Alcohol & Drugs: MIP, MIC, Intoxication Defendant's Right to Independent Chemical Analysis

[SimonPeter]

I need help!! Does a criminal defendant have an right to an independent chemical analysis of a substance alleged to be methamphetamine? If so, what if there isn't enough left after "presumptive" testing to do the independent test?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Originally posted by SimonPeter:
I need help!! Does a criminal defendant have an right to an independent chemical analysis of a substance alleged to be methamphetamine? If so, what if there isn't enough left after "presumptive" testing to do the independent test?

I'm not sure what you mean... was there an analysis by the prosecution's labs that the substance was what it is purported to be and you want to do an independant analysis? I am not a criminal law specialist but I would think that it is your attorney's job to show that reason exists to believe that the test was not conducted properly so that another test is required or the results of the test made should be deemed inadmissible.