• Image by Blanaru Florin Lucian from Pixabay

    Why the Accuracy of Breath and Blood Tests Matters in DWI Cases

    A woman I know blew a 0.09 on a roadside breath test outside Houston. The legal limit in Texas is 0.08. She was arrested, charged with DWI, and spent the next several months assuming the number was the case and the case was over. Her attorney looked at something different. When was the Intoxilyzer 8000 she’d been tested on last calibrated? Who certified the officer who administered the test? Was the required 15-minute observation period actually documented? The calibration records showed the machine had been flagged for a maintenance issue six weeks before her test. The officer’s certification had lapsed. The observation period wasn’t documented in a way that was…