The expert called by the defence in the trial of former correctional officer Michael Gaber misunderstood parts of the evidence, the Crown argued Monday, asking the judge not to take her testimony into account.

Prosecutor Eric Marcoux and defence lawyer David Tarnow were giving their final submissions before Justice Ron Veale in Yukon Supreme Court.

Tarnow asked the judge to find his client not guilty. He argued the Crown had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt he tried to smuggle a controlled substance into the Whitehorse Correctional Centre.

Gaber, 47, was charged on Dec. 26, 2013 with two counts of possessing drugs for the purpose of trafficking.

That day, his superior searched him upon arrival at the jail.

The search yielded 59 pills the RCMP identified as Ritalin. Marijuana and tobacco were also seized but later excluded because the search was conducted without a warrant.

Much of the trial focused on the analysis of the pills done by a Health Canada laboratory in Vancouver.

Testifying for the Crown, Health Canada analyst Sarita Jaswal previously told the court in minute detail about the analysis she had done on one of the pills seized.

She testified she determined the pills contained methylphenidate, the active substance in Ritalin.

Methylphenidate is a schedule III drug under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

The defence, relying on lab analyst Suzanne Perry, attacked the police’s handling of the evidence and the procedure the lab followed.

To determine the composition of samples they receive, Health Canada lab analysts run them through testing equipments.

They compare the results with testing they ran on their own equipment with known substances called reference standards – here, Ritalin they bought.

In this case, the lab used a reference standard from 2004.

Tarnow took issue with the age of the standard and the fact it wasn’t a certified reference standard – a guarantee of purity.

He also reminded the court Perry didn’t mince her words when talking about Jaswal’s analysis.

“The conclusions are not scientifically sound,” Perry said during her testimony on Jan. 29 about the certificate of analysis entered as evidence.

“It can’t be relied upon to identify the sample seized on Gaber.”

Tarnow also noted in his final submissions that Jaswal admitted to using a database to check the results of her analysis but didn’t include it in her report.

The Health Canada lab has access to databases used by the FBI and the RCMP, Tarnow pointed out.

Perry had testified the databases offers a reliable way to confirm sample analysis.

In his final submissions, the Crown took issue with Perry’s “harsh comments,” noting she couldn’t explain how the lab had done so poorly in her opinion while having the highest level of accreditation available.

Since 2011, Health Canada labs have been accredited under the International Organization for Standardization.

Perry also didn’t know about the body in charge of accrediting labs in Canada, which casts doubts on how knowledgeable she was on the topic, Marcoux said.

She misunderstood what was done, over-emphasizing parts of how the analysis was carried out.

Perry took issue with the visual matching done by Jaswal– comparing two graphs to determine if the substance identified is the same as the reference standard used – calling it “unscientific and biased.”

But that visual matching was only one small component of multiple tests Jaswal did to ascertain the pills contained Ritalin, the Crown insisted.

Marcoux also noted that the Crown only had to prove Gaber had some Ritalin in his possession, as the defence had challenged whether the 58 other pills seized that day contained any controlled substances.

Gaber also told the RCMP while being questioned that the pills he was caught with were “prescription pills,” Marcoux said.

A video of the interrogation was shown in court in January.

Veale is expected to render his decision in early May.