The City of Winston-Salem has contracted with a private to test alcohol and drug evidence, a “move that law enforcement officials say will dramatically bolster the prosecution of cases involving defendants accused of driving drunk or dealing drugs.”
Blood-alcohol and drug evidence that took months – sometimes years – to test at the State Crime Lab will be tested within days at the new crime lab, said Karen Watson, the supervisor of the Forensics Services Division of the Winston-Salem Police Department. The local lab may be operational as early as this spring at the Alexander R. Beaty Public Safety Training and Support Center on Patterson Avenue.
Semi-related –today’s N&R front-pager on the upcoming focus on DWI mentions Eden resident Keith London, who lost both his daughters in s drunken driving accident in July 2012. The 18-year-old driver of the vehicle in which London’s daughters were riding was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of felony death by motor vehicle—-and her case still is pending in Rockingham County Superior Court.
