crime lab rights!
so there's a guy... and this guy has a case before the ma supreme court. he's there because he wants to cross exam the crime lab tech who identified a substance found in his car by the police as coke. the d.a. isn't letting him.
the d.a.'s argument to the court is that it is just not logistically possible to have crime lab techs doing the lab work stuff and going to court to testify all the time.
...right. 'cause... that's a legal argument.
so i'm not sure how it currently works. i assume the d.a. either enters a crime lab report into evidence or there is a designated representative from the crime lab who testifies to the contents of the report and explains shit even though they didn't do any of the work.
which i guess is fine... but... the constitution is pretty clear that you have a right to question witnesses against you. and this guy (and anyone else) totally has the right to ask the crime lab tech who performed the tests if he is a moron, why he's qualified, what the error in the test is, where he may have made a mistake, if the chain of evidence is intact, how much experience he has, and whatever the hell else.
seriously i cannot believe this crap.
-hammer
the d.a.'s argument to the court is that it is just not logistically possible to have crime lab techs doing the lab work stuff and going to court to testify all the time.
...right. 'cause... that's a legal argument.
so i'm not sure how it currently works. i assume the d.a. either enters a crime lab report into evidence or there is a designated representative from the crime lab who testifies to the contents of the report and explains shit even though they didn't do any of the work.
which i guess is fine... but... the constitution is pretty clear that you have a right to question witnesses against you. and this guy (and anyone else) totally has the right to ask the crime lab tech who performed the tests if he is a moron, why he's qualified, what the error in the test is, where he may have made a mistake, if the chain of evidence is intact, how much experience he has, and whatever the hell else.
seriously i cannot believe this crap.
-hammer