Last month, I blogged the latest salvo in the fight in Florida over accused DUIs and the breathalyzer that fingered them. The accused were demanding an audit of the breathalyzer's firmware as part of a defense that they breathalyzer is defective and the Judge agreed that this was reasonable. The breathalyzer manufacturer is refusing to supply the source, which may result in all the DUI convictions being thrown out:
"It seems to us that one should not have privileges and freedom jeopardised by the results of a mystical machine that is immune from discovery, that inhales breath samples and that produces a report specifying a degree of intoxication," a February 2004 court ruling stated…
If CMI keeps refusing to subject the application to an independent audit, it is unlikely that a judge can force it to do so. This would render the results of the test inadmissible in court.
(Thanks, AV!)
