Over a years worth of breathalyzer records from the Santan and Gold Canyon areas have apparently been lost by the Pinal Count Sherriff’s office, resulting in at least 4 DUI cases being dismissed.

It is a requirement that the police department is able to verify that the Intoxilyzer 8000 breath test machines have received the proper quality assurance to establish their validity in court.

With those records missing, DUI cases that rely heavily or entirely on a breath test result as evidence in court have to be dismissed. While it’s an obvious mistake by the police, it is a very minimal legal standard that the machines be certified.

Arizona DUI defense lawyers will tell you that you can’t cross examine a machine, and it can be very difficult to establish that these breath test machines have a number of flaws that can result in false positives, based on people’s stomach disorders (GERD), diet issues, and many other issues with their usage. Juries and judges tend to believe the magical number regardless of the questions raised by defense counsel.

Having minimal maintenance records available and establishes is an incredibly low standard to meet, so it is reasonable that these cases should be dismissed.

All citizens should be afraid of a magical machine that can send you to jail, but essentially can’t be challenged or questioned. Defense lawyers are not allowed to run any independent tests on breath test machines to establish their accuracy and biases, with true scientific detachment. And it most states, attorneys have been denied access to the source code and information about the inner workings of the machine to understand exactly how it works, and what problems could have been overlooked.

If you are charged with a DUI in Arizona, we can help. Please contact our attorneys for a free consultation and case evaluation on any Arizona DUI arrest. Find out what we can do for you, with no obligation.