Montgomery County DUI Breathalyzers
Breathalyzers are considered reliable instruments in Montgomery County. They are used by police officers in the preliminary stages at the roadside at the conclusion of field sobriety tests. They are also used by police officers after a person is placed under arrest at the police station to determine blood alcohol concentration. They are considered reliable by the courts as well as prosecutors and jurors as determinative of what a person’s alcohol concentration level was at the time that they were behind the wheel of a vehicle. If an individual wants to know more about the accuracy of Montgomery County DUI breathalyzers, they should consult a knowledgeable DUI attorney who could answer their questions.
History of Breathalyzer Accuracy
The accuracy of Montgomery County DUI breathalyzers has been debated for years. It has been debated not only in Montgomery County but all over the country. Breathalyzer tests have errors just like other machinery. There has never anything that is 100 percent accurate. There are always arguments that could be made about the accuracy of any device. There are margins of error that take into account certain built-in unreliability of the devices. For the most part, defense attorneys have to make compelling arguments for why a breathalyzer test should not be relied upon because they are generally considered reliable and valuable instruments by the court system.
Common Misconceptions of Breath Tests
Some common misconceptions about breathalyzers include that they are easy to fool. For example, a person may think that if they blow lightly into a breathalyzer test, it might not give officers what they are looking for. Officers are mindful of the fact that people try and outsmart breathalyzer machines all the time and often mark a breathalyzer result as an insufficient sample if they believe that individual is trying to outsmart the machine.
On the other hand, breathalyzer machines are not always 100 percent accurate. There are opportunities that defense attorneys could take to make arguments to the court by way of motions to exclude breathalyzer test results because of their inherent unreliability or because of some error in the way that the machine was calibrated or maintained that might skew the results that the machine was getting at a particular point in time.
False Positives in Breathalyzer Results
Some ways that Montgomery County DUI breathalyzers could result in false positives or inaccurately high BAC scores include if a machine is not properly calibrated or properly maintained. It could also come from varying foods that a person might have consumed, medications that a person might be on, or medical conditions that a person suffers from. The responses are endless for the kinds of things that have impacted breathalyzer test machines. Generally, if those issues exist, a defense attorney would have knowledge of challenging breathalyzer test results. They would look into the appropriate credentials that a breathalyzer test operator has as well as the machine’s credentials for when it was last calibrated and the materials that were used to maintain it to determine whether any of those things played a part in giving a false positive or an inaccurate blood alcohol level reading.
Despite the well-known issues that come with breathalyzers, government experts continue to rely on breathalyzer machines, because the court believes that they provide an accurate enough result combined with other information that gets a prosecution. It is not incorrect to think that these machines have inaccuracies and they should be challenged when given an opportunity. Unless more defendants and defense attorneys challenge the accuracy of these machines, they continue to be relied upon to prove DUI cases. That is only a culture that could change with more challenge to it.
Challenging Erroneous Breathalyzer Results
Someone could challenge erroneous breathalyzer results in court and suppress evidence. If a defense attorney files an appropriate challenge for an erroneous breathalyzer test result and is able to exclude it from evidence, the case with the government is significantly weakened because usually, a breathalyzer test result is the most significant and compelling piece of information that they have against the criminal defendant. Being able to suppress that from the evidence is usually a way of winning the case completely or having the charges significantly reduced.
Refusing Breath Tests in Montgomery County
One important thing that people should know about Montgomery County DUI breathalyzers is that breathalyzer test results, while not always accurate, pose a problem for a defendant and a defense attorney if somebody is considered to have blown above the legal limit. People have the option to refuse a breathalyzer test if they believe that they are going to fail the breathalyzer test. There are administrative sanctions at the Motor Vehicle Administration to a person’s driving privilege if they refuse a breathalyzer test, but sometimes that could be more helpful to them in the criminal court system. It is a matter of understanding one’s rights and making sure that they know what rights they are potentially giving up, depending on the breathalyzer test results that they have potentially given. A hardworking DUI attorney could work to ensure that an individual understands their rights and, that those rights are being protected. Call today and know that you are in capable hands.
