Who Better than a Certified Intoxilyzer Operator
to Evaluate Your Breath Test Results?
St. Petersburg / Clearwater DUI Defense Lawyers
Conviction by a Machine?
Florida law provides for a “presumption of impairment” where the driver of a vehicle has been shown to have been operating a vehicle at a .08 BAC or above. Prosecutors are, of course, quick to pursue DUI convictions against drivers who are “over the legal limit.” In many DUI cases, the evidence concerning the alcohol content of the driver comes solely from the results of an Intoxilyzer breath test. As a consequence, a DUI case is one of those few types of criminal prosecutions where a real danger of “conviction by a machine” exists.
The Intoxilyzer Machine and its Operator are Less than Perfect
There are a multitude of ways for an Intoxilyzer operator to make an error. Likewise, there are numerous ways that this breath testing device may become unreliable as a result of improper or deficient maintenance, a failure to calibrate, external interference, or an internal glitch. A skilled DUI defense lawyer, trained in the very methods and procedures used by law enforcement, is in a position to closely scrutinize the maintenance, calibration, and operation of the Intoxilyzer used in your case.
How Closely Scrutinizing Your Breath Test Results Could Help in Your Case
The ultimate resolution of many Pinellas County DUI cases will be heavily influenced by your Intoxilyzer results. Because your breath test results typically play a central role in the prosecutor’s case, raising questions about the reliability of the results or questioning the admissibility of the Intoxilyzer readings may significantly weaken the overall strength of the State’s DUI prosecution. The prosecutor may then be pressured to reduce your charge to a lesser offense, such as a charge of reckless driving. In other situations, getting the breath test results excluded from use in court may prevent the prosecutor from proceeding with a case altogether and could result in an outright dismissal of the charge.
We Are Among a Select Few Pinellas DUI Defense Lawyers Who Are Certified to Operate the Intoxilyzer
Our background and experience as former State Prosecutors and certified Intoxilyzer operators places us in a well-informed position to scrutinize your breath test results. We have decidedly made it our business to know law enforcement’s business. Accordingly, we know first-hand the street level tactics used by law enforcement to gather evidence in DUI cases.
9 Critical Questions about the breath test procedures, calibration & maintenance in your case.
Learn about our contemporary & vintage breath test instrument museum.
Call our office for a free consultation at (727) 578-0303
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