Annual Judicial Education Conference Wrap-Up
The 2016 Annual Judicial Education Conference was held September 7 - 9, at the
JW Marriott in San Antonio. More than 150 judges attended one of three one-hour DWI focused breakout sessions sponsored by the Texas Center's Traffic Safety Grant Program.
The opening session, "Intoxilyzer 9000" presented by Mr. Randall Beaty, Deputy Scientific Director, and Mr. Mack Cowan, Scientific Director, Crime Lab/Breath Alcohol Laboratory, Texas Department of Public Safety,
introduced the new features of the Intoxilyzer 9000. They discussed the differences between the new machines and the Intoxilyzer 5000, and what judges can expect to hear in the courtroom.
Mr. George Scharmen followed with the next session on blood alcohol testing issues (sample storage, expiration dates, drawsite prep, material recalls) that may affect lab testing results; laboratory record keeping, discovery requests and laboratory
compliance with discovery orders.
In the final session, Detective Mike Jennings, Austin Police Department - DWI Coordinator, described in detail the training that drug recognition experts (DREs) must take in order to become certified. He also explained the 12 steps in a DRE evaluation and shed light on what testimony a DRE is likely to give and how the DRE would arrive at his or her information. Ms. Allison Tisdale, Assistant County Attorney, Travis County Attorney's Office, was on hand to discuss relevant case law.