22 MR. WADDING: The state would call Renee

23 Whitlatch, Your Honor.

24

25

167

1 RENEE LYNN WHITLATCH,

2 called as a witness on behalf of the state, being first

3 duly sworn by the court, was examined and testified as

4 follows:

5 COURT: State your full name, please.

6 WITNESS: Renee Lynn Whitlatch.

7 COURT: How do you spell Renee?

8 WITNESS: R-E-N-E-E.

9 COURT: And your last name?

10 WITNESS: W-H-I-T-L-A-T-C-H.

11 COURT: Mr. Wadding?

12 MR. WADDING: Thank you.

13 DIRECT EXAMINATION

14 BY MR. WADDING:

15 Q. Would you please state your occupation.

16 A. I'm a medical lab technician at Sartori

17 Hospital.

18 Q. And as a medical lab technician, did have you

19 to go through some education to achieve that position?

20 A. Yes. There was two years of education at

21 Hawkeye Tech.

22 Q. Okay. And when did you go through that?

23 A. The years of '92 through '94.

24 Q. And after you graduated, what did you -- were

25 you employed as a medical technician then?

168

1 A. Yes. I worked on contract at Sartori for

2 six, nine months, was employed in Eldora for two months

3 and then came back to Sartori until I was hired on a

4 permanent basis.

5 Q. And do you have to receive any kind of a

6 certification or a license or anything of that nature to

7 do what you do?

8 A. Yes. There's a state certification that has

9 to be passed.

10 Q. And are you -- have you passed that

11 certification?

12 A. Yes, I did.

13 Q. And are you a medical technologist in good

14 standing with the state of Iowa?

15 A. Laboratory technician. The MT is a four-year

16 degree, but I do have the two-year in good standing with

17 the state, yes.

18 Q. Are you a laboratory technician in good

19 standing with the state of Iowa?

20 A. Yes.

21 Q. Okay. Thank you. And could you just

22 describe what a laboratory technician does?

23 A. We do anything from collecting the blood

24 samples, urine samples and then running the test that is

25 ordered by the doctor on them, giving test results back

169

1 over the phone or by report.

2 Q. Does it -- generally speaking, are you taking

3 blood samples and urine samples only?

4 A. What other -- other samples that may be

5 delivered to the lab. I guess the urine we don't

6 technically get ourselves especially, yeah, but any other

7 type of sample that is brought in to us, we --

8 Q. Well, I guess in -- you don't do tissue

9 samples or anything like that?

10 A. Those go through the hospital, but I believe

11 they're now sent over to Covenant.

12 Q. Okay. And what -- where do you currently

13 work?

14 A. Sartori Hospital.

15 Q. And you've basically worked with them for

16 over two years?

17 A. Yes.

18 Q. And do you work a particular shift?

19 A. Third shift.

20 Q. And what hours is that?

21 A. Starts at 9 p.m. and goes to 7 a.m.

22 Q. And why do they have a third shift for a

23 laboratory technician?

24 A. So that we're there for any medical

25 emergencies that would come into the emergency room as

170

1 well as other laboratory tests that are ordered through

2 the night on inpatients.

3 Q. Okay. And are you familiar with the

4 procedures of drawing a legal blood sample?

5 A. Yes, I am.

6 Q. And how did you become familiar with those

7 procedures?

8 A. Through my instruction there at Sartori and

9 having done several in the past.

10 Q. Okay. And were you on duty on October 4th,

11 1996?

12 A. Not that I recall, but if that's the night in

13 question here, yes.

14 Q. Perhaps October 4th to October 5th, 1996.

15 A. Yeah.

16 Q. Do you have a recollection of either of those

17 dates?

18 A. That's the date that the accident occurred

19 and that I drew the sample on Mr. Rokes, yes.

20 Q. Okay.

21 MR. WADDING: May I approach, Your Honor?

22 COURT: You may.

23 Q. I'm going to show you what I've marked as

24 State's Exhibit "C", marked for identification, ask you

25 if you recognize that?

171

1 A. Yes, I do.

2 Q. Okay. What do you recognize that as?

3 A. It's the card that comes in with the kit,

4 kind of a small chain of custody that states that I drew

5 the blood and where and the time that I did so.

6 Q. And does that contain your signature?

7 A. Yes, it does.

8 Q. And do you recognize that as such?

9 A. Yes, that's my signature.

10 Q. And is that a photocopy?

11 A. Yes.

12 Q. Is that an accurate photocopy of your

13 signature?

14 A. Yes, it is.

15 Q. And does it indicate the date in which you

16 would have performed the blood withdrawal in this

17 instance?

18 A. Yes.

19 Q. And the time as well?

20 A. Yes, it does.

21 Q. And if that indicated October 5th, 1996,

22 would that -- would that square with your recollection?

23 A. Yes.

24 Q. Okay. You don't have any reason to believe

25 that that isn't accurate?

172

1 A. No.

2 Q. Okay. And in looking at -- do you recall,

3 outside the date, do you recall drawing the blood from

4 the defendant in this instance?

5 A. Yes, I do.

6 Q. Why do you recall that?

7 A. Oh, I guess I thought this day might come

8 when I was drawing it. We don't do that many legals, and

9 the circumstances with the injured, it just is one that

10 stuck in my mind.

11 Q. Okay. And can you describe the procedures

12 that you followed in drawing the blood from the

13 defendant?

14 A. I would have gone in, told them what we were

15 doing. An officer would have been present at the time

16 and already -- or at that time gotten the permission

17 signature to do so. I would have used the kit that we

18 have that has an iodine swab versus an alcohol swab in

19 it, two collection tubes. I would have asked the

20 defendant to roll up his sleeve and prepared his arm for

21 a blood draw and done so.

22 Q. And do you recall doing that in this

23 instance?

24 A. I recall doing it, but not the specifics as

25 far as which arm I would have used or details of that

173

1 nature. But I recall doing that.

2 Q. Okay. And, as you recall, on State's Exhibit

3 "C", marked for identification, that you did affix your

4 signature to that chain of custody --

5 A. Yes, I did.

6 Q. -- is that correct? And after you would have

7 given -- or drawn the blood sample, what would you have

8 done?

9 A. I would have used the integrity seals to seal

10 up the kit, made sure everything had been signed, the

11 officer signed where he was needed and delivered the kit

12 down to the lab.

13 Q. And where would you put it in the lab?

14 A. The chemistry refrigerator.

15 Q. And did you do so in this instance?

16 A. I believe so. I have no reason to believe

17 otherwise.

18 Q. And did you actually analyze the blood sample

19 in this instance?

20 A. No, I did not.

21 Q. And do you know who did?

22 A. Julie Glade.

23 Q. And do you -- do you know who she is?

24 A. Yes. I work with her.

25 Q. I'm sorry?

174

1 A. Yes. I work with her.

2 Q. Okay. And she's a medical technologist?

3 A. Yes.

4 Q. At Sartori Hospital?

5 A. Uh-huh.

6 MR. WADDING: I don't have any further

7 questions. Thank you.

8 COURT: Mr. Correll?

9 MR. CORRELL: Thank you.

10 CROSS-EXAMINATION

11 BY MR. CORRELL:

12 Q. Miss Whitlatch, when you met with Mr. Rokes

13 to draw a sample, was that in a room in the hospital?

14 A. Yes. It was in one of the emergency rooms.

15 Q. And when you were in there with him, did

16 you -- you were in there with him about ten minutes; is

17 that correct?

18 A. Yes, approximately.

19 Q. And isn't it a fact that when you were in

20 there with him that you explained to him a little bit

21 about what it was that you were going to do?

22 A. Yes.

23 Q. And isn't it a fact that he understood or

24 certainly appeared to understand what it was that you

25 were telling him at that point in time?

175

1 A. Yes, he did.

2 Q. And isn't it a fact that he responded

3 appropriately to you to the best of your ability to

4 determine that during that communication?

5 A. Yes, he did.

6 Q. And was there any -- isn't it true that there

7 was nothing in his speech that indicated to you that he

8 was under the influence of alcohol?

9 A. No, there was no indication of that.

10 Q. And isn't it true that there was nothing in

11 his movement or walk that indicated to you that he was

12 under the influence of alcohol --

13 A. That's true.

14 Q. -- is that true as well? With regard to the

15 refrigerator, it's true that that is a refrigerator,

16 that's not a locked refrigerator, it's just a

17 refrigerator that lab substances are put in?

18 A. True.

19 Q. And with regard to the test, I believe you

20 indicated was done by a Ms. Glade subsequently; is that a

21 fact?

22 A. Yes.

23 Q. And from time to time are you involved in

24 doing tests on that machine yourself?

25 A. Yes.

176

1 Q. And is that the so-called DuPont machine that

2 you use for that purpose?

3 A. Yes, it is.

4 Q. And is that basically the backup machine?

5 A. Backup machine on?

6 Q. Do you have other machines in the lab that

7 you utilize for the purposes of doing lab tests?

8 A. Yes.

9 MR. WADDING: I'm going to object, Your

10 Honor, and ask that my objection precede the answer.

11 It's outside the scope of direct. It's obvious she

12 didn't do the test.

13 COURT: Overruled. The answer is in.

14 Mr. Correll.

15 Q. And that DuPont machine that the test -- the

16 legal blood-alcohol is run on has three controls on it;

17 is that not correct.

18 MR. WADDING: I'm going to object, Your

19 Honor. It's outside the scope of direct testimony.

20 COURT: Overruled.

21 A. Do you mean controls for the alcohol?

22 Q. Three controls to determine if the machine is

23 properly functioning?

24 A. There are two.

25 Q. Okay. There's not three controls on that if

177

1 you use two?

2 A. We only purchased two.

3 Q. Okay. And it is -- that machine though can

4 be utilized with three controls, can it not --

5 MR. WADDING: I'm going to object, Your

6 Honor. It's outside the scope.

7 COURT: We are departing a long ways from

8 direct examination, Mr. Correll. Let's move on.

9 Q. Is it not true that the -- the DuPont machine

10 is not calibrated before every test?

11 MR. WADDING: I'm going to object, Your

12 Honor. That's outside the scope.

13 MR. CORRELL: I have nothing further.

14 COURT: Mr. Wadding?

15 MR. WADDING: No further questions.

16 COURT: Thank you. Mr. Wadding?

17 MR. WADDING: Your Honor, I believe that my

18 next scheduled witness was at 3 o'clock. I'd suggest a

19 ten-minute recess.

20 COURT: All right. We'll break until 3.

21 (At which time a recess was taken at

22 2:48 p.m., May 13, 1997; and proceedings commenced at

23 3:08 p.m., May 13, 1997, with the court, counsel and

24 defendant present.)

updated 08/12/10