With state and city budgets getting tighter, more and more cities and law enforcement agencies in the OC are relying on the Orange County crime lab to analyze evidence relating to several crimes, including high-profile murders and sexual assaults. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, Huntington Beach recently became the last of several Orange County law enforcement agencies to shut down city labs that deal with drug analysis. This move makes the county lab the only one left in the area to handle such services.
Officials say that the county lab has been able to operate without backlogs despite the recent increase in its workload. The county lab offers several forensic-related services, including DNA processing, ballistics, and drug and alcohol-testing. Needless to say, these services are extremely valuable. Running a crime lab is a costly operation due to the costly equipment that is required as well as the expertise that is necessary to make such complex analyses.
If you have been charged with a serious crime in Orange County, it is very likely that forensic evidence of some type is involved. Whether your charges involve drunk driving, drugs, burglary, sexual assault, or homicide, physical evidence is an extremely important part of a criminal case. Physical evidence in a criminal case can make the difference between incarceration and acquittal.
This is exactly why the experienced and knowledgeable Orange County criminal defense lawyers at Sitkoff & Hanrahan do not take any type of forensic evidence lightly. Regardless of costs, our firm’s practice is to independently reexamine all forensic evidence in our cases – whether they involve drunk driving or other criminal cases – in order to find mistakes.
With the increased workload many county crime labs deal with, it is natural for mistakes to happen. But these mistakes can turn out to be very costly for defendants. Their lives depend on it. If you have been charged with a crime in Orange, Los Angeles, or Ventura counties, please contact our law offices at 866-430-8383 for a free and comprehensive consultation. We have the resources and the right access to expert forensic analysts, which can have a remarkable impact on the outcome of your case.