You have a customer who got a driver's license while you are drunk. There are no bad driving facts to talk about - just change lanes without signaling. You have a decent video. But your client has decided to breathe a test paper indicating that the state's breath tester and alcohol concentration is .14. You hit it in the middle of "nobody's land". The result of the test is too high for discussion, but it is too low to ask the jury to believe what the judge is looking at and what the machine is saying. What is your occupation?
My suggestion is to use some Intoxilyzer's math.
When an automobile driver arrested for drunk driving is asked to submit breath samples at Intoxilyzer 5000 (a machine selected in Texas), the machine operator will spray the machine twice. For the test results to be valid, the two scores must be within .02 of each other. That is, if the first blow records .10, the second blow should be between 0.08 and 12. In order for the test to be a valid test,
At four different times during the test, Intoxilyzer sucks outside air to "purge" the sample chamber of residual alcohol. During these "air blanks", the machine reads .000. The machine is programmed to display .000 between air blanks, but the residual alcohol concentration in the sample chamber is greater than 0.01 and "machine ambient air" is displayed on the machine display.
The principle behind the breath testing machine is Helium's law stating that under pressure the concentration of alcohol in a known amount of liquid is the same in head space gas as it is in liquid . Therefore, the mechanical algorithm is that air and blood are mixed in the lung, so that the concentration of alcohol in one breath becomes the same as one blood.
At the back of the Intoxilyzer, a device known as a simulator is installed. There is a mixture of distilled water and alcohol inside the simulator. The headspace gas in the simulator is sucked through the Intoxilyzer during the breath test and checks the calibration of the machine. This calibration check is performed during batting.
The alcohol mixture in the simulator is mixed at a concentration of either 0.08 or 0.10 and is heated to 34.2 degrees Fahrenheit (about 94 degrees Fahrenheit). In order for the breath test to be a valid test, you must report the alcohol concentration in the simulator solution within 0.01% of the actual concentration.
One problem with this procedure is the simple fact that the body's temperature is about 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Therefore, the alcohol sample used to confirm that the machine is cooler than the actual breath sample is that as the temperature of the simulator is increased, the molecular activity in the solution increases, and more alcohol particles And is discharged into the headspace gas. As a result, the alcohol concentration of the headspace gas rises.
In addition, Intoxilyzer's breath tube and sample chamber are heated to prevent condensation inside the machine. Therefore, when the accused falls into the machine, the machine measures the alcohol concentration in the sample after the breath sample has been heated.
This time is the time to do Intoxilyzer's math.
From the above example. .14 breath test, the test is considered valid as long as the second blow falls somewhere between 12 and 16. Therefore, we subtract .02 from the score of the test and we still have a valid test, leaving .12.
If the actual alcohol concentration is .01 or less, since 000 is displayed during the air blank, it is necessary to subtract. 01 from the test score and reduce it to 0.11.
Another. 01 can then be subtracted from the score as a result of the error allowed to calibrate the machine using the simulator solution. As a result, our breath test score falls to .10.
State expert witnesses testify that you increase the alcohol concentration by 6.5% if you set the simulator solution to all degrees. The core body temperature (the temperature at which blood oxygen transport in the lung occurs) is 3 ° C higher than the temperature of the simulator solution used for the calibration of the machine, so the score is further 0.027% 19.5% X.14).
Therefore, the result of the respiratory test of .14 has been reduced to 0.07 (the machine truncates the third digit) below 0.08% of the state legal limit. This method is sufficient to raise reasonable doubt in the correct jury's mind.
If you are mistakenly arrested for DWI, you need an experienced lawyer to defend your rights and restore your reputation. For more information and free consultation, please contact Houston DWI Attorney Paul B. Kennedy.
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