Connecticut General Statutes 21a-283 – Analytical tests for presence of controlled drugs or alcohol. Standards and procedures. Convictions constituting prior offense. Imposition of cost when analysis performed
(a) The Division of Scientific Services within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall have primary responsibility for analysis of materials believed to contain controlled drugs, or of blood or urine believed to contain alcohol, for purposes of criminal prosecutions pursuant to this chapter; provided nothing herein shall be construed to preclude the use for such analyses of the services of other qualified toxicologists, pathologists and chemists, whether employed by the state or a municipality or a private facility or engaged in private practice, if such toxicologists, pathologists and chemists are engaged in operation of or employed by laboratories licensed by the Commissioner of Public Health or the Commissioner of Consumer Protection pursuant to § 21a-246. A laboratory of the United States Bureau of Narcotics is not required to be licensed under this section if it is approved by the Division of Scientific Services within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 21a-283
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Bureau: means the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, United States Department of Justice, or its successor agency. See Connecticut General Statutes 21a-240
- Controlled substance: means a drug, substance, or immediate precursor in schedules I to V, inclusive, of the Connecticut controlled substance scheduling regulations adopted pursuant to §. See Connecticut General Statutes 21a-240
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Laboratory: means a laboratory approved by the Department of Consumer Protection as proper to be entrusted with the custody of controlled substances and the use of controlled substances for scientific and medical purposes and for purposes of instruction, research or analysis. See Connecticut General Statutes 21a-240
- Person: includes any corporation, limited liability company, association or partnership, or one or more individuals, government or governmental subdivisions or agency, business trust, estate, trust, or any other legal entity. See Connecticut General Statutes 21a-240
- Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any state, district, commonwealth, territory or insular possession thereof, and any area subject to the legal authority of the United States of America. See Connecticut General Statutes 21a-240
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(b) The Division of Scientific Services within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall establish the standards for analytical tests to be conducted with respect to controlled drugs, or with respect to body fluids believed to contain alcohol, by qualified professional toxicologists and chemists operating under the division’s direction and shall have the general responsibility for supervising such analytical personnel in the performance of such tests. The original report of an analysis made by such analytical personnel of the Division of Scientific Services or by a qualified toxicologist, pathologist or chemist of a laboratory of the United States Bureau of Narcotics shall be signed and dated, either by hand or electronically, by the analyst actually conducting the tests and shall state the nature of the analytical tests or procedures, the identification and number of samples tested and the results of the analytical tests. A copy of such report certified by the analyst shall be received in any court of this state as competent evidence of the matters and facts therein contained at any hearing in probable cause, pretrial hearing or trial. If such copy is to be offered in evidence at a trial, the attorney for the state shall send a copy thereof, by certified mail, to the attorney of the defendant who has filed an appearance of record or, if there is no such attorney, to the defendant if such defendant has filed an appearance pro se, and such attorney or defendant, as the case may be, shall, not later than five days after the receipt of such copy, notify the attorney for the state, in writing, if such attorney or defendant intends to contest the introduction of such certified copy. No such trial shall commence until the expiration of such five-day period and, if such intention to contest has been filed, the usual rules of evidence shall obtain at such trial.
(c) In the case of any person charged with a violation of any provision of sections 21a-243 to 21a-279, inclusive, who has been previously convicted of a violation of the laws of the United States or of any other state, territory or the District of Columbia, relating to controlled drugs, such previous conviction shall, for the purpose of sections 21a-277 and 21a-279, be deemed a prior offense.
(d) In addition to any fine, fee or cost that may be imposed pursuant to any provision of the general statutes, the court shall impose a cost of fifty dollars upon any person convicted of a violation of this chapter if an analysis of a controlled substance in relation to the conviction was performed by or at the direction of the chief toxicologist of the Department of Public Health or the Division of Scientific Services within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. Any cost imposed under this subsection shall be credited to the appropriation for the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and shall not be diverted for any other purpose than the provision of funds for the Division of Scientific Services.