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Alcohol Breathalyzer Accuracy

If breathalyzer accuracy is in question then the devices should not be permissible in court. It would seem to be common sense yet innocent people are being convicted based on flawed results and unreliable devices every day in the United States. Breathalyzer accuracy comes in to question not only with false positives but they also give false negatives. This means that not only are innocent people being convicted, but guilty people are also being released as a result of the use of these faulty devices. Breathalyzer accuracy is being disputed more and more everyday in cases all around the country.

 Have you or someone you know been charged with DUI/DWI based on a breathalyzer accuracy test? Contact a lawyer that understands how to dipute breathalyzer accuracy today!

Research indicates that breathalyzer accuracy varies at least 15% from actual blood alcohol concentration. At least 23% (that's about one out of every four) of all individuals tested will have a BAC reading higher than their actual BAC. Therefore, many people convicted of DUI/DWI simply on the basis of breathalyzer test results alone will be innocent drivers who are falsely convicted.

• Iowa -  A class-action suit against the use of data collected by the breathalyzer, DataMaster, was won because the state failed to provide standardized instructions for operating and administering the test.
• Georgia - Cases have been won in several counties by defendants effectively charging that the breathalyzer, Intoxilyzer 5000, is prejudiced against women.
• Ohio - he State Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that breathalyzer tests for alcohol content must closely comply with state regulations intended to reduce errors. Judges can now only allow very minor errors in the alcohol tests.
• Washington - The State Supreme Court found that the state broke its own rules for maintaining alcohol breathalyzers and has ruled unanimously that alcohol breathalyzers in cases of alleged drunken or impaired driving aren’t admissible in court if they haven’t been properly calibrated to diminish erroneous readings.
• Texas - Court of Appeals ruling known as, “The Stewart Case", has caused doubtful breathalyzer tests estimates to be thrown out of courtrooms in 32 South Texas counties.
• Indiana - Court of Appeals has ruled that the result of an alcohol breathalyzer test given to a woman wearing a stainless steel stud in her pierced tongue is inadmissible in court. State law specifically prohibits anyone from having any foreign object in the mouth within twenty minutes before the time a breath sample is taken.

If our legal system is based upon the presumption of innocence until proven guilty then how do we justify convicting people on results that we know are debatable or uncertain? Judges violate their own judicial oaths when they convict a person based on the evidence gathered from a device that  leaves room for reasonable doubt.

Have you or someone you know been charged with DUI/DWI based on a breathalyzer accuracy test? Contact a lawyer that understands how to dipute breathalyzer accuracy today!

Article written by Juan Carlos Villamil contributing staff writer for SWI Digital, Inc.