Orange County DUI Breath Testing

[fred deez]

What are the breath test machines used in Orange County DUI cases? Are all of the machines seen as being reliable? Are any better than others. How many breathalyzer machines are there in Orange County, and how often are they used in drunk driving cases?

[Lawrence Taylor]

All law enforcement agencies in Orange County use a version of the Intoximeter AlcoSensor IV or AlcoSensor IV-XL. These are handheld devices used by officers in the field.

The devices may be used as screening devices before an arrest, similar to field sobriety tests, or they may be used as evidentiary devices after arrest -- or for both.

The accuracy and reliability of these devices is poor -- generally worse than the previous larger and more sophisticated (and expensive) desktop breath machines. Orange County is one of the few counties or states that use handheld devices for use as evidence in court; most use one of the desktop models, such as the Intoximeter EC/IR, Datamaster or Intoxilyer 5000/8000.

(For an extensive discussion of breath and blood analysis, read my book Drunk Driving Defense, 6th edition, or visit DUIblog.com.)