Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City & Inverness, Florida Accident Attorney and Alachua County DUI Lawyer Blogs

It is time for CMI to be straight with everyone about its Intoxilyzer 8000.

The CMI Intoxilyzer 8000 currently used throughout the state of Florida has been the subject of relentless attack over the past few years by knowledgeable defense attorneys who question its accuracy and precision in determining blood alcohol levels of people arrested for DUI .

The courts are finally insisting that the manufacturer disclose the machine's source code so that the inner workings of the device can be evaluated.  Acting as though they have something to hide, CMI, has refused to obey the court orders in spite of fines mounting to million dollars sums.  CMI has been found to be in contempt of the court orders now being issued throughout Florida. 

 It is highly unusual for scientific devices to be off limits for the defense experts to examine and evaluate in order to argue what weight a judge or jury should place on their findings.  We have all heard experts in highly publicized trials arguing over the reliability of DNA, fingerprints, hair or blood samples, and a myriad of other evidence submitted by either side to prove or disprove a case. 

It is interesting that CMI thinks it is above the law. However their reluctance to play by the rules may be catching up with them.  The state of Ohio has placed a 6.4 million dollar order for new Intoxilyzer 8000 machines but the chairman of the Ohio Senate Finance Committee, Senator John Carey, is requesting that the state reconsider its purchase. He is concerned that in several other states including Florida thousands of drunk driving cases have been delayed or dismissed because of questions about the Intoxilyzer 8000's accuracy.  Those other states include: Minnesota, Louisiana, Massachusetts and New Jersey. 

Some issues that are still being evaluated are whether or not the machine can be manipulated based on how hard and how frequently a person is asked to blow into the machine. Another concern is that the machine doesn't keep a permanent record of the data it obtains.  Ohio State University emeritus professor Alfred E. Staub, an expert on alcohol-breath test machines stated that " The machine just has a greater range of acceptable standards. It's more loosey-goosey, basically"

It is time for CMI to be straight with everyone including those charged with DUI in Florida where a conviction creates a permanent lifetime record which can never be erased.  It will be difficult if not impossible under current rules to undo a conviction if we find that it was based on faulty and unreliable evidence produced by the Intoxilyzer 8000.

The state of Florida should either require that CMI produce all relevant information required by court order or choose one of the other more cooperative manufacturers of breath testing machines.