WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall
take effect July 1, 1988.

May 27, 1988

The Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr.

President of the Senate

State House

Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Dear Mr. President:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the Maryland
Constitution, I have today vetoed Senate Bill 65.

Senate Bill 65 and House Bill 254, identical bills, provide that
in paternity proceedings a copy of a laboratory report of blood
test results signed by the technician or analyst who performed
the test is admissible as evidence without the presence of the
technician or analyst. The bills further provide that if any
party desires the technician or analyst to be present and to
testify at trial, the party must notify the court and the
opposing party in writing not later than five days before trial.
If this notice is timely made, the tests results are inadmissible
unless the technician or analyst is present at trial and subject
to cross examination.

While Senate Bill 65 and House Bill 254 were intended only to
clarify and permit the current practice of admitting blood test
reports without the presence of the laboratory technician or
analyst, the provisions of the bills permitting any party to
require the presence of the laboratory technician as well as the
person who analyzes the blood and prepares the report on such
short notice would have an inadvertent impact on paternity
proceedings.

I have been advised that as many as eight technicians may be
involved in preparing and testing the blood. To allow a party to
require the presence of all the technicians would be very
expensive, disruptive to the laboratory operations, and would not
significantly assist the parties in presenting their case to the
judge or the jury. The basic function of the technicians is to
separate the blood and determine what genes are present in the
antigens and to log their findings. The technician findings are
then utilized by a doctor or other expert to reach a conclusion
and to prepare a report which will either exclude the defendant
or include him to a certain percentage of probability. The
doctor or expert who prepares the report and who monitors all the
testing procedures is obviously the person who should be subject

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