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Prosecutors: Flawed DUI Tests In Springs Double

Impact On DUI Prosecutions Unknown

POSTED: 9:46 am MST February 1, 2010
UPDATED: 10:09 am MST February 1, 2010

The number of flawed Colorado Springs police DUI tests has doubled to 167 since a crime lab audit last year discovered that some blood-alcohol results were inflated, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported.

The Police Department launched internal and external investigations after reporting Dec. 11 that a routine audit revealed errors in 82 initial cases.

El Paso County prosecutor Frederick Stein confirmed the doubling of flawed cases to The Gazette, but he could not say yet what the impact of the erroneous tests might be on prosecution of those criminal cases. He said the district attorney's office hopes to have a report compiling those outcomes within the next two weeks.

At the time, the department started re-testing about 1,000 blood alcohol test results taken since January 2009, The Gazette reported. Meanwhile, prosecutors contacted individuals in the cases that were based upon the incorrect test results.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigations is conducting the external investigation and the Police Department is conducting its own internal review.

While the department review isn't completed, police spokesman Lt. David Whitlock told The Gazette: "We've narrowed it down to the point where we believe it is likely a human error. We believe very strongly that it’s not an equipment failure or something inherent in the lab itself."
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