When it comes to determining the innocence or guilt of an individual, a Colorado judge must consider the evidence presented by the prosecutor. In turn, the prosecutor must rely upon law enforcement personnel to collect this evidence in a proper manner. Finally, law enforcement personnel must rely upon their instincts, training and the tools that they are given when they collect this evidence. When it comes to collecting evidence in a DUI case, many times these officers rely upon blood alcohol tests as part of their evidence.
Recently, information has surfaced indicating that the certification process for the Intoxilyzer 9000, the primary breath test used within Colorado, may have been faulty. According to one technician with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, it appears that individuals who were not authorized to certify these machines were actually the ones doing so. This technician also claims that his signature was forged on the certification documents for many of the machines.
When an individual is stopped for suspected DUI, law enforcement officers will typically conduct field sobriety tests. Based upon the data collected, it is likely that they will also administer a blood alcohol test. Many times, a Breathalyzer test is used for this part of the process. In using the machine to conduct this test, there should not be any question as to its reliability for the intended purpose.
Based upon these recent allegations, the reliability of these machines used for blood alcohol tests may be questionable. As such, Colorado residents who were convicted using evidence from these machines or those who now face such charges may want to look into this matter. An experienced defense team can review the evidence to determine the best course of action.
Source: krdo.com, “Forged breathalyzer docs could lead to hundreds of compromised DUI cases“, Mike Carter, March 10, 2017