Blood samples in fatal DUI destroyed

The destruction of blood samples taken from Fred Russell after a
deadly 2001 car crash was an accident and did not warrant a formal
investigation, state toxicologist Barry Logan testified Monday.

Russell, who fled the country before trial and was found in Ireland,
faces three counts of vehicular homicide. He is seeking to have the
blood-test results thrown out because his defense team cannot
independently analyze them.

The results showed that legally he was drunk when he was involved in
the auto accident that killed three Washington State University
students and injured three others.

Logan testified at a hearing in Whitman County Superior Court that
no independent investigation was conducted into the loss of the blood
samples.

Russell's lawyer, Francisco Duarte of Seattle, wants the results banned from the trial.

Logan testified that it was only the second time that he knew of in
which evidence was destroyed inadvertently by the state crime lab.