Fdle Lack Of Oversight Means Problems With Breath Testing

Nov. 3, 2008 - PRLog -- The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (hereafter “FDLE”), as the state agency in charge of the DUI alcohol testing program or “ATP,” has the statutory obligation of ensuring that chemical test results for use in DUI prosecutions are accurate and reliable.  The legal means through which this responsibility is discharged is promulgation of administrative regulations.  The Florida Administrative Code has an entire section devoted to the FDLE/ATP regulations.  This section is known as 11D-8.

In December 2004 the FDLE made major changes to 11D-8 that affected the agency’s ability to ensure accurate and reliable breath test results.  The change came about for two reasons- first the state switched over to the Intoxilyzer 8000, and second the agency was simply tired of endless legal challenges over its failure to comply with its own regulations.  Starting in 2001, there were a series of successful legal attacks on the use of breath test results in thousands of cases state-wide because the FDLE was not keeping track of internal changes being made to Intoxilyzers in the field.  This lack of oversight meant that unapproved machines were being used by law enforcement.  This in turn made breath test results susceptible to legal challenge.

The December 2004 changes removed from law the need to keep track of internal changes to Intoxilyzers being used by the various law enforcement agencies across the state.  As a result of the new regulations whenever an Intoxilyzer is checked in the field by an FDLE inspector it is automatically approved for use.  The problem with this new protocol was the complete lack of departmental oversight.  

The total lack of any form of oversight has led to systemic and documented abuses of the new system.  The most recent having occurred in Miami-Dade in South Florida where the FDLE inspector was fired for lying about her inspection results in order to hide problems with the Intoxilyzer.  There have been other numerous abuses discovered in the Broward County area by local DUI defense attorney Carlos A. Canet.

Carlos A. Canet is a DUI defense lawyer who practices in Ft. Lauderdale in Broward County, Miami-Dade County and West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County.  He has spent the last two years researching local abuses of Intoxilyzer agency and departmental inspections.  His investigation has led him to file motions on behalf of his clients objecting to the use of breath test results in their cases for the failure of the state to provide any assurance that the results were accurate or reliable.  The focus of his attack is agency use of a specific administrative form that he believes permits too much discretion and has led to the problems seen as a result.  The problem is primarily the lack of official oversight over poorly trained breath test technicians.

DUI defense attorney Carlos A. Canet, on behalf of his clients in Miami-Dade County, Ft. Lauderdale in Broward County and Palm Beach County, expects positive results from his efforts.  Visit http://www.carlos-canet.com today for DUI defense in South Florida.

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