February 3, 2012 | Breath Tests, DUI Law

Charged with DUI or OVI in Dayton Ohio?  Did you take a test on the new Intoxilyzer 8000?  We can help.

The Intoxilyzer 8000 has been in service in Ohio since 2009.  It has come under some heavy fire from defense lawyers across Ohio.

Some courts are suppressing test results because of machines going haywire, etc.  Recent court opinions have found the 8000 unreliable where:

  • Machines need up to 15+ breath samples to get a result.
  • The machine is not in compliance with the Ohio Dept. of Health (ODH) Regulations that are a threshold requirement before it can be considered for evidence at trial.
  • The science behind the machine cannot be proven to pass admissibility requirements.
  • The Intoxilyzer 8000 is not accurate and not a reliable piece of equipment for measuring breath for blood alcohol content.
  • The state is unable to obtain the testimony of necessary witnesses from ODH, like the person that calibrated the machine.
  • The state’s expert from ODH did not take a written examination for her certification on the 8000 machine and was given a certification card by ODH’s director.
  • The ODH does not possess the source code and that she does not know the patent number of the equipment.  The source code from the manufacturer would allow third parties to test the reliability of the software program that calculates the blood alcohol content from a breath sample.
  • The ODH’s witness does not know who actually made the decision to purchase the Intoxilyzer 8000, who made up the governor’s committee that originally reviewed the equipment, or what that committee’s recommendation was to the Director of ODH as to the Intoxilyzer 8000.
  • The ODH told the court that the records were maintained on the website, but the court went to the website and reviewed all three 8000 machines considered in this matter and found that at least one of those machines, Sheriff’s Department Serial No. 80-004305 was taken out of service and replaced with Serial No. 80-003989.  There is no discussion of why 80-004305 was taken out of service and replaced and apparently ODH did not remember replacing the unit.
  • The ODH did not, could not, or would not testify as to why it believes the Intoxilyzer 8000 is a reliable machine for testing breath in OVI cases.
  • One judge went so far as to say in his opinion that he has heard no evidence from ODH to lead it to believe that the machine is accurate and reliable.
  • The Judge in this case suppressed the evidence from the Intoxilyzer 8000 machine.

To learn more, call our Dayton Criminal Defense law firm at (937) 531-0435 or visit our contact us page to send us an email.s