DuPage County dropping some marijuana impairment cases due to faulty lab testing

DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin is dismissing charges in 19 marijuana-impaired driving cases because laboratories incorrectly detected or measured THC in defendants’ bodies.

That includes dismissing a felony charge of aggravated driving under the influence.

“With the validity of the test results called into question, I could not, legally, ethically and in good conscience, continue the prosecution of these select cases. For our justice system to function properly, the integrity of prosecutions must remain, above all else, intact and beyond reproach,” Berlin said in a news release Friday.

Most of the cases involve the University of Illinois — Chicago’s Analytical Forensic Testing Laboratory. One involves an Illinois State Police laboratory.

Berlin said the UIC’s lab director, Albert K. Larsen, informed him in May 2024 that the methods used to detect and measure the delta-8-THC isomer and the delta-9-THC isomer in defendant’s bodily fluids, including blood, may not have separated the delta-8-THC isomer from the delta-9-THC isomer.

That meant the reported amount of delta-9-THC could erroneously reflect a combined amount of delta-8-THC and delta-9-THC.

It is the delta-9-THC that matters for a DUI charge. State law considers you impaired if you have 5 nanograms per milliliter or more of delta-9-THC in your blood.

Prominent DUI defense lawyer Donald Ramsell praised Berlin. Ramsell has been questioning the quality and practices of the UIC lab for several years.

“Berlin just exercised a great amount of integrity,” Ramsell said.

Ramsell said he wonders why other suburban and downstate state’s attorneys have not said anything about reviewing or dismissing cases, even though he has notified them of the lab’s issues. The Daily Herald is seeking comments from several, including those in Kane and Lake counties.

Ramsell said issues with the lab surfaced in 2021. He said per state law laboratories are supposed to follow a specific international standard, and that the UIC lab did not do that. He said the laboratory had a “rogue analyst.”

He is incensed because, he said, the laboratory knew it had problems, but did not inform prosecutors and defense attorneys.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250131/news/dupage-county-dropping-some-marijuana-impairment-cases-due-to-faulty-lab-testing/