Does anyone know about these experts who critique sfst's? RE: Officer performance- They are located in Bryan.

Lance Platt is a former College Station police officer that now carries his commission with one of the Constables in Brazos County. He is very knowledgeable on the SFST but he does not testify that well (in my opinion). I don't think that the jury much cared for him (14 minute guilty). On the cross that I did of him I got him to say that he would have arrested the defendant for DWI as well. If you need a copy of the cross send me your mailing address and I will get it in the mail ASAP.

His bio/C.Vitae is available thru David Higginson, ACA, at the Brazos County Attorneys, 979-361-4300.

Richard is right, David Higginson does have that information.

And a big thanks to David for providing us with some useful information on very short notice. Prosecutors -like David- willing to go out of their way to help make this job a little easier and rewarding.

I see that you were gathering some info on Walden and Platt last fall. I have two upcoming trials where these guys may testify. I have their CVs...anything else important I should know about??

I had Platt testify before. He was not certified in SFSTs until he had been an officer for 2-3 years. He said that unless the tests are done and done exactly in accordance with the guidelines (ignoring the word "about" that is scattered through the testing explanations) there is no way to rely on them. So I asked if all his arrests before certification were no good. He denied that of course, but then was hard pressed to explain why the jury should ignore the officer's opinion, even if the tests were not done perfectly.

I had Platt testify before. He was not certified in SFSTs until he had been an officer for 2-3 years. He said that unless the tests are done and done exactly in accordance with the guidelines (ignoring the word "about" that is scattered through the testing explanations) there is no way to rely on them. So I asked if all his arrests before certification were no good. He denied that of course, but then was hard pressed to explain why the jury should ignore the officer's opinion, even if the tests were not done perfectly.

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Here is the link to Walden and Platt's web page. Also you can get a copy of Platt's Doctoral dissertation here:

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