An expert can assist the DWI attorney by providing testimony concerning the use of a swab containing alcohol. In forensic science, the benefit of the doubt always goes to the accused in a criminal case. This defense is better suited to the criminal case than to the civil case.

The issue of an alcohol swab in a MoDOR case was settled when the Missouri legislature removed the requirement of a “nonalcohol” swab from § 577.029, now RSMo Supp. 2012, in 2007. The civil standard of proof is not high enough to use this argument with any level of confidence.

The swabbing of the arm with ethanol before venipuncture significantly raised the apparent blood ethanol concentration, compared to the unswabbed arm, according to three studies (listed in the first set of bulleted items in §93 below). Four studies (listed in the second set of...