In the DUI jury trial of People of the State of Illinois v. C.F. (case no. TP 131513) which proceeded to trial earlier this month at the Daley Center, Sheppard & Associates successfully barred the prosecution from entering the results of breathalyzer test into evidence. The matter had been set for jury trial pursuant to a Speedy Trial Demand and the prosecution only had nine days left in which to afford the defendant a speedy trial (it was the 151st day of the 160 day term). The prosecution answered ready for trial but they did not have the sergeant in court who certified the breathalyzer as accurate subsequent to the defendant’s breathalyzer test (the breathalyzer technician who actually administered the breath test to the defendant was in court). The prosecution attempted to introduce the breathalyzer log books into evidence which demonstrated that the breathalyzer was certified as accurate. The prosecution argued that the log  book were admissible as a business record.   Attorney Adam Sheppard argued that admitting the log books into evidence in this case violated the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to confront the witnesses against her because the officer who certified the breathalyzer as accurate was not present in court and therefore was not subject to cross-examination.  Sheppard  pointed to the recent Supreme Court deicision of Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts as authority for their position.

In Melendez-Diaz (decided on June 25, 2009), the Supreme Court held that the admission into evidence of state lab certificates which certified that a substance seized by the police contained cocaine violated the defendant’s right to confront witnesses against him under Crawford v. Washington where the lab analysts were not present in court and available for cross-examination.  In Melendez-Diaz, Justice Scalia had also opined that a similar result might be warranted in cases involving breathalyzer reports.

The case in which Sheppard used Melendiaz-Diazto succesffuly bar the results of a breathalyzer test was one of the first of its kind in Cook County.