The Michigan State Police suspended the contract with Intoximeters Inc, the company that issues the state’s breath alcohol testing devices amid concerns the test results could be flawed.
A letter written to police departments and prosecutors statewide, stated police officials warned law enforcement agencies about “performance-related issues” with the Datamaster DMT breathalyzer devices, according to The Detroit News . Such issues could affect drunken driving cases. The letter did not identify the problems or how they were uncovered.
Attorney Michael Komorn stated “The idea that those two entities that are working together in a contract are now…one of them is investigating the other one for fraud is a remarkable circumstance.
” What is the impact going to be on those that have been convicted of these breath tests that were not disclosed to potentially be accurate that were not properly calibrated” Komorn questioned.
State police Lt. Michael Shaw stated a stop order was issued when they “noticed some issues with the vendor that was responsible for maintenance and auditing the DataMasters around the state.”
“We will be (setting) up a unit in order to assume the responsibilities of that vendor,” Shaw said. “Authorities will keep using the devices, but Michigan State Police, not the vendor, will calibrate them,” Shaw said.
State police will also take over the contractor’s duties of certifying and serving the breathalyzer units.
Oakland University criminal justice professor Daniel Kennedy said such issues with the breathalyzer devices could be troublesome for drunken driving cases in Michigan.
“This could open the floodgates for appeals,” Kennedy said. “In drunk driving cases, one of the first questions any defense attorney asks is, ‘When was the last time the device was calibrated?’ So, if they found problems with how these things were being calibrated, that could wind up being one big mess.”
Here is the complete MSP statement on the situation:
Based on new information learned over the weekend, the Michigan State Police (MSP) is aggressively investigating potential fraud committed by contract employees of Datamaster vendor, Intoximeters, and also moving today to take all 203 Datamaster DMT evidential breath alcohol testing instruments out of service until MSP can inspect and verify each instrument to ensure it is properly calibrated. In the interim period, the MSP recommends that police agencies utilize blood draws rather than breath tests to establish evidence of drunk driving.
On Jan. 10, 2020, the MSP alerted prosecutors and police departments statewide that it had issued a stop order on the current vendor’s contract due to performance-related issues. The vendor, Intoximeters, employs three contract employees who were responsible for servicing all 203 Datamaster DMT instruments in the state, and it is records from these service sessions that are in question. Effective Jan. 10, 2020, fully certified MSP personnel have taken over responsibility for ensuring all Datamaster DMTs are certified, calibrated and serviced according to state law and industry standard.
Review of vendor records in the last two days has yielded additional discrepancies that may point to the potential for a more widespread issue with the way in which some instruments were being serviced. While the discrepancies do not directly impact or deal with the results of evidential breath tests, it is concerning that it appears as though some certification records have been falsified. As a result, the MSP has opened a criminal investigation that is looking into possible forgery of public documents.
Read the Rest of The Story Here at WXYZ TV
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