Washington ToxLab Redeux: Florida Breath Testing Mess
It’s nice to know that the Washington Toxicology Lab isn’t the only governmental agency that is more concerned with convicting you of DUI than of doing their jobs right and engaging in good science. Yet another breath test scandal has emerged, this time throwing out breath tests on the other side of the country.
“FORT LAUDERDALE – Because a state inspector was fired for interfering with inspections of breath-test machines, a Broward judge ruled Friday that results from one of the devices cannot be used in a drunken-driving case before him.
Defense attorneys said County Judge Lee Jay Seidman’s ruling is a bellwether that will likely be followed in 500 to 1,000 other pending cases in Broward County. That could mean reduced charges, and possible acquittals, in many instances.
A spokesman for the Broward State Attorney’s Office said the office would appeal Seidman’s ruling.
The breath-machine issue came to light with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s firing of Sandra Veiga last October.
Local law enforcement agencies perform their own monthly inspections of the devices, and the FDLE does annual inspections to certify their accuracy.
For about two years, Veiga was the FDLE employee in charge of annual inspections for all Broward County breath-testing machines. She also tested machines for Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
She admitted that she turned off power to machines that looked like they were going to fail inspection. A failure could have indicated a malfunction.
Veiga’s actions, defense attorneys say, cast grave doubt on the machines’ reliability — and mean any reading they gave indicating a driver had consumed too much alcohol — is worthless as evidence.
In Seidman’s ruling, the judge ruled that the integrity of the machines under Veiga’s care and control had been “fatally compromised” and “evidence gathered under such troubling circumstances” could not be presented to a jury.”
This conjures up images of the recent Washington State Toxicology Lab fiasco, doesn’t it? We had perjury, rotten science, bad math, and a cover-up!
The basic thing to remember is that just because you’ve given a breath test doesn’t mean the results are accurate, and doesn’t mean that you have no chance in your DUI case.
Locally, many courts in King County (Seattle, Redmond, Burien) are still suppressing breath tests on a routine basis. Some courts in Snohomish County (Lynnwood, Bothell, Everett) have ranges of time that are unacceptable. But as always, it varies from case to case. Finding a defense attorney who is willing and able to combat the machines (and the prosecutors who love them) is paramount.
Contact Lynnwood area DUI Defense Attorney Jonathan Dichter to find out what can be done about your case – he offers a free consultation for all potential clients.
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