Alcohol Breath Test Machine's Accuracy Disputed
Nationally
Atlanta, GA -- June 14, 1996 -- Once used
as an indisputable technique for convicting people suspected
of driving under the influence of alcohol or DUI / DWI, alcohol
breath analyzing machine’s results, like Georgia’s
Intoxilyzer 5000, are being thrown out and considered inadmissible
as evidence by some judges.
Recently in Georgia a judge dismissed evidence
from a alcohol breath analyzing machine, the Intoxilyzer 5000,
calling it “insufficient”. The report in the Atlanta
Journal and Constitution said that Hart County Municipal Judge
Frank George last month acquitted a driver who had registered
above the legal limit on the breath test, saying he believes
the test alone is not sufficient evidence of drunken driving.
“This case in Atlanta has set a long
overdo precedent in our court system and is something we are
going to see happening shortly nationally,” says nationally
recognized DUI / DWI defense attorney William C. "Bubba"
Head.
Further reports indicate ineffective monitoring
of the machines by police forces, and other personal variable
when the test is being administered can seriously impact the
results of such a test.
For example dental work such as plates or
bridge work, consumption of antibiotics, diet pills, and even
M&M candy and white bread can cause alcohol breath analyzing
machines to register as much as a .08, putting a person over
the legal drinking limit without the presence of alcohol says
Head, who is also founder of the Drinking Driver’s Defense
Network (DDDN).
Head reports that he has been successful in
excluding breath test results in 100% of his breath analyzer
test cases since January of 1995.
“The accuracy and reliability of breath
testing is a growing issue of concern nationally and really
needs to be looked into by our state officials," he says.
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