Court Rules on Florida Breathalyzer Challenge
Over the past several months, hundreds of DUI cases in Florida have been lost, pled down, or left hanging as prosecutors and defense attorneys argued over the source code for the Intoxilyzer 5000. The battle caused such a snag in the legal system that the state legislature took action to prevent the issue from arising in future cases.
Today an appellate panel in Seminole County, where judges had rejected breathalyzer evidence in hundreds of cases, ruled that those judges were wrong.
Hundreds of Florida DUI cases have already been dismissed, tried, or plea-bargained since the controversy arose, but those cases still pending are now free to move forward with the breathalyzer evidence. The court ruling and legislative action seem to ensure that such arguments from DUI attorneys won't be well received in the future.