The Circuit Court for Carroll County, Maryland held that DRE evidence should be excluded. The court held that identification and classification by DREs “is not generally accepted as valid and reliable in the relevant scientific community.” See the opinion for a summary of expert testimony regarding DRE examinations which raises questions about the accuracy of and use of the drug matrix, the diagnosis of nystagmus, an officer’s ability to diagnose medical conditions, the lack of peer reviewed scientific studies of the DRE protocol, and misinformation in the DEC manual regarding drug categories and drug effects on the body. The court found that the “DRE Protocol fails to produce an accurate and reliable determination of whether a suspect is impaired by drugs and by what specific drug he is impaired” and that the “DRE training program does not enable DREs to accurately observe the signs and symptoms of drug impairment, therefore, police officers are not able to reach accurate and reliable conclusions regarding what drug may be causing impairment.” See The Truth About Forensic Science for Attorney Justin McShane’s analysis of this case.
North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services