The Forensic Science Geek of the Week

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The week 58 “www.TheTruthAboutForensicScience.com Forensic Science Geek of the Week” honors goes to:

Eric Ganci, Esquire

Accord­ing to his web­site: “Eric Ganci focuses his prac­tice exclu­sively on DUI defense. Many, many lawyers do not under­stand the specifics regard­ing field sobri­ety tests, absorp­tion and elim­i­na­tion of alco­hol into your body, and vari­ables with breath and blood tests. And many more lawyers are scared to take DUI cases to trial because of lack of expe­ri­ence and edu­ca­tion with DUI cases.

Eric is a proud San Diego DUI trial attor­ney. He is trained in stan­dard­ized field sobri­ety tests, at the offi­cer and instruc­tor level, and is qual­i­fied to teach police offi­cers DUI pro­ce­dures and stan­dard­ized field sobri­ety test­ing. Eric is also a mem­ber of the Cal­i­for­nia DUI Lawyers Asso­ci­a­tion and the National Col­lege of DUI Defense (NCDD), where he attended the NCDD Sum­mer Ses­sion con­ducted at the Har­vard Law School. In addi­tion, Eric researched and wrote for the sup­ple­ment of “Cal­i­for­nia Drunk Dri­ving Defense,” con­sid­ered California’s “DUI Bible.”

In 2010, Eric was awarded as a San Diego Daily Tran­script 2010 Young Attor­ney Final­ist, and in 2011 he was awarded the San Diego County Bar Asso­ci­a­tion Out­stand­ing Ser­vice by a New Lawyer. See his Results page for recent DUI victories.

Eric focuses on the fun­da­men­tals of per­sonal inter­ac­tion, includ­ing tak­ing your phone calls and always return­ing calls/emails within a 24 hour busi­ness day. It seems sim­ple, but unfor­tu­nately this is a lost art.” Also he is a recent grad­u­ate of the week-long hands-on 2011 ACS Foren­sic Chro­matog­ra­phy III class held at Axion Labs, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois.

Congratulations to our Forensic Science Geek of the Week winner!

See the challenge question that our winner correctly answered.

OFFICIAL QUESTION:

1. What is shown in this photo?

2. What is the name of the technique?

3. What are the steps in the process?

Our Geek of the Week answered:

1. What is shown in this photo?  The device to check drag factor.

2. What is the name of the technique?  Drag factoring

3. What are the steps in the process?  Kneel down.  Gather a crowd.  And drag factor-check away.

[BLOGGER’S NOTE:

The friction between the tires and the road surface can be used to calculate the stopping distance of a vehicle or to estimate the speed of a vehicle in certain cases. Police investigators must be trained to identify and document tire marks found at the scene of auto accidents to use as evidence.

Facts:

1. The drag factor of the road surface must be measured with certain precautions:

• sled must be pulled next to skid mark
• sled must be pulled in the same direction as motion
• scale should be calibrated for accuracy – make sure it originally reads zero
• scale must be pulled parallel to the ground
• lowest value gives minimum estimate of speed (benefit to defendant)

2. The drag factor of the road equals the pulling force on the sled divided by the weight of the sled.

3. The drag factor depends on the amount of moisture on the road, and may depend on when it last rained.

4. The size and weight of the vehicle does not significantly affect its braking distance.

5. Tire tread depth does not significantly affect braking distance on dry pavements.

6. Tire pressures create a little difference in braking distance unless they are extreme.

]

The Hall of Fame for the www.TheTruthAboutForensicScience.com Forensic Science Geek of the Week:
Week 1: Chuck Ramsay, Esquire

Week 2: Rick McIndoe, PhD

Week 3: Christine Funk, Esquire

Week 4: Stephen Daniels

Week 5: Stephen Daniels

Week 6: Richard Middlebrook, Esquire

Week 7: Christine Funk, Esquire

Week 8: Ron Moore, B.S., J.D.

Week 9: Ron Moore, B.S., J.D.

Week 10: Kelly Case, Esquire and Michael Dye, Esquire

Week 11: Brian Manchester, Esquire

Week 12: Ron Moore, B.S., J.D.

Week 13: Ron Moore, B.S., J.D.

Week 14: Josh Lee, Esquire

Week 15: Joshua Dale, Esquire and Steven W. Hernandez, Esquire

Week 16: Christine Funk, Esquire

Week 17: Joshua Dale, Esquire

Week 18: Glen Neeley, Esquire

Week 19: Amanda Bynum, Esquire

Week 20: Josh Lee, Esquire

Week 21: Glen Neeley, Esquire

Week 22:  Stephen Daniels

Week 23:  Ron Moore, B.S., J.D.

Week 24: Bobby Spinks

Week 25:  Jon Woolsey, Esquire

Week 26: Mehul B. Anjaria

Week 27: Richard Middlebrook, Esquire

Week 28:Ron Moore, Esquire

Week 29: Ron Moore, Esquire

Week 30: C. Jeffrey Sifers, Esquire

Week 31: Ron Moore, Esquire

Week 32: Mehul B. Anjaria

Week 33: Andy Johnston

Week 34: Ralph R. Ristenbatt, III

Week 35: Brian Manchester, Esquire

Week 36: Ron Moore, Esquire

Week 37: Jeffrey Benson

Week 38: Pam King, Esquire

Week 39: Josh Lee, Esquire

Week 40: Robert Lantz, Ph.D.

WEEK 41: UNCLAIMED, IT COULD BE YOU!

Week 42: Steven W. Hernandez, Esquire

Week 43:Ron Moore, Esquire

Week 44: Mehul B. Anjaria

Week 45: Mehul B. Anjaria

Week 46:Ron Moore, Esquire

Week 47:Ron Moore, Esquire

Week 47:Ron Moore, Esquire

Week 48: Leslie M. Sammis, Esquire

Week 49: UNCLAIMED, IT COULD BE YOU!

Week 50: Jeffery Benson

Week 51: Mehul B. Anjaria

Week 52: Ron Moore, Esquire

Week 53: Eric Ganci, Esquire

Week 54: Charles Sifers, Esquire and Tim Huey, Esquire

Week 55: Joshua Andor, Esquire

Week 56: Brian Manchester, Esquire

Week 57: Ron Moore, Esquire

Week 58: Eric Ganci, Esquire