Throughout the United States, "per se" DUI laws establish a legal presumption that a driver was intoxicated if he or she had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above a certain limit -- across the board it's .08 percent. But, how does law enforcement know that a driver is above the legal limit? In order to establish a DUI suspect's BAC, police officers will ask a driver to submit to a test of some kind. While a blood test produces the most exact results, police officers regularly use breath analyzers to estimate a suspect's BAC at the time of driving.
Commonly known as "Breathalyzers," breath analysis testing devices are a type of instrument which requires the suspect to blow into it. The instrument will register the driver's BAC level. This type of measurement offers strong evidence concerning a suspect's BAC, but they are not infallible. Courts regularly accept Breathalyzer evidence as sufficient proof of a defendant's BAC, but the police department must demonstrate that the testing device in question can produce reliable results. Many DUI defendants have successfully challenged the Breathalyzer evidence brought against them, thus putting a serious dent in the prosecution's case.
The most frequent challenges to Breathalyzer evidence concern whether or not a testing device was in proper working order at the time of the test. Breathlyzers require regular calibration and maintenance to ensure that they deliver results with a sufficient level of accuracy. An improperly calibrated or poorly maintained machine will produce unreliable results that cannot form the basis of a presumption of intoxication under per se DUI laws.
It depends. Each state has its own particular laws and standards regarding when and how a Breathalyzer must be calibrated. For the results of a test to be admissible in court, however, most states follow these basic guidelines:
If a defendant can show that the police department did not follow proper calibration procedures, or that the device in question consistently provided erroneous readings, then a court will likely declare the results of a Breathalyzer test inadmissible as evidence of the defendant's intoxication.
A skilled defense attorney can subpoena the maintenance and calibration records of the Breathalyzer on which you tested, possibly using them as evidence that the equipment was not properly tuned to deliver entirely reliable test results.
At that point, the burden will shift back to the government to prove the defendant's intoxication through some other type of evidence such as the odor of alcohol on the suspect's breath, red or watery eyes, bad driving, poor performance on roadside field sobriety tests or a car accident.
Finding a qualified DUI attorney can mean the difference between a conviction and beating your case. An experienced attorney will be able to discuss the validity of your Breathalyzer results, challenge the Breathalyzer calibration, and advise you on a course of action moving forward. A good first step to defending your rights and getting the best possible outcome for your case is to contact a local DUI attorney.
