When people are pulled over on suspicion of a DUI, law enforcement often asks if they can administer a breathalyzer test. The results of this test are usually used to charge individuals with DUIs. However, what many people do not know is that DUI results can be inaccurate. There are a variety of factors which can result in false positives, resulting in a person being charged with a DUI. In an instance like that challenging West Palm Beach DUI breathalyzer results is a legitimate defense strategy that an Attorney can use to build a case. If you have been charged with a DUI get in touch with a defense Attorney who can strive to achieve a positive outcome for you.
False Positives
There are various ways in which the breathalyzer in West Palm Beach can give false positives or an inaccurate BAC score, and the most common is that the person has what is called ‘mouth alcohol’ where the person has alcohol still in their mouth or their digestive tract.
If the person recently ate or drank something, or burped or regurgitated within 20 minutes prior to taking the test, it has the ability to skew the test to be much higher than what it should be. Of course, if the person was drinking alcohol within 20 minutes before the test, that would skew the test unreasonably higher.
The other thing that makes breathalyzer results inaccurately high is that a lot of times the tests themselves are given more than an hour, sometimes up to two hours, after the time of the arrest. When the breath test is given two hours later, depending on how much the person has had to drink, and when they drank it, and what else was in their digestive system at the time, it could be inaccurate because it was not given at the time that the person was driving.
There are times where a person has some type of interference, either in their body or on their person. Radio interference can also result in an inaccurately high result. And also, the timing of the test can be inaccurate.
Challenging Breathalyzer Results to Suppress Evidence
An Attorney in West Palm Beach can definitely challenge breathalyzer results in Court, and there are a couple of ways to do that. An Attorney can challenge the results and challenge them as erroneous by pointing to other evidence that is inconsistent with what that machine says. If there was a mistake made in the administration of the test, where a person’s rights were infringed upon, for instance, they asked for a blood test and they were not given one or were not given reasonable assistance to get one, then the government does not have the right to use the breath test results and they will be suppressed.
Suppressing the evidence means the Attorney is not challenging the results but looking to eliminate the introduction of that evidence against the client. The ways to make successful motions to suppress breathalyzer tests are to challenge the administration of the test, whether or not it was administered properly by the technician and whether the client was properly informed of their rights when they were asked to perform a breath test.
Role of an Attorney When Challenging West Palm Beach DUI Breathalyzer Results
An experienced DUI Attorney can go through all the breathalyzer evidence with a fine-tooth comb to look for reasons to have the breath test results suppressed or eliminated. If that is not an option, then a Lawyer can try challenging West Palm Beach DUI breathalyzer results as inaccurate and unreliable. It is important to look at the inspection, maintenance and calibration issues performed on an annual and monthly basis. If there are mistakes in any of those maintenance tests, or calibration or inspection issues, a DUI Lawyer could likely have the breathalyzer results suppressed. If you have been charged with a DUI and have concerns about inaccurate breathalyzer results, contact a Lawyer who will fight for you.
