A judge has thrown out a drink-driving charge against a Southland man after finding a rookie Queenstown policewoman did not follow the correct procedure for a blood test.
Riley James Keen (26), labourer, of Waikaia, was discharged by Judge Bernadette Farnan at a judge-alone trial in the Queenstown District Court on Tuesday.
The court heard how Constable Claire Frooms had been a police officer for only three months when she pulled over the defendant's car in Kawarau Rd, Frankton, early on September 29 last year.
After a roadside breath test gave a positive result for alcohol, Mr Keen was taken to the Queenstown police station, where an evidential breath test gave a reading of 614mcg.
The defendant elected to take a blood test and was later charged with drink-driving after the test returned a result of 159mg.
Const Frooms' evidence and her cross-examination by defence counsel Bill Dawkins focused on the procedure she followed for informing Mr Keen about a 10-minute period, required by law, for him to decide on the test.
Const Froom said she had been inexperienced, unfamiliar with the correct procedure and ''flustered''.
