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On April 1, 2015, Vanessa Stuart crashed into Tiffany Howell’s car outside Daphne, Alabama, killing her. Prosecutors charged Stuart with criminally negligent homicide and driving under the influence. At trial, the evidence of Stuart’s intoxication was conflicting. Four hours after the crash, a nurse drew Stuart’s blood, and the state submitted a lab report finding her blood-alcohol level to be .174, well above the legal limit. But the nurse testified that Stuart did not appear drunk and had no odor of alcohol. The case thus centered on the reliability of the state’s lab report, so Stuart’s lawyer attempted to call to the stand Belicia Sutton, the technician who signed it. But prosecutors declined to make her available. Instead, they produced a lab supervisor who began his job after Sutton tested Stuart’s blood. The jury convicted Stuart, and she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

from Stories from Slate https://ift.tt/2Q6Nvoh