“We could no longer choose between a paycheck and our integrity,” said Amanda Culbertson at the hearing. Culbertson, who along with a another supervisor, Jorge Wong, abruptly left the HPD crime lab recently, said breath testing equipment in the department’s vans was prone to overheat and provide inaccurate readings.

What is truly frightening about this is that it took the departure of two analysts from the Houston Crime Lab before these allegations came to light. It is now up to the District Attorney’s Office to conduct a thorough investigation to determine how many Houston and Harris County DWI cases have been affected by faulty breath testing equipment. There is absolutely no excuse for flawed evidence to be used in court against anyone.

For instance, George Rodriguez was wrongly convicted and sentenced to 17 years in jail for a sexual assault crime he did not commit.  According to the Houston Chronicle, “a crime lab employee falsely testified during Rodriguez’s criminal trial that genetic evidence linked him to the attack.”

Houston criminal defense attorneys are here to help you if you have been a victim of a faulty DNA, blood or breath test result.