Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Polk County breath tests deemed invalid

This is the text of a letter sent out by Polk County (TX) District Attorney William Lee Hon earlier this month:
It has been brought to my attention by the Department of Public Safety's Regional Intoxilyzer Supervisor that the results of certain breath tests conducted in Polk County have been deemed unreliable. Through no fault of the Criminal District Attorney's Office or local law enforcement agencies, the results of all breath tests conducted on the Intoxilyzer machine used by Polk County from August 2008 through August 2009 have been deemed "invalid" because the required certification for the Intoxilyzer was not issued.

While this development will impact some cases more than others, notification of every defendant or defense attorney whose case may have been affected is the proper response given the duties of my office. That way, each of you can decide for yourselves the proper course of action in light of this disclosure.
Oops. As a result of someone not processing the proper paperwork, the machine in question was never certified as being approved for evidential breath alcohol testing in Texas. Therefore, no test conducted by that machine would be admissible in a criminal proceeding.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I await your post saluting Mr. Hon for his honesty and taking care of the problem up front, and not forcing defense attorneys to litigate the issue.

You're quick to criticize prosecutors. How about a little praise?