Many people who submit to Breathalyzer tests during a traffic stop fail these tests unfairly. While the vast majority of police departments use Breathalyzers and confidently present Breathalyzer evidence in court, these devices and are not perfectly accurate. In some cases, Breathalyzers produce inaccurate results that lead to unfair convictions.
If you or someone you love recently received drunk driving charges because of failing a Breathalyzer test, it is time to examine the details of the police interaction and begin building your legal defense. Without a strong legal defense, you may face grossly unfair penalties such as steep fees, loss of privileges and even jail time. Building your defense now uses the strength of the law to protect your rights.
Weaknesses of Breathalyzer devices
Breathalyzer devices have flaws and weak aspects, just like nearly everything does. While their reliability is generally accepted, these devices may produce inaccurate results without proper upkeep and operation.
Maintaining a Breathalyzer is similar to maintaining a car. If you drive your car daily and never change the oil or the brake pads, soon your car may not be easy or safe to drive. Similarly, if a Breathalyzer device does not receive regular maintenance and calibration, it can easily produce bad results.
Police officers must keep their devices well-maintained and must keep them calibrated. If the device does not receive ongoing regular maintenance, it may break or encounter errors. Likewise, if a device does not receive proper calibration regularly, it may return bad results that lead to unfair charges.
When you use a scale to weigh yourself, you want to know that the scale is properly calibrated so that you can trust its results. The same goes for a Breathalyzer. Without ongoing calibration, the results deviate significantly. If you have any reason to believe that your test results are not reliable, be sure to consider this in your defense.
Police actions
Police officers face a great responsibility to keep streets safe and maintain order without breaking the law themselves. Just as private individuals must avoid breaking the law and violating the rights of others, so must police. If you experienced unacceptable behavior by a police officer during your stop, make sure to include this as part of your defense.
Police may violate your rights by using unnecessary force, or may indicate an opportunity to bribe them, which is obviously unacceptable. If you believe that your arresting officer violated your rights during your stop, be sure to examine the law closely on these points.
Building your defense may seem overwhelming, but you must use all the tools and resources you have to protect your rights and future. The sooner that you begin building your defense, the more options you have, allowing you to focus on resolving this issue fairly and moving forward confidently.
