State v. Hanks

Defendant appeals his jury conviction on a charge of driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor (DWI), in violation of 23 V.S.A. § 1201(a)(2). He argues that the district court erred by limiting his cross-examination of the state chemist so that he was prevented from challenging the State’s reliance on a permissive inference that his breath test result indicated he was intoxicated. We conclude that the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to allow defense counsel to cross-examine the state chemist concerning the potential variability among different persons at different…