Michigan Criminal Lawyers Blog
The Michigan State Police suspended its contract with the vendor who issues and calibrates their Datamaster machines. A Datamaster is the machine you blow into at the police station if you have been arrested for a drunk driving. The Datamaster is the considered the most accurate breath test and is the only breath test that is admissible in court against you. The roadside preliminary breath test (PBT) is only used to give an officer the right to arrest you if the PBT detects intoxication. The PBT is not admissible in court, only the Datamaster or the results of a blood draw are. The state police affirmed that their Datamaster vendor has had “performance-related issues” and, as such, will no longer be working with this vendor. As a result, all 203 Datamasters that are used across the state have been pulled from use. For the time being, the Michigan State Police has put the responsibility on themselves to properly calibrate these machines before they go back into use. They have also recommended police agencies to use blood draws instead of Datamasters to establish the intoxication element of a drunk driving charge.
Who Is Responsible?
The state police said in a statement that they are aggressively investigating the vendor for potential fraud committed by some of its contract employees. The vendor, Intoximeters, out of St. Louis, MO, has three contract employees who handle the calibration and certification of all 203 Datamasters statewide. These are the people in question according to the Michigan State Police. They believe that some certification records appear to be falsified. Because of this, an investigation has commenced with an eye towards forgery of public documents charges.
Does That Mean The Datamaster Results Are Faulty?
The Michigan State Police says no, but the true answer is maybe. If the Datamasters were all working properly then one would assume that they wouldn’t have all been taken out of use in the way they were. It is entirely possible that some of the Datamasters were not properly calibrated on time, and the people in question falsified the documents, then there would be a period of time where the Datamaster was in use and not properly calibrated which could lead to inaccurate results. The only way to know is to demand all relevant documents and logs, and to challenge their authenticity and accuracy. The Michigan State Police still stands by the Datamasters, stating that a properly calibrated machine is an extremely reliable instrument. It seems that this issue will be temporary in nature, and once proper checks are back in place, then they will continue to use the Datamaster.
What About My Case?
It is believed that there are over 50 cases that are affected by this issue. There were six cases in the Detroit Detention Center that used the faulty machines, those cases have since been dismissed. State police has said that seven departments could be affected with discrepancies in the Datamaster results. If you have recently blown into a Datamaster at a police station across the state of Michigan, then there is a possibility that the results of that machine were inaccurate due to some fraudulent activity. It is important to seek the advice and assistance of an attorney to help get to the bottom of it. If the police do not have proper Datamaster or blood draw results to admit in court against you, then their case typically falls apart and your case gets dismissed. The Datamaster is the most used and single most important piece of evidence in most all drunk driving cases. The blood draw is far less common, but while the Datamasters are out of service, the blood draw will be used in place of the Datamaster. As of this writing, some Datamasters have already been put back into use.
Can I Talk To Someone About My Case?
We offer a FREE consultation to anyone that has any questions relating to this article or about their own cases. We have over 100 years of combined experience at our disposal to help answer any and all your questions. We are not a general practice law firm. At Grabel & Associates we lead the fight for justice from the front, and we do it by specifically focusing on the area of criminal defense. It’s all we do, and we do it best. If you or someone you love is facing a DUI/Drunk Driving charge, then call us at our 24/7 defense line at 1-800-342-7896 or contact us online.