A liberal advocacy group says a traffic accident that killed a man might have been prevented if the state crime lab were processing blood tests more quickly.
Frank Schiller was out on bail when his car hit a good Samaritan helping change a tire last July on Interstate 94 near Delafield. Prosecutors were waiting on blood test results for Schiller, a repeat drunken driver, at the time.
Liberal group One Wisconsin Now says Schiller would have been behind bars if blood tests had come back sooner.
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It’s impossible to know if that would have happened, and Deputy Attorney General Paul Connell said a string of court decisions had a bigger role in Schiller being free than any delayed test.
But crime lab delays could be a re-election issue for Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel. Turnaround times for evidence tests have increased since he took office. Schimel created several temporary positions last summer to try to speed up evidence processing.
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