DUI Defender

As I wrote earier, the source code battle has expanded beyond Florida and New Jersey, in Minnesota prosecutor’s and CMI missed the deadline to provide the defense with the source code for the Intoxilyzer 5000 EN. The court may dismiss the “per se” charge as a result of the failure.

The source code is the software that underlies the basic operation of the breath testing device. It essentially determines how the measurement is converted into blood alcohol concentration measurements used in criminal prosecutions. The reason why the code is important is that the software averages the readings taken during the sample to create a number, many scientists think that the breath alcohol measurement will vary dramatically depending upon where in the breath sample the measurement is taken. This variance could result in an overstatement of the blood alcohol measurement. The software also converts the breath alcohol measurement into a blood alcohol measurement. Many manufacturer’s of breath alcohol testing equipment have used the “proprietary” software defense, however, it seems to be failing in some court’s.

The “per se” charge as discussed above is a secondary charge that most persons arrested for DUI face, it states that you were DUI because your blood alcohol concentration was .08 or above. The so-called legal limit is now in effect in all 50 states since the award of federal highway funds was tied to legistlature’s enacting the limit. The importance of the “per se” charge should not be underestimated as it provides the prosecution with an alternative theory when a person is stopped for an equipment violation and performs well on field tests and has few if any of the “objective symptoms of intoxication.” (Odor of an alcoholic beverage, thick or slurred speech, red/watery eyes, unsteady gait, etc.).

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