Opinion ID: 2599109
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Reliability of Testing Procedures

Text: Whether an appropriate foundation for test results has been established is a preliminary question for the district court to decide. State v. Uhlry, 121 Idaho 1020, 1022, 829 P.2d 1369, 1371 (Ct.App.1992). Showing that the test was administered in conformity with applicable test procedures or expert testimony may suffice to establish an adequate foundation. Id. If expert testimony is utilized, Idaho Rule of Evidence 702 applies. It provides, If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise. I.R.E. 702. Although not binding on this Court, the Court of Appeals has addressed the establishment of conformity with test procedures on several occasions. See State v. Bell, 115 Idaho 36, 764 P.2d 113 (Ct.App.1988) (finding that a test kit with the manufacturer's certificate, testimony from the nurse and the officer who oversaw the blood draw, and testimony from the state forensic officer who performed the test analysis established the requisite compliance with the testing procedures); see State v. Phillips, 117 Idaho 609, 790 P.2d 390 (Ct.App.1990) (holding that expert testimony presented at trial by the manager of the laboratory, a forensic pathologist, and by an emergency room physician were sufficient to establish reliability); see State v. Charan, 132 Idaho 341, 343, 971 P.2d 1165, 1167 (Ct.App.1999) (noting where compliance with approved procedures for test administration is not shown, it will be necessary for district courts to determine whether foundational standards have been met by alternative means based on the evidence presented in each case). At trial, Robert Farris, a medical technologist employed as a chemist at SARMC, primarily as the supervisor of the chemistry department, toxicology department, and immunology department, testified. Farris was authorized to test blood samples in 1991, and testified as to the usual procedure in which blood was tested at the time. According to Farris: All coroner cases in 1991 were performed on an Abbott TDX, which allowed for a whole-blood analysis. The specimen would have been a whole-blood analysis. The information from the coroner form and the specimen itself would have been cross referenced and then put into Saint Al's computer, giving it a specimen number, and that specimen number would have reflected the time received and the timethe time and date received with the patient'sor with the individual's name. Then, when the result was obtained from the analysis, the analysis would have been performed in duplicate and with a control, a control having a specific blood alcohol concentration, and the result would then have been put into the computer.... Farris testified that SARMC was certified by the State of Idaho to perform blood alcohol testing in 1991, and that the machines are checked on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis. Farris testified that documentation from tests performed in 1991 was no longer available. Farris also believed that a blood sample of two cc's is enough to be accurately tested. The district court required the defendants to establish that the sample was taken in a manner consistent with the drawing of blood standards established in Dobber [sic]. Once proper foundation is laid, it goes to weight, not the admissibility. We find that the State established that the procedures utilized in performing the blood alcohol tests were done in accordance with methods approved by the Department of Law Enforcement. The expert testimony established a sufficient foundation and consequently, the district court did not err in finding that a sufficient foundation had been established.