Lab- Where do we fit in? Stimulant involvement in Serious Injury and Fatal Collisions. VCU- unbiased. Serious Injury Cases. Injury/Fatal collision

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1 Stimulant involvement in Serious Injury and Fatal Collisions Forensic Scientist John Musselman Phoenix Police Dept Crime Lab. Lab- Where do we fit in? Injury/Fatal collision Speed Impairment Neither-DHA DUID Impairment Per Se Laws Serious Injury Cases Vehicular Crimes Unit DRE Case assignment- next of kin, submit Scene reconstruction VCU- unbiased Protect Victims Determine if Violation Occurred Settle Insurance concerns Data for City Traffic Engineers

2 Victims What Detectives see The TRAFFIC CRASH The end result

3 Please Remember: Pieces of the Puzzle Collision- Two vehicles occupying the same space at the same time. Driving Behavior Witness statements Roadway evidence Vehicle evidence Suspect Observations-Stim Uncooperative, combative Difficulty staying awake Rapid, chattery speech Mumbled speech Tremors, restless Drug paraphernelia, bud light cans, pipes, pills in car or on side of road.

4 DRE Eval Stimulants Pulse >90 Dark room Pupils Tremors Arms out during WAT Lack of Nystagmus Ten clues you may have someone on Meth 1. Cross center line collision or ran into pole 2. Absence of ETOH odor. 3. Stuporous, incoherent, rapid speech 4. Skinny, bald, tattooed white male 5. Unemployed, no DL/INS 6. Stolen vehicle, fake plates, stolen goods y/o 8. Irregular time (not drunk hours) 9. You re in NW Phoenix 10. Tremors John, show the tweeker

5 The Full Monty Serious injury and fatal collisions get full services at PCL. ETOH Blood Drug screen EIA- 7 classes SPE Acid/Base extraction & GC/MS Hospital drugs Midazolam Morphine Lidocaine Etomidate Pentobarbital/Thiopental Propofol Narcan-Naloxone Methamphetamine- Just kidding! Toxicology Drug Classification Statistics: URINE Dr ug Classif ication

6 Toxicology Drug Classification Statistics: BLOOD Total Numb er of Cases Collision Alcohol Males arrested >80% of the time! DUI ETOH >80% between 8:00pm- 4:00am Average BAC % PCP Narcotic Analgesic Inhalants Hallucinogen CNS Stimulant CNS Depressant Cannabis Drug Classification Times of Day- Meth Quants what do they mean? : ETOH Meth Compare to therapeutic levels Compare to epidemiological levels Collect data on behavior vs level Aid trier of fact Search for truth-sword

7 Blood Drug Concentrations Blood Results-Phoenix PCL meth ng/ml; 290 Coca ng/ml 100 BZE ng/ml 780 DUI Literature ng/ml 350* ng/ml ng/ml # N=57 ng/ml avg med Meth * NHTSA #Baselt Amp a/m Ratio 0-38% Of interest Meth >1000(Toxic)in 9% of cases Meth (abusive) in 50% of cases Meth <200 in 40% of cases a/m ratio < 5% in 12% of cases Acetone found in approx 10% of cases Lab results-limitations Few cases where can say impaired based on blood concentration alone-depressants CNS stimulant levels show tremendous overlap. Time of use, pattern of use Degradation in vitro/ in vivo Retrograde drug levels-no

8 Team Effort DRE and Forensic Scientist get-together Review driving behavior Review suspect, witness statements Review DRE evaluation Review Toxicology results Opinion; impaired or not Common sense approach Driving Habits-Meth positives 2005 n=25 Cross-center line (left)-10 Drive off right side-6 Pursuit-2 Asleep-3 Other-4 Driving Errors Red Light-Reaction time, inattention Failure to yield-judgement, Reaction time Rear-end collision-reaction time Cross center line-always a reason Speeding-personality & impairment Deceased-pedestrian, motorcycle, car Cross Center Line (CCL) Lack of Skid marks Significant deviation-multi lanes Lack of reason I Fell asleep Attempts to flee Blatant disregard

9 2005 CCL Fatals N=17 Meth(5)/COC(1)= 6 35% ETOH=5 29% Speed=4 23% Food=1 Diabetes=1 MEOH=1? DRE-Credibility Submit evidence- even if not impaired or Keep log of not impaired drivers Submit-Alcohol only (request drug scrn) Call what you see No Impairment Blood Case #1 No Drugs Carboxy-THC Therapeutic Amounts One Case Clon/&AMCLN, Meth

10 Case #1 Case #1 Driving- Bad, ran into wall Cause-ETOH They are not all that easy! CASE #2 #2

11 DRE & Tox Case #3 DRE Not Impaired, No nystagmus, WAT OK, Eyes clear Tox Clonaz 50ng/ml 7 AMCLN 100 ng/ml Amp 13 Meth 100 ng/ml Sertraline Distant in intvw Mental Health Patient Case #3 Interview/DRE/TOX You shouldn t ask me Q when I m High DRE- Limited contact Tox Meth 87ng/ml

12 #4 #4 #4 Driving-CCL crossed center line, sp-fast DRE-none Tox: Cocaine 320 ng/ml Benzoylecgonine(coc metab) 1500 ng/ml #5- trial from hell Suspect 26 y/o male CCL Medic statements Confusion, sleepy Amp 14 Meth 160, Acetone, COOH-THC Pulled over night B4 for Mj Poss

13 #5 #5 #5

14 Victim (Deceased) #5 Evasive action, brakes Methamphetamine 1700 ng/ml #5 The Defense Swerve, over correction-no evidence Mexico Doctors-treatment Therapeutic Dose DRE called Dep & Cannabis Victim had 10x & thus more impaired The Verdict Not Guilty! Def did not show up for Verdict Did not Subpoena Mexico Doctors May have fallen asleep Not ETOH Dad- dodged a bullet (later) Questions? The End