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State DUI policies criticized -
Board says more should be done to stop drunken drivers
By LEVI PULKKINEN
P-I REPORTER
As Thanksgiving approaches, state law enforcement is preparing for a less-than-loved holiday tradition -- drunken driving. But, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, the state's laws aren't up to the challenge.
An NTSB review puts Washington among the 25 states that have not made changes to combat drunken driving that the federal safety board has recommended.
Acting board Chairman Mark Rosenker was expected to chastise the states during a meeting Tuesday morning in Washington, D.C.
Chief among the NTSB complaints against Washington is the state's reluctance to allow police to conduct sobriety checkpoints.
In states where such checkpoints are allowed, police stop all cars on a road to check to for drunken drivers.
Washington's checkpoint law was struck down as unconstitutional in the late 1980s, and the state does not use them.
"We do believe that checkpoints could be set up with safeguards that would absolutely make it legal and not impinge on people's freedom," said MJ Haught, spokeswoman for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, which supported a legislative push to allow sobriety checkpoints.
That effort failed earlier this year. But traffic-safety advocates are hopeful they can find support for future legislation, said Shelly Baldwin, manager of the traffic-safety commission's impaired-driving program.
In the absence of checkpoints, the state has paid for a series of emphasis patrols around the state. That allows law enforcement agencies to have additional patrols targeting drunken drivers, Baldwin said.
On Tuesday, the State Patrol, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and King County law enforcement agencies were expected to announce a holiday anti-drunken driving initiative, Tie One On For Safety.
The emphasis will include State Patrol aircraft equipped with cameras to spot drunken drivers, a State Patrol spokesperson said in a statement. Aircraft crews will direct patrol units to pull over drunken drivers.
The NTSB also faulted the state for allowing plea bargains for first-time DUI defendants, not impounding cars driven by all drunken-driving suspects and failing to create a statewide system of DUI courts aimed at repeat offenders.
Baldwin said four counties have introduced the specialized courts, which direct repeat offenders into monitored treatment for alcoholism.
Elsewhere in the country, the courts have succeeded in keeping offenders in treatment.
"If I had a personal mission in life, it would be to get every county in the state to have a DUI court," Baldwin said.
"I think it's the most effective way to deal with the chronic, repeat offender."
In recent years, the Legislature has strengthened several laws related to drunken driving.
Repeat offenders can now be charged with felony drunken driving, which carries a more substantial sentence.
Starting Jan. 1, DUI offenders will also face enhanced requirements for in-car breath-test devices, which prevent a car from starting or continuing to operate if the driver has been drinking.
Washington DUI "Emphasis Patrols".
It is no secret that law enforcement agencies throughout Washington State are emphasizing DUI arrests more and more. Below are several local articles highlighting their efforts.
January 23, 2008
Crackdown targets speeding, DUI on Washington roads
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The Washington Traffic Safety Commission says the State Patrol, sheriffs offices and police departments are coordinating an effort to reduce traffic fatalities.
It's called X-52 for "extra patrols every week."
The agencies are using collision maps from the Transportation Department to target roads with histories for speeding and drunken driving.
The commission is using $450,000 in federal funding for the emphasis patrols.
December 20, 2007
A time of too much cheer
Drunken-driving accidents jump in days before Christmas
By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
P-I REPORTER
People think of the days before Christmas as a vacation from work; a time to squeeze in last-minute shopping and reminiscing at holiday parties.
Many don't realize that those days see many more drunken-driving crashes.
"We don't want to frighten people unnecessarily," State Patrol Trooper Jeff Merrill said. "We just want drivers to be cognizant that on those days, they have a higher chance of running into an impaired motorist than on other days."
December saw more alcohol-related crashes in King County than any other month in the past two years, state Department of Transportation records show, and police expect hundreds of impaired drivers to get behind the wheel in the next few days.
Last year, the county's highest daily number of alcohol-related crashes -- 18 -- happened on Dec. 23, and the 48 tallied statewide was second only to New Year's Day, which saw 50.
The two days before Christmas each had 45 alcohol-related accidents statewide in 2005 -- the highest single-day number for the month of December, ranking both in the top five days statewide.
In the past two years, five people have been killed in alcohol-related crashes in the state on the two days before Christmas.
The holidays in general can be stressful, and people tend to drink more in the days before Christmas, knowing that they have time off to recuperate, police and substance abuse experts say.
"People often don't realize how much alcohol they're consuming when they're socializing," said Jim Vollendroff, King County's substance abuse prevention and treatment coordinator. "And it's not uncommon for people that have alcohol problems to relapse because of the holiday stress."
Through Jan. 5, the State Patrol assigns seven troopers and a supervisor who normally respond to 911 calls to specifically look for impaired drivers in King County. Merrill said a second squad of the same number will patrol in King, and squads of seven will be working in Pierce and Snohomish counties this weekend, all paid overtime by the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission.
Seattle police did not disclose specifics, but said that through Jan. 5, the number of officers dedicated to looking for impaired drivers is roughly double the number typically on DUI patrol.
So far, the emphasis has worked. State Patrol troopers specifically looking for drunken drivers have reduced the number of alcohol-related collisions and increased the number of DUI arrests over the same period last year (from Nov. 21 through Dec. 18).
Police don't reveal the exact locations for the emphasis patrols, but they say they review what bars have a history of over-service and monitor back roads where drunks try to sneak by undetected.
A State Patrol analysis of 2006 DUI arrest reports showed 43 people said that before being stopped, they last drank at the Muckleshoot Indian Casino in Auburn, which had the most reported DUI connections of any King County establishment.
Safeco Field topped Seattle establishments with 26 reports. Other than Safeco and Qwest Field, which had 16, the top 10 Seattle establishments linked to DUI arrests were nightclubs, including six targeted in a late summer Seattle police sting.
Trooper Joe Gannon, one of the seven State Patrol officers on DUI emphasis in King County, said there are several telltale signs of an impaired driver. He looks for wide turns, vehicles that stop a bit into an intersection, swerving into other lanes and a slow reaction time to police lights.
Wednesday night, Gannon found a man in his 50s traveling too close to the car ahead of him.
The man reeked of alcohol, though said he had had only two or three drinks. A test later registered his breath-alcohol content at 0.156 -- nearly double the legal limit.
Experts advise those expecting to drink over the holidays to plan ahead.
"And parents need to talk to their kids because kids have a lot of free time during the holiday season. Their actions can be no different than adults," said Vollendroff.
That's a tragic lesson one Snohomish County family knows all too well.
Hannah Zylstra was the brown-eyed girl who greeted her dad's good-mornings with a radiant smile.
The Snohomish High School junior's worst grade was an A-. She loved her family and knew what was right, said her dad, Fred Zylstra. But anyone can make mistakes.
Hannah was at a party last Dec. 23 where she drank with classmates before trying to get home before her 11 p.m. curfew. Her red Chevrolet collided with an SUV near Monroe.
Her family spent last Christmas Eve in the hospital, where her sister, who was a passenger in the accident, underwent surgeries on her face and leg. She lost sight in her right eye and has nerve damage in her leg.
This year will be the first Christmas without Hannah, who died at the scene.
Fred Zylstra and his family plan to spend Sunday at their church, which helped them through what he called the most difficult time of his life. One of the hardest parts is looking at pictures -- seeing her smile, remembering her voice -- and knowing she won't accomplish her dreams, Zylstra said.
He isn't used to having an empty space at family gatherings.
"You find yourself searching for a new normal," said Zylstra, who hopes Hannah's story will help others. "This is something you never want to go through."
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Patrol cracks down on drunken driving
P-I STAFF
A holiday crackdown on drunken drivers has netted Washington State Patrol troopers more than 100 intoxicated motorists this past week, including one man who already has eight DUI convictions.
The emphasis patrols began Nov. 15 and will continue through this holiday weekend with extra patrols specifically looking for drivers who appear intoxicated.
One such driver was stopped about 3 a.m. Wednesday on state Route 99 just north of South 200th Street in SeaTac. The State Patrol said the man was changing lanes erratically. The trooper allegedly smelled alcohol on the driver and handcuffed him after the driver failed a sobriety test. The trooper said he also found a crack pipe and cocaine on the driver.
A records check revealed the 46-year-old driver had eight DUI convictions, a suspended license and was supposed to be driving a car with an ignition lock. No such device was on the vehicle, police said. He was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of drug charges and DUI.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
State Patrol DUI teams prepare for Labor Day sting
By HECTOR CASTRO
P-I REPORTER
Authorities announced plans to crack down on drunken drivers over the Labor Day weekend on Friday, the same day that a woman accused of killing a Seattle police officer was charged with vehicular homicide.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Washington State Patrol are calling the crackdown, "Drive Hammered, Get Nailed."
The state patrol will have DUI emphasis teams working from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend.
Last year, troopers in King County arrested 52 people for driving under the influence over the holiday weekend. So far this year, troopers in King County have made 1,954 drunken driving arrests.
The announcement came the same day Mary Jane Rivas, 31, was charged with vehicular homicide in the death of Officer Joselito Barber. Rivas is accused of being under the influence of cocaine when she slammed into Barber's patrol car, killing the officer instantly the morning of Aug. 13.
The officer's funeral is set for Monday.
And on Wednesday, Susan West, who once served six years in prison for a drunken driving death, pleaded guilty to being caught drunk yet again behind the wheel.
West killed a woman in 1997, hitting her as she walked alongside a road in Issaquah. Her most-recent drunken driving arrest came in June. It was her sixth drunken driving arrest.
Next year, a new state law will take effect that would make a fifth drunken driving arrest in a 10-year period a felony.
Kirkland DUIs Getting Extra Attention from Washington State Patrol
February 19, 2008Last call in Kirkland racking up the DUIs
Two city bars on State Patrol's 'Worst Offender' list
By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
P-I REPORTER
On Friday, bartender Andrew Walker at Time Out Sports Bar in Kirkland pointed to a poster-size sign hung near the bathrooms.
Red text states the bar is on the State Patrol's "Worst Offender" list, and the sign advertises free cab slips for people too intoxicated to drive home.
Time Out staffers say that in the past year they've spent up to $2,000 a month paying for the cab vouchers. Another Kirkland bar, The Shark Club, also has offered cab vouchers for about a year.
"Unfortunately, not enough people ask for them," said Kelly Simonson, owner of The Shark Club, which ranked third on the King County list.
Last year when officers asked people arrested on suspicion of DUI in King County where they had their last drink, 1,699 answered. Of those, 840 said it was in Seattle.
Police say those numbers aren't high for a city of Seattle's size. It's the numbers that continue to come out of Kirkland that are concerning.
Among those arrested for DUI last year, 192 said they had their last drink in Kirkland, a city with a fraction of Seattle's population, but with two of the top three King County bars linked to DUI arrests last year. More of those arrested said they had their last drink in Kirkland than in neighboring, but much larger, Bellevue.
"As long as I've been in law enforcement, the place has always been hopping," said State Patrol spokesman Jeff Merrill, a veteran of 20 years. "They've always had a lot of bars in a close proximity. And Kirkland attracts a lot of young people who tend to drink more."
In 2006, Kirkland bars were five of the top seven King County establishments linked to DUIs. The city has a higher number of establishments with alcohol licenses than Auburn and Kent -- cities with more than double its land area.
Three years ago, a newspaper published an article after five Kirkland bars were among the top 10 on what the State Patrol dubbed the King County "Worst Offenders" list. Brent Nerby, Time Out's co-owner, was awakened by a call from his mother. "What's going on at your bar?" she asked.
Each person found driving under the influence in Washington is asked the last place he or she had a drink, according to the State Patrol, which administers data from state breath-test machines. Some give a bar name without hesitation. Others refuse and demand a lawyer.
Though the responses are subjective, police say the answers show trends that help guide enforcement. A State Liquor Control Board spokesman said the data are among several tools used to identify a "location of strategic interest."
Last year in King County, about one out of five people stopped for drunken driving answered where they had their last drink.
Nerby supports the police, but points out potential data flaws. A guy could have a beef with another patron or a bar employee and say that's where he had the last drink after being arrested. People partying all night at other places could have only their last drink at Time Out, which ranked second on the King County list last year. Or, because they're inebriated, arrestees might forget where they actually had their last drink, he said.
"And if you look at a map, there are only three main roads out of Kirkland," Simonson said. "Because Kirkland police are doing a great job cracking down, it makes it look like Kirkland's out of control, and it's not."
State Liquor Control Board enforcement officers offer education to bars that make the Worst Offender list, hoping to prevent possible overservice, spokesman Brian Smith said. But the data could not hold up in court, which is one reason bars aren't penalized for it.
Bar owners in Kirkland -- a city with significantly less violent crime than Seattle -- say city geography plays a role and is a reason it's harder for big-city bars to tally high DUI numbers.
Their point may be demonstrated in Enumclaw.
That city is about 4 square miles with roughly 11,000 people. But in 2007, the number of people arrested for DUI who told police they had their last drink in Enumclaw was 57 -- more than half the number who identified Bellevue, a city more than 10 times its size.
Enumclaw Police Lt. Eric Sortland said geography may play a small part, but department prioritization of DUI patrols is a more accurate measure. Such patrols are "a cornerstone" of the Enumclaw department, he said.
The Muckleshoot Indian Casino was the most common King County establishment linked to DUIs last year and in 2006. The most frequent Seattle spot was Qwest Field, which was the sixth-highest King County place linked to DUI arrests.
Seattle police did not disclose specifics in December, but said that through Jan. 5, the number of officers dedicated to looking for impaired drivers is about double the number typically on DUI patrol. In 2006, Seattle police made 1,438 DUI arrests.
Auburn police spokesman Scott Near said he doesn't believe the Muckleshoot Casino has been identified as a problem area by his department, and no extra emphasis is applied to one establishment. "It's a large establishment and because a lot of people go there, it's reasonable that more DUIs are coming from there," he said.
Kirkland officers don't wait and watch for people leaving bars and they haven't targeted any specific businesses, said Kirkland Police Lt. Michael Ursino. A map of his department's 2007 DUIs shows high arrest spots in several city locations.
He said an average Friday patrol has five officers and a supervisor, with the number increasing during the summer and near the holidays.
"We've got the cooperation of the bar owners around here," said Ursino, who said they meet about once a month. "We're being proactive, but if they make it to the road, we're still arresting them."
P-I reporter Casey McNerthney can be reached at 206-448-8220 or caseymcnerthney@seattlepi.com.
Washington State Law and DUI Checkpoints or "Sobriety Stops"
Currently, Washington's DUI laws do not allow law enforcement to set up checkpoints around the state and set up what are commonly known as "sobriety stops". In a landmark 1988 decision, the Washington State Supreme Court declared such actions in violation of Washington's Constitution.
These stops allowed law enforcement to stop people without any legal basis and perform what amounted to a suspicionless search. Thankfully, our citizens have not had to revisit this issue in nearly 20 years. Governor Christine Gregoire, however, is now proposing legislation that would allow these random stops. The article below provides additional details of her proposed legislation. S tay tuned for further developments.
January 7, 2008
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Gov. Chris Gregoire on Monday proposed "sobriety checkpoints" in selected high-accident areas as part of the state's continuing clampdown on drunken driving.
"We're continually having, virtually every year, 200 of our fellow citizens or more who are losing their lives to drunk driving," said Gregoire. "We need a another tool in the toolbox to stop this."
The proposal drew immediate support from law enforcement and citizen activists, but civil libertarians vowed a battle in the Legislature and in the courts.
The American Civil Liberties Union said the plan would violate the state's strong protections against "suspicionless" searches. Spokesman Doug Honig said the state Supreme Court threw out Seattle's checkpoints near 20 years ago and that the ban on DUI roadblocks is long-settled.
Gregoire spokesman Aaron Toso said the plan wouldn't violate the court's ruling.
"The ban is against searches without the authority of law. This proposal provides legal authority if the warrant is issued by a Superior Court judge to conduct these checks," he said.
The governor's plan will be sponsored by the House Judiciary Committee chairwoman, Rep. Pat Lantz, D-Gig Harbor, a lawyer. The Senate judiciary chairman, Adam Kline, D-Seattle, has long worked on drunken driving legislation.
The proposal would require law enforcement to get a warrant from the local Superior Court after giving the judge a plan for a specific location and time period. The checkpoints would be in areas that are known for frequent alcohol and drug-related collisions.
The proposed legislation would require the judge to approve the warrant if the plan "advances the jurisdiction's interest in reducing impaired driving, taking into account potential arrests under the program and the program's deterrent effect."
The measure says checkpoints should "minimize intrusions into the privacy rights of drivers and vehicle occupants."
The bill says all vehicles except for emergency vehicles would have to stop at each checkpoint. A person who failed to stop could be prosecuted for a gross misdemeanor. That could carry a maximum penalty of a year in jail and $5,000 fine.
The plan calls for advance notice to the public and a report back to the court on how the checkpoint project worked.
"Sobriety checkpoints will be an important tool for law enforcement to catch drunk drivers and will help keep families safer when they are on the road," Gregoire said in comments released by her office.
"Let's hope these checkpoints will keep would-be drunk drivers from even getting behind the wheel and take those who make the bad decision to drink and drive off the road."
Gregoire announced her proposal at Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood, north of Seattle. She was joined by State Patrol Chief John Batiste, Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick and community leaders. She planned a demonstration of how a checkpoint would work and met with Students Against Destructive Decisions.
"If approved, this legislation will save lives by letting law enforcement operate sobriety checkpoints in the areas most likely to have impaired drivers," Batiste said. "We will go where the impaired drivers go, with the goal of getting them off the road."
Gregoire was joined by Lisa McCollum, whose mother-in-law, Jenny, died in a car crash caused by a drunken driver.
"I am a witness to the painfully permanent impact that drinking and driving can have on our families," McCollum said, endorsing the governor's plan.
Lantz, the House sponsor, said Washington is one of just 11 states that does not use sobriety checkpoints to catch drunken drivers.
"Law enforcement needs every tool available to prevent the tragedies these offenders cause," she said.
But Honig said there are grave constitutional questions that Gregoire's plan doesn't satisfy. A landmark opinion by the state high court in 1988 said the state constitution doesn't permit motorists to be routinely stopped without suspicion or probable cause to believe the individual is doing something wrong.
"The Washington state constitution has very strong protections for privacy, and our courts here have recognized that having sobriety checkpoints violate our right to travel freely if we're not doing anything wrong," said Doug Honig of the ACLU.
The U.S. Supreme Court has approved checkpoints, such as the approach used in Michigan, but Washington has stronger privacy protections against suspicionless search-and-seizure, Honig said.
The state allows "emphasis patrols" where law enforcement concentrates manpower in high-accident areas and pulls over people when their vehicles are weaving or showing other obvious signs of the driver being impaired, he said.
"Certainly drunken driving is a serious concern and there are effective law enforcement programs for dealing with it that are legal," he said in an interview. "We don't have to interfere with individual rights. Privacy means the government doesn't intrude on you and your private affairs."
He said calling it an "administrative" checkpoint doesn't change the fact that suspicionless searches are illegal and that any warrants authorizing DUI stops must follow the rules for all criminal search warrants.
State Crime Lab: Restoring trust
February 18, 2008
Barry Logan, head of the Washington State Patrol Forensic Laboratory Bureau, fell on his sword last week, resigning from his post after three District Court judges late last month tossed results from DUI tests processed at the state toxicology lab because they were "affected through a multiplicity of errors."
He is highly respected by many of the state's officers and lawyers, but after a scandal that resulted in potentially letting drunken drivers walk, it would have been virtually impossible to restore faith in the lab with Logan retaining his position.
As head of the lab, Logan, whose resignation will be effective March 14, ought to have done a better job of dealing with the numerous things that went wrong. But it's important to note that the lab's problems are bigger than just one man and his inability to right his ship in time.
How did it come about that a lab manager came to be accused of signing off on tests that she hadn't done? And how on earth did that same manager come to be charged, by Logan (who was tipped off that something was amiss), to investigate herself in the matter? All that on top of serious errors in the accuracy of the machines used for breath tests that might have occurred as a result of sloppy lab work in preparing the ethanol-water solution used in the machines.
As the state toxicology lab moves forward, it's imperative that it addresses staffing issues and deals with the protocols and procedures that lead to the loss of credibility. Without solid lab work, our justice system is compromised, if not crippled.
Why stop at yellow plates for DUI?
By ROBERT L. JAMIESON Jr.
P-I COLUMNIST
Last updated February 15, 2008
Mike Carrell loves his "Eureka!" idea.
The Republican state senator from Lakewood just sponsored a bill aimed at people who get DUIs.
Here's how it would work: If you are convicted of driving under the influence, then for a year or so you would have to put a fluorescent-yellow license plate on your car -- for the whole world to see.
Great. But really, why stop there?
Plenty of drivers are impaired by poor judgment -- and not always as a result of booze.
Speeders deserve flaming-red plates for burning up the road.
Folks cited for text messaging behind the wheel or putting on makeup while steering deserve periwinkle plates.
Elderly drivers who slam into buildings because they shift forward instead of backward get lavender-blush plates with sparkly polka dots.
And you know what's so great about these colorful options?
The perfect drivers out there could single out the bad ones and take the law into their own hands.
See a yellow plate? Key the drunk's car for kicks.
Spot Grandma with polka dots? Call 911, even if the old lady's driving just fine.
Spy a job candidate pull up with red plates? Nix his job prospects.
The possibilities for a rush to judgment and vigilante justice are endless.
Also, imagine others swerving unsafely when they near someone "Driving While Yellow."
Who cares if the person at the wheel is only borrowing the car and not responsible for the offense signified by the plate?
But here's why Carrell's idea rises to genius: It saves lawmakers the time and sweat of doing the real hard work to make laws to curb DUIs -- and leaves them more time to hit the links.
In all seriousness, I'm for appropriate punishment when it comes to drunken driving, one of the biggest, most dangerous and persistent public problems.
Ignition-lock devices, even for first-time offenders, are a step in the right direction. Such contraptions -- which a few years ago became mandatory for people convicted of DUI -- prevent impaired people from starting their car, though politicians also could push much harder for sobriety checkpoints.
Stiffer fines for bars that overserve also sound good.
But, Carrell's yellow license plates are, to him, a perfect solution -- yeah, perfectly feeble and overly simplistic.
It is shallow shame legislation that does nothing -- no solid data show that special plates deter DUIs in other states -- while trying to convince the public that it does something.
The color-coded kookiness trivializes the disease of alcoholism, which can be lethal when a sufferer drinks and drives. Plus, you've paid your societal debt if you've done the time or paid the fine.
As far as the bill goes, Gov. Chris Gregoire is on the fence.
"She's still studying the issue," a spokesman for Gregoire said Friday.
Carrell's legislation -- Senate Bill 6402 -- was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last week and now sits before the Senate Transportation Committee.
The dedicated watchdogs at MADD aren't enthused. They prefer anti-drunken driving measures with teeth.
Meanwhile, the Washington State Patrol is withholding comment on the bill.
Carrell didn't return my calls. But I suspect he's downright stumped about why smart people are taking so long to see what he does -- that yellow license plates are a good way of visibly telling "sheep from goats" on the roads, as he put it to one Seattle reporter.
I wonder if such logic applies in Olympia, in separating do-something lawmakers from the do-nothings. If so, I've got a prize for the good senator -- a scarlet-colored plate to honor officials who drum up dumb ideas that waste government time and erode public confidence. Eureka!
P-I columnist Robert L. Jamieson Jr. can be reached at 206-448-8125 or robertjamieson@seattlepi.com.
State crime lab chief resigns after problems raised on DUI evidence
Director, who leaves in March, says problems now fixed
By TRACY JOHNSON
P-I REPORTER
The head of the state labs that test crime evidence is stepping down, a move that prosecutors and defense lawyers say could help bring back lost confidence in the way drunken-driving cases are handled around the state.
Barry Logan's resignation, effective March 14, comes after a series of problems at the Washington State Patrol toxicology lab have cast doubts on breath tests for suspected drunken drivers.
Mike Urban / P-I
Barry Logan talks to the media Thursday about his crime lab resignation. At right is State Patrol Chief John Batiste.
"Barry has done an excellent job of addressing the issues during this difficult period," State Patrol Chief John Batiste said. "But he and I agree that forward momentum will require different leadership."
The decision stunned attorneys who have worked with Logan on criminal cases and saddened his staff, leaving some in tears, but the lab has drawn stinging criticism about errors and ethical problems in recent months.
"Too many things went wrong on his watch," said defense attorney Francisco Duarte, who specializes in DUI cases. "I believe he wanted to run a laboratory that was based on integrity -- and ultimately, he failed to do so."
DUI attorney Ted Vosk, who has worked to uncover problems at the lab and has persuaded judges to throw out many breath-test results, said he believed Logan's departure was appropriate.
"His stepping down now seems to represent, at least in my mind, that we were right," Vosk said.
Logan has served as the state toxicologist since 1990 and became director of the Forensic Laboratory Services Bureau -- overseeing toxicology and crime labs -- in 1999, managing 220 workers at eight lab locations.
On Thursday, he said he has dedicated his career "to quality evidence in DUI cases" and, after spending months trying to fix the lab's problems, wants the public to know it "can have confidence in the results of these tests."
"I have done as much as I can," he said. "I feel that it's going to help move things forward to have a new director."
Logan, a 46-year-old native of Scotland who is well known and respected in his field, said he remains proud of the labs' work and takes responsibility for many of the Seattle-based toxicology lab's errors -- though he believes they were "dramatically overstated" by defense attorneys.
"With the benefit of hindsight, I can always say that I might have handled things differently," he said.
Doubts about the lab's work surfaced last summer, when lab manager Ann Marie Gordon was accused of signing off on scientific tests she hadn't actually done.
Some of the criticism toward Logan was about how he handled a vague tip about the wrongdoing. He assigned Gordon to investigate the matter, apparently unaware that she was the problem.
Then other errors came to light involving the same issue: how the lab tests an ethanol-water solution used to make sure breath-test machines give accurate readings. The solution is critical in tens of thousands of drunken-driving cases each year because if it's off, people may face charges based on faulty results.
The State Patrol has maintained that inaccurate results have been extremely limited. Defense attorneys have argued that the lab's shoddy practices call all of its work into question.
In October, two Skagit County judges challenged Logan's credibility as they cited careless and potentially flawed work at the lab.
Last month, three King County District Court judges questioned his ability to serve as state toxicologist and found that the lab was fraught with ethical problems, scientific errors and carelessness -- making all breath tests unreliable.
On Thursday, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said Logan built "a solid foundation" of forensic science and suggested that his resignation "is a positive step toward rebuilding the professional reputation of the lab."
Prosecutors, he said, "are eager to work with the State Patrol and the new toxicologist to make sure that they have corrected questioned administrative procedures ... and ultimately restored the confidence of the court system" in breath tests as evidence.
Batiste said he would immediately begin a search to replace Logan. Crime Lab Division Manager Larry Hebert, a 34-year veteran, will take over in the interim.
The state has already appointed Fiona Couper, who most recently served as chief toxicologist in Washington, D.C., to serve as the state toxicologist.
Her job will now be a separate position from the director of the Forensic Laboratory Services Bureau because having someone fill both jobs, as Logan does, is "too much to ask of any one person," Batiste said.
P-I reporter Tracy Johnson can be reached at 206-467-5942 or tracyjohnson@seattlepi.com.
Head of WA State Patrol forensic lab bureau resigns
By RACHEL LA CORTE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The head of the Washington State Patrol's Forensic Laboratory Bureau resigned Thursday under the shadow of ethical lapses and scientific mistakes at the state toxicology lab that have called into question thousands of breath-test results.
Barry Logan has been responsible for the state crime lab and the state toxicology lab since 1999. His resignation is effective March 14.
State Patrol Chief John Batiste said there was a mutual agreement that a change was needed. Larry Hebert, a 34-year veteran of the lab, was named interim bureau commander.
In a written statement, Batiste said that the toxicology lab is "staffed by competent, ethical people who do great work."
"Barry has done an exceptional job of addressing the issues discovered during this difficult period," he wrote. "But he and I have agreed that maintaining forward momentum will require different leadership."
The lab has been under fire since last summer, when Ann Marie Gordon, a toxicology lab manager, resigned after a whistleblower reported she had falsely certified quality-assurance samples used in drunken driving breath tests. A prosecutor declined to file perjury charges, saying there was no evidence Gordon knowingly swore a false statement.
Last month, several King County judges said the lab's work on breath tests over the past several years cut so many corners that the tests were completely unreliable.
The decision by King County District Court Judges David Steiner, Darrell Phillipson and Mark Chow will not only make it easier for defendants in pending cases to beat drunken driving charges, but could allow those previously convicted on breath test evidence to appeal.
Prosecutors can still try to win convictions based on other evidence, such as erratic driving and field sobriety tests.
The decision cited a litany of problems with the State Patrol's toxicology lab, including the false certification of solutions used to verify breath tests, the improper rejection of data, mistakenly switched data and reliance on software that miscalculated data. The judges told prosecutors they could try to get breath tests admitted in cases after they make a showing that the lab's practices have been cleaned up.
King County is the third in the state to reconsider the validity of the tests since reports of problems surfaced, and its ruling is the most sweeping. Skagit County judges ruled that although misconduct at the lab was troubling, there was no immediate evidence that the breath tests results were invalid. In Snohomish County, judges threw out the tests in about 40 cases.
The crime lab has been accredited since 1983 and was most recently reaccredited in 2005, Batiste said. The toxicology lab received its most recent accreditation in the fall of 2007. Spokesman Bob Calkins said there has been one internal and two external audits, and that officials are making suggested changes on elements of reporting results and handling evidence.
He said the state Forensic Investigation Council is looking at the results of the audits and determining whether it needs to do a field audit as well.
Calkins said that while thousands of tests may have been called into question, the issues only truly affected about 130 DUI cases.
Regardless of how many cases were affected, the public's trust in the work performed by the lab has been eroded, said Kevin Curtis, president of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
"I think a change in leadership, at a minimum, is necessary as the first step to regaining and restoring that," he said.
Batiste said that is ultimately the goal.
"We're after complete credibility," Batiste said in an interview. "We are obviously pursuing the confidence of the judiciary as well as the citizens."
The patrol is conducting a national search for a new bureau director, but that person will no longer fill the role of state toxicologist, as Logan did. Fiona Couper was hired to that position, effective March 10.
State Patrol follows suggestions for lab fixes
New toxicologist is appointed
By TRACY JOHNSON
P-I REPORTER
The State Patrol announced Thursday that it has followed 23 recommendations of three recent audits aimed at fixing problems at its toxicology lab, and it is working to implement 16 more.
At the same time, Fiona Couper has been appointed to take over as the new state toxicologist. She most recently served as chief toxicologist in Washington, D.C.
The move is a reflection of the heavy workload of current toxicologist Barry Logan, who will continue to oversee the state's toxicology and crime labs but will no longer run the toxicology lab on a daily basis, State Patrol spokesman Bob Calkins said.
The patrol underwent three audits after toxicology lab problems surfaced that have threatened drunken-driving prosecutions around the state.
Last summer, toxicology lab manager Ann Marie Gordon was accused of signing off on work she hadn't done. Other problems came to light involving the same issue: how the lab tests an ethanol-water solution that is used to make sure the breath-test machines give accurate readings.
Last week, three King County District Court judges ruled that the toxicology lab would need to show that some of its problems had been fixed before they would accept any breath tests as evidence in DUI cases.
Other problems surfaced last year when lab officials acknowledged that samples of a vehicular-homicide suspect's blood -- key evidence that he was drunk -- had been inadvertently destroyed.
The auditors made recommendations to improve various practices, including how evidence is handled, who can have access to storage areas, how tests are recorded and how peers should check the accuracy of each other's data.
"Our goal is to make a good laboratory better," State Patrol Chief John Batiste said. "We will not stop with just these audits. We will continue to look for ways to improve our processes and improve the product that we provide to the criminal justice system."
Lab employees are now receiving weekly training to make sure they're aware of the latest procedures to be followed.,
Gov. Chris Gregoire has included in her 2008 budget the funding for additional staff to ensure accountability, Calkins said.
P-I reporter Tracy Johnson can be reached at 206-467-5942 or tracyjohnson@seattlepi.com.
Keeping drunken drivers off the road
By JOE COPELAND
P-I COLUMNIST
Conrad Thompson doesn't get how the state thinks it can protect innocent people on the roads while neglecting to obtain accurate assessments of those who drive under the influence. It's a puzzle that is becoming increasingly frustrating.
For at least five years, some state legislators have tried to close the dangerous loopholes that help many DUI offenders and defendants escape court-ordered treatment or receive inadequate treatment based on potentially flawed chemical-dependency assessments. The lawmakers want what Thompson, a retired probation officer, has been advocating: a statewide protocol for conducting the evaluations.
Assessments generally would have to be based on a drug test, a full criminal history for defendants and information about their blood-alcohol content when arrested or a review of the police report that would show the circumstances of their refusal to take a breath test. As valuable as treatment in lieu of jail time or as part of a deferred prosecution can be, the lawmakers don't want courts basing treatment requirements on wishful thinking.
The legislators, though, continue to run into obstacles about the supposed "costs" of improving road safety, society and the health of those with driving and substance abuse problems. Every time a bill make progress, it ends up stuck again.
Part of it is inertia and the way that even a modest cost can stall lower-profile legislation. There has also been debate about whether the protocols should be written into law or developed administratively within the Department of Social and Health Services. At times in the past 12 months or so, Thompson (who once held a state position overseeing nursing homes) has speculated pointedly about bureaucratic complacency or a too-comfortable state relationship with some treatment centers. But he inevitably returns to generating support for the kind of legislating he long ago advanced as a Whatcom County commissioner.
Thompson and Greg Bauer, an executive director of a recovery program, wrote a powerful guest column in the P-I in late 2004. Ever since, the issue has sparked somewhat the same frustration for the P-I Editorial Board as for Thompson, who knows quite a bit about legislation both from the nursing home job he held during a time of serious state reforms and from a stint as a Whatcom County commissioner in the late 1970s. I don't think the inaction is a matter of ill will. The DSHS folks are officially neutral, but have qualms about the finality of a law as opposed to a regulation. A legislative policy person for a treatment providers' association worries about financial realities. But none of what I've heard adds up to a good reason to duck a common-sense law.
More than anything, it's easy to believe Snohomish County Prosecutor Janice Ellis has captured the essence of Olympia's anything-but-Olympic inaction on bills spearheaded by Snohomish County Republican Rep. Kirk Pearson with valuable help from Al O'Brien and other Democrats. Ellis said, "Like so many bills in Olympia, this one has never, for some reason, grabbed the attention of the Legislature."
With so much to consider, lawmakers work on good bills but their efforts get lost. But this isn't just a good idea. In a society where everyone professes to understand the extent of denial among substance abusers, it should be an obvious corollary that we require treatment plans to be based on more than skilled liars' and deniers' well-spun versions of personal histories.
In a recent letter to a state official, Thompson called the current lack of state rules for objective assessments "almost unbelievable." Thompson added, "Denial is one of the symptoms of addiction, and to base the (evaluation of) the need for treatment on the DUI offender's word has ominous ramifications for safety." For the public, that means people may be getting their licenses back and returning to driving without conquering their substance problems. For the individual who needs help, the results can range from deadly to wasted time and missed opportunities to recover and rebuild family ties.
Knowing the effectiveness of clearly defined requirements for drug and alcohol assessments is one of the things that drives Thompson. Many district and municipal courts, including in King County, have set clear standards for assessments. Thompson worked with a judge who gave him full responsibility for determining whether an assessment had been conducted adequately.
Ellis, as chairwoman of the Governor's Council on Substance Abuse, recently had Thompson talk to members, who she figures may join the push if HB1340 fails again. But Ellis is optimistic, in part because Gov. Chris Gregoire tossed another drunken-driving issue before the Legislature: the high-profile proposal for sobriety checkpoints.
If lawmakers don't act on the checkpoints, they may look for another way to show their concern. Or maybe HB 1340 will benefit just from the governor forcing discussion of the need to do more about drunken driving. It should. Pearson has been trying since the 2003 Legislature. In 2005, Democratic Rep. Pat Lantz pushed a version through her Judiciary Committee. Despite a fiscal note on state expenses, the measure almost reached a floor vote. Last year, prospects were looking up when Judiciary passed HB1340. But, based on DSHS information, the measure was again tagged with a fiscal note, sidetracking it to the Appropriations Committee.
It's encouraging, though, that Rep. Helen Sommers, that committee's chairwoman, said last week she expects to schedule a hearing on it. Although the fiscal figures appear inflated (they are based on an estimate of $25 per urinalysis for what a number of providers say is a $6 test), the calculation suggests the general fund might pay $168,000 to cover costs for people who qualify for help with legal costs.
If lives weren't at stake, it would almost be a humorous hang-up over relative pennies. As an editorial in The Herald of Everett last weekend put it, "Even the inflated cost didn't justify holding this bill back; the real cost certainly doesn't. Repeat DUI offenders are an outrage."
For his part, though, Pearson sounded discouraged in a recent phone conversation. He wants Gregoire or her office to intervene with the DSHS' substance abuse division to end what he sees as game-playing attempts to kill the bill. Otherwise, he doesn't see any movement in the Legislature.
At the end of the day, perhaps the governor will intervene. The measure is perfectly in line with her DUI push and her own history as a clear-eyed state attorney general familiar with all kinds of phony accounts of personal conduct. But faced with a clear chance to better protect the public, maybe the Legislature can find its way without the governor's intervention.
Thompson, who retired as a probation officer three years ago, admits he isn't feeling optimistic about this session. But he adds, "Who knows? It's an election year." He notes news coverage of major traffic accidents, including deaths involving wrong-way vehicles where drugs or alcohol are usually a factor.
Either way, he said, he's motivated to keep fighting. As chairman of a Snohomish County DUI task force, he attends ceremonies where the names of drunk drivers' victims are added to a memorial wall in a park. "You see the devastation and the lives lost and the families that are suffering," he said.
Though he's talked about it numerous times, Thompson still strikes a note of incredulity as he ponders a system with all sorts of strong points that often relies on "self-reporting." Then he says, "We are just going to keep working on it until somebody lets common sense prevail."
Joe Copeland is an editorial writer and member of the P-I Editorial Board. E-mail: joecopeland@seattlepi.com.
Toxicology Lab: Above suspicion
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
Fighting drunken driving is a hard enough battle as it is because of the nature of the issue itself, of just how an intoxicated person ends up driving. Some merely miscalculate the effect the last drink would have while others are alcoholics and repeat offenders. Dealing with the problem effectively, in part, requires that those who break the law and endanger their lives as well as the lives of others feel the full weight of the law. Sad to say, that isn't the case in King County, because the State Patrol's toxicology lab has been deemed unreliable.
Because of a maddening set of circumstances, which include "ethical problems, scientific errors and carelessness," three District Court judges tossed out the results of DUI tests processed in the lab, saying they couldn't be used in court. What else could they do, when "literally thousands of breath tests performed in recent years were affected through a multiplicity of errors in the toxicology lab"? That means that some drunken drivers will skate (others already have) and that there's a chance that innocent people were punished. No justice system can operate on faulty evidence.
The state's toxicology work needs to be credible and above such suspicions, and, as it stands, the man heading the lab, state toxicologist Barry Logan, is in the hot seat. Whatever problems exist in the lab (staffing issues, weak protocols, etc.), if he can't make the needed changes, Logan needs to be replaced by someone who can.
Court throws out DUI breath tests
Other judges not bound to ruling condemning lab
By TRACY JOHNSON
P-I REPORTER
Breath tests can't be used against many King County drunken-driving suspects until the State Patrol's toxicology lab can show that it has fixed ethical problems, scientific errors and carelessness that have called its work into question.
On Wednesday, three District Court judges found so many problems at the lab that they threw out the breath-test readings for eight drunken-driving suspects -- a decision that could make it easier for drivers to avoid DUI raps around King County.
In the joint ruling, the judges found that "literally thousands of breath tests performed in recent years were affected through a multiplicity of errors in the toxicology lab."
Bellevue defense attorney Ted Vosk, one of several attorneys who argued the case, said the lab -- where scientists' work is critical to many drunken-driving prosecutions -- has lost all credibility.
"This is not about winning a DUI case," he said. "This is about right and wrong."
One hundred or more other DUI cases in King County District Court had been on hold for Wednesday's ruling. Defense attorneys say the decision could ultimately affect thousands of cases.
The other 12 King County judges who handle DUIs aren't bound to adopt the ruling, but the case is expected to weigh heavily on what they decide in their cases.
Mark Larson, King County's chief criminal deputy prosecutor, said his office will work with the lab to show the court that improvements have been made so that breath-test results can be used as evidence once again.
Until then, he said, "we are fully prepared to prosecute impaired-driving cases, with or without breath-test results" by using other evidence, such as suspects' erratic driving, what they told police and their struggles to perform sobriety tests.
In the 29-page ruling, Judges David Steiner, Darrell Phillipson and Mark Chow listed a litany of lab errors involving an ethanol-water solution that needs to be precisely mixed to make sure that breath-test machines are accurate.
They said various problems affected solutions that were used for more than 18,000 breath tests, and they found that the lab's work simply could not be relied on by judges or juries.
"Simply stated," they wrote, "without the reliable evidence that a correctly functioning breath test instrument can provide, the discovery of the truth in DUI cases suffers; the innocent may be wrongly convicted, and the guilty may go free."
The judges cited concerns with the lab's scientific standards, its limited ability to catch mistakes and its failure in "pursuing an ethical standard which should be reasonably expected of an agency that operates as an integral part of the criminal justice system."
The judges found a culture of cutting corners and criticized state Toxicologist Barry Logan's handling of two anonymous tips last year that eventually revealed wrongdoing at the lab.
In what the judges called "a situation screaming with irony," Logan assigned lab manager Ann Marie Gordon to investigate the first tip -- the very person who was later found to have lied about testing the solution when she hadn't.
The judges said questions about how her actions were investigated "cast a long shadow over Dr. Logan's ability to serve as the State Toxicologist."
State Patrol Chief John Batiste said he remains confident in Logan's abilities at this point and believes in the workers at the lab.
"Those folks bring great integrity to the agency as they set foot into the workplace every day," he said. "They have my full confidence and support."
Logan has "been very candid about the fact that there were things he should have caught," said State Patrol spokesman Bob Calkins, who blamed what happened on the choices that Gordon made.
After Gordon resigned July 20, other problems with testing the solution came to light: protocols weren't followed, documentation wasn't accurate and a software problem resulted in bad calculations.
In October, a two-judge panel in Skagit Valley District Court found that the lab had serious problems but declined to dismiss breath tests because of them. Judges in Snohomish County, Spokane and elsewhere have kept breath-test results out of court.
Earlier this month, King County convened the three-judge panel -- something that can be done for a "motion of countywide significance" under court rules -- and held an eight-day hearing for testimony about the lab's practices.
They noted Wednesday that prosecutors could ask the panel to reconvene when they believe they can show that the lab has addressed its problems.
Chief Presiding Judge Barbara Linde said Wednesday's ruling was momentous because "DUIs are a very significant part of the District Court's work, both in their seriousness and their importance to the community -- and in sheer volume."
Roughly 5,000 people facing DUI and related charges come through King County District Court in Seattle and seven suburban locations each year.
Calkins said officials have already made a number of changes in how things are done and hope they will soon be able to show that to the judges "so that they can have confidence in the lab."
The State Patrol has conducted several audits of lab practices, and an audit by the Forensic Investigations Council is under way.
"This lab is a good lab, but it's a good lab that has room to be a better lab, and that has been clearly pointed out to us," Calkins said. "We're headed down that road."
P-I reporter Tracy Johnson can be reached at 206-467-5942 or tracyjohnson@seattlepi.com.