Drunken driving suspects used to be able to plead no contest to charges in criminal court and then battle the state Division of Motor Vehicles to keep their driver's licenses and, ultimately, their jobs.

That all changed when the state Supreme Court decided last year that a no-contest plea in a DUI case constitutes a conviction. Such a plea now triggers an automatic revocation by the DMV.

Now, defense lawyers are getting more technical in their tactics to defend clients, finding loopholes and pushing prosecutors to build airtight cases, legal analysts say.

While there's no obvious trend showing that more suspects are beating DUI charges because of an aggressive defense, Mark Neil, the traffic safety resource prosecutor with the state Prosecuting Attorneys Institute, says it is obvious that defense lawyers are working harder to prove reasonable doubt.

"Whether it is ultimately found to be a valid point or not, they're raising a lot more issues," Neil said. "What I'm seeing, at least with certain members of the defense bar, is that they're better organized and are sharing their ideas. They're paying attention to what lawyers around the country are doing."

Defense lawyers are challenging everything. Breath and field sobriety tests, probable cause in traffic stops, law enforcement procedure.

It's all about getting a jury or judge to focus on one technicality, Neil said. If a defense lawyer is successful, the rest of the evidence can become a non-issue.

Russ Cook, a researcher with the state Public Defender Services and a former public defender in Huntington, is seeing the same trend.

"I think at this point defense attorneys are becoming a little more knowledgeable and creative in how to represent a client in a DUI case," Cook said. "Back in the day, you could take a case and possibly enter a plea and the big fight was how can I keep my driver's license."

Cook said folks used to plead no contest, sidestepping the admission of guilt, and then focus on keeping their driver's license by arguing with the DMV in an administrative hearing.

"I think what's happening now is that since the license aspect of it is much more difficult, they may as well go to trial now and prove their innocence," Cook said.

On the criminal side, Powerball winner Jack Whittaker beat a DUI charge last year in Kanawha County when his lawyer, Carter Zerbe, had expert witnesses challenge the reliability of sobriety tests.

The experts were able to raise enough doubt about results of field sobriety and breath tests that Kanawha Magistrate Tim Halloran granted Zerbe's request to suppress the evidence, although the arresting officer said Whittaker failed all of them.

The prosecution essentially was left with no evidence to convict, and it dropped the charges.
Ex-state liquor inspector Barry Brown beat a DUI charge in Cabell County April 11 after his lawyer, David Lockwood, successfully challenged the state trooper's technique in administering the breath test.

Drunken driving suspects aren't supposed to have anything in their mouths for at least 20 minutes before taking the test. Brown apparently had tobacco in his mouth before he blew into the machine. Lockwood said that skewed the results. Magistrate John Rice said he reluctantly agreed.

A DUI case in Indiana a couple years ago resulted in a breath test being thrown out because the suspect had a metal stud through her pierced tongue.

Cook could remember when, in the early 1990s, as many as 10 DUI cases were dismissed because the Putnam County magistrate arraigned the suspects at the county jail rather than at the courthouse, located about 50 yards away.

Lawyers argued that the proper place for arraignment was in the courtroom. Today, arraignments are commonly done by videotape from regional jails.

Neil said there is a positive side to the tenacity of the defense lawyers.
"I think that the defense's raising issues causes the officers to have to pay more attention to the small details.
"Cases are becoming harder to try because of this belief that you have to get into all the technicality and all of the science," Neil said. "Used to be, we could say, ‘I know what a drunk driver looks like.' Now, we can't do it that way."

The institute puts out a "Hot Sheet" newsletter that helps prosecutors prepare for new challenges that could be brought by defense attorneys.

One edition listed 10 things prosecutors can do to build stronger cases, such as visiting the scene of the arrest, obtaining jail mug shots to compare to a sober defendant's appearance in court, and taking the same field sobriety test training that law enforcement officers take.

On the other side, the National College for DUI Defense, a non-profit educational resource, answers the 20 most frequently asked questions about drunken driving charges.

It advised drivers not to turn with a wide radius, swerve, weave, ride down the center lines, go slower than 10 mph below the posted speed limit or drive with headlights off.

These are all matters of probable cause that would justify a traffic stop. And the group advises if a driver does get pulled over and is asked by an officer if he's been drinking, he should plead the Fifth Am

A Celebrity Cruises ship captain arrested Friday after Seattle police determined his blood-alcohol content to be more than four times the federal maritime limit wasn't on duty when the Coast Guard confronted him, his lawyer said.

"He's not saying he didn't drink ... He's not guilty of what they said he did," attorney Anne Bremner said. "He was in his quarters, not on duty. He was to be on duty at 5 [p.m.]." She also questioned breath-test readings.

Cruise-ship Capt. Periklis Petridis was setting in for a nightcap and a nap before leading the voyage from Seattle to Alaska when a Coast Guard investigator entered his room, Bremner said.

The Coast Guard says the investigator boarded the ship docked at Pier 66 around 12:30 p.m. to follow up on a previous safety violation involving a life-boat lift. By the time the Mercury departed six hours later, Petridis, 47, had failed four breath tests, was fired by Celebrity Cruises and arrested on suspicion of operating a vessel while under the influence of alcohol, according to the Coast Guard.

In U.S. District Court on Monday, a judge set Petridis' bail at $100,000 and granted him permission to leave Washington so he can stay with friends in the San Francisco area while the misdemeanor case works its way through the legal system. Petridis, a Greek citizen, remained in jail Monday night awaiting an immigration hearing, Bremner said.

Those friends, Dave and Mary Christensen, said they met Petridis on a cruise in 1998 and have since visited him and his family in Greece.

"He is incredibly conscientious and a stickler for detail," Dave Christensen said. "This is just somewhat amazing he would be caught in this sort of situation," he said. "It just doesn't fit."

He said Petridis has been a Celebrity Captain for about six years.

A Celebrity Cruises spokesman said Petridis broke company policy because ship officers are forbidden from consuming alcohol eight hours before reporting for duty.

The Coast Guard says Petridis' broke federal law because his blood-alcohol content was higher than the federal maritime limit of 0.04 percent while on duty.




When they gave him a portable Breathalyzer test on the ship, Petridis' blood-alcohol content was 0.09, according to federal charging documents. But Bremner claims the machine was malfunctioning.

Hours later, when Seattle police tested him at a precinct, his blood-alcohol had risen to 0.181 percent. Bremner questioned that reading, too.

By comparison, the state legal limit for motorists is 0.08 percent.

DIET mixers in alcoholic drinks get people drunk quicker than full-sugar alternatives, scientists have found.

Taking a drink with sugar-free versions of mixers, such as tonic water, cola, bitter lemon and lemonade, produces higher blood-alcohol levels.

The findings were revealed by Dr Chris Rayner, of the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Australia, at a conference in the United States. Dr Rayner, the lead author of the study, found that combining alcohol with a mixer containing artificial sweeteners resulted in significantly higher levels of blood-alcohol than the same drink taken with an ordinary mixer.

The blood-alcohol concentration peaked at 66 per cent higher, according to a study in which volunteers were given an orange-flavoured vodka drink made with either a diet or non-diet mixer.

An alcohol counselling organisation warned that people choosing to have a diet mixer should be aware of the effect.

Dr Rayner, appearing yesterday at Digestive Disease Week, a conference in Los Angeles, said: "More and more people are choosing diet drinks as a healthier alternative.

"What people do not understand is the potential side-effects that diet-mixed alcoholic drinks may have on their body's response to alcohol."

Researchers studied eight volunteers, tracking the rate at which the regular and diet alcoholic drink was emptied from the stomach and their subsequent blood-alcohol levels for three hours.

It took 21 minutes for half the diet drink to leave the stomach, compared with regular drinks, which took 36 minutes.

Peak blood-alcohol concentrations were found to be "substantially greater" with diet drinks at 0.05 per cent, while regular drinks measured at 0.03 per cent.

Alex Meikle, of the Glasgow Council on Alcohol, said his counsellors would be made aware of the study and the information would form part of its advice if the study was confirmed to be accurate.

"It is quite a significant finding and I will alert my counselling staff," he said.

"Obviously, you should be very careful how you mix your drinks. It is a message we have to give to female clients. A lot of women will go for Diet Coke or Diet Irn-Bru."

Dr Peter Rice, a senior Dundee University psychiatry lecturer specialising in alcohol misuse, said the key advice to people was to know their own limits.

However, Dr Rice added the main factor affecting absorption of alcohol was still likely to be the amount of food in the stomach.

Paul Waterson, of the Scottish Licensed Traders Association, said it was already known that fizzy drinks increased the rate of alcohol absorption. But he added: "The level of absorption isn't the problem - it's actually the alcohol that's the problem."

Breathalyser-type testing for drugged drivers is a step closer with the launch of a new hand-held device that can test for drugs within minutes.

Officials from the Home Office and the Department for Transport will be shown the device with a view to it being adopted by police nationwide.

The Drug Detection System takes just 30 seconds to take a saliva sample and can detect the presence of five drugs, including heroin, cannabis and cocaine, within five minutes.

Currently, there are no scientific roadside tests for motorists suspected of drugged driving. Instead traffic police ask drivers to take more subjective Field Impairment Tests, which includes walking in a straight line or reciting tongue twisters.

These tests came under fire last month when University of Glasgow research found that a third of drivers with drugs in their system, in some cases heroin, passed the tests.

Breathalyzers Vs. Teen Drunk Driving
Parents Trying Ignition-Locking Devices In Vehicles As Deterrents

DENVER, Colo. and KELLER, Texas, May 17, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keller, Texas high school senior Amie Gallegus blows into the breathalyzer her mother insisted be installed in her car (CBS/The Early Show)


"You can't put a price on peace of mind. (My daughter has) been scared straight."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linda Salo of Keller, Texas, who inisisted an ignition-locking breathalyzer be installed in her daughter's car


(CBS) More and more parents are breathing new life into an old problem: teens drinking and driving.

As The Early Show national correspondent Hattie Kauffman reports, nearly 17,000 people are killed by drunk drivers in the United States every year.

Frequently, courts order repeat offenders to install breathalyzers in their cars.

Now, Kauffman points out, some adults are volunteering to get them. And others are insisting their teenage sons and daughters have them installed in their vehicles.

Steve Carter calls the breathalyzer he bought on his own for his car "a constant reminder, you know, to keep myself sober."

The device won't let the car start if there's any alcohol in his system.

"I'm not invincible," Carter, who lives in Colorado Springs, told Kauffman, "and, if I continue behaving and continue drinking in this manner, it's gonna kill me."

Or, Kauffman observes, someone else.

She says Carter's been to jail three times for driving under the influence.

He describes his violations as, "High speeds; tried to take a 90 degree, you know, city block turn and slammed headlong into a building. … That could easily have been another person."

Carter admits he shudders to think about it.

"It seems to me," Kauffman surmised, "that what's going on here isn't the punishment aspect, after you've gotten in trouble. It's the prevention aspect?"

"Oh, absolutely," Carter confirmed. "I think people can follow my lead, and I think we'll have a lot fewer drunk driving deaths."

How long does he think he'll have the breathalyzer in his vehicle?

"Probably forever," Carter says.

The majority of drunk driving accidents are caused by chronic drinkers, Kauffman notes. Studies show ignition-locking breathalyzers can cut those repeat offenses by at least 50 percent.

One New York legislator has actually proposed that breathalyzers be installed in every car, though the idea has drawn heavy opposition.

But, Kauffman asked, if the breathalyzers work for chronic adult offenders, might they also serve as a preventive measure for another high-risk group: teenagers?

Keller, Texas high school senior Amie Gallegus has never had a DUI. But she has a breathalyzer.

Her mother, Linda Salo, put the device in her car after Gallegus was cited for underage drinking.

Breathalyzers Vs. Teen Drunk Driving
Parents Trying Ignition-Locking Devices In Vehicles As Deterrents

(Page 1 of 2)DENVER, Colo. and KELLER, Texas, May 17, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keller, Texas high school senior Amie Gallegus blows into the breathalyzer her mother insisted be installed in her car (CBS/The Early Show)


Quote

"You can't put a price on peace of mind. (My daughter has) been scared straight."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linda Salo of Keller, Texas, who inisisted an ignition-locking breathalyzer be installed in her daughter's car


(CBS) More and more parents are breathing new life into an old problem: teens drinking and driving.

As The Early Show national correspondent Hattie Kauffman reports, nearly 17,000 people are killed by drunk drivers in the United States every year.

Frequently, courts order repeat offenders to install breathalyzers in their cars.

Now, Kauffman points out, some adults are volunteering to get them. And others are insisting their teenage sons and daughters have them installed in their vehicles.

Steve Carter calls the breathalyzer he bought on his own for his car "a constant reminder, you know, to keep myself sober."

The device won't let the car start if there's any alcohol in his system.

"I'm not invincible," Carter, who lives in Colorado Springs, told Kauffman, "and, if I continue behaving and continue drinking in this manner, it's gonna kill me."

Or, Kauffman observes, someone else.

She says Carter's been to jail three times for driving under the influence.

He describes his violations as, "High speeds; tried to take a 90 degree, you know, city block turn and slammed headlong into a building. … That could easily have been another person."

Carter admits he shudders to think about it.

"It seems to me," Kauffman surmised, "that what's going on here isn't the punishment aspect, after you've gotten in trouble. It's the prevention aspect?"

"Oh, absolutely," Carter confirmed. "I think people can follow my lead, and I think we'll have a lot fewer drunk driving deaths."

How long does he think he'll have the breathalyzer in his vehicle?

"Probably forever," Carter says.

The majority of drunk driving accidents are caused by chronic drinkers, Kauffman notes. Studies show ignition-locking breathalyzers can cut those repeat offenses by at least 50 percent.

One New York legislator has actually proposed that breathalyzers be installed in every car, though the idea has drawn heavy opposition.

But, Kauffman asked, if the breathalyzers work for chronic adult offenders, might they also serve as a preventive measure for another high-risk group: teenagers?

Keller, Texas high school senior Amie Gallegus has never had a DUI. But she has a breathalyzer.

Her mother, Linda Salo, put the device in her car after Gallegus was cited for underage drinking.

"She still thinks she would never drink and drive," Salo says. "But I saw the patterns, so I knew."

Kauffman met with a bunch of teens in Keller who knew all about the temptation to drink.

"How much drinking goes on at teenage parties?" Kauffman inquired.

"So much!" responded high schooler Janet Elwis.

Gallegus says, "A lot of parents think that their kids will call them if they've been drinking and don't have a ride home. But it's very rare that that happens."

Why is that?

"Because you don't want your parents to see the way you act when you're drunk," explained high school student Evan Schmidt.

"So, you've seen kids leave parties and jump in the car drunk?" Kauffman asked.

To be sure, answered Elwis: "One girl hit a car. Just driving, trying to get to the street. She hit a car. She didn't even know she'd hit it. She just kept on driving."

Gallegus knows a classmate whose drunk driving proved fatal.

"She killed her boyfriend and her best friend. And she was only 16," Gallegus said.

Even knowing of that tragedy, Gallegus wasn't happy to be the first kid in school with a breathalyzer.

"She said, 'No, I don't want it in the car' at first," Salo recalled, "and I said, 'Well, hand me your driver's license and your keys,' and that was it."

"Since I've gotten the breathalyzer, it's like an excuse for me not to have to drink," Gallegus says.

And the results have been dramatic.

"She quit drinking completely," Salo says, "and she stayed away from the friends who were influencing her to drink."

But critics claim breathalyzers can easily be defeated.

John Doyle of the American Beverage Institute explains that, "They can be overridden with air compressors. You can get someone else to blow in 'em."

Yet, the president of a breathalyzer company believes in them enough to have installed one in his daughter's car.

Jennifer Ballance told Kauffman she doesn't think she has a drinking problem and has "never gotten in trouble, ever, for drinking."

Not so fast, says her father, George Ballance, who heads Drager Safety of Irving, Texas: "In fact, I found half of a six pack in her purse when she was getting ready to go out. And that was the day before I installed the device."

It records the blood alcohol level from every test, enabling parents to monitor the situation.

For instance, George told of the time Jennifer "was at a point-oh-four, and tried to start the vehicle."

"I just had a beer earlier in the night," Jennifer insisted. "I don't know why it failed to start."

A printout of test results says she failed twice more in the next hour and, instead of her alcohol level going down, it went up, which means, George said, "She had another drink, because it's very stable."

The results went from .04 to .045 to .049.

"So," Kauffman asked, "if she says to you, 'No, I didn't have a drink,' you know that's not true, because you have the results?" Kauffman wanted to know.

"I was really frustrated," Jennifer says, "but then, I was like, 'Well, I guess I'll just call a cab."

And that, Kauffman exclaims, is music to a parent's ears, even though the price of a breathalyzer is roughly $1,000.

Salo considers that a price well worth paying, saying, "You can't put a price on peace of mind. (My daughter has) been scared straight."

THOUSANDS of drink-drivers are getting back behind the wheel because of secret reductions built into Victoria Police's breathalyser machines.

The Herald Sun can reveal that the 3.1 million people who had breath tests last year had their blood-alcohol reading automatically reduced by 20 per cent.
The reductions mean that people who blew under the legal limit of .05 could have had a blood-alcohol reading of up to .0615.

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information show that even police officers don't know about the reductions, which are calibrated into the machines by breathalyser experts within Victoria Police.

Opposition police spokesman Kim Wells has blasted the secret reductions, saying they make a mockery of the Government's road safety campaign, which warns people of the dangers of being "just a little bit over".

Assistant Commissioner Noel Ashby confirmed the reductions and that police don't know about them.

He said police only needed to know the law, not

the science.

The reductions were built in because police wanted to "err on the side of caution" to ensure the breathalyser test was accurate.

The Police Association has expressed surprise at the reductions, saying they were too high.

With more than 5000 people charged with drink-driving in Victoria each year, the Herald Sun can reveal:

THE machines used for road-side "preliminary" breath testing are calibrated to automatically reduce a person's blood-alcohol reading by 20 per cent, and to show that reduced reading on the screen.

PEOPLE who are then asked to have a further "evidentiary" test inside a booze bus or police station are tested on different machinery, which gives them an automatic 10 per cent reduction.

"Victorians would be shocked and concerned to learn that we are allowing drink-drivers to continue to drive when they have

a blood-alcohol reading well over the .05 limit," Mr Wells said.

"You have to blow .0625 to register (over .05)."

Mr Wells said the reductions flew in the face of the State Government's decision to spends millions on a road safety campaign that warned of the dangers of being only a little over the legal blood-alcohol limit of .05.

He said it was hypocritical of the Government to attack the Liberals' policy of allowing up to 10 per cent tolerance on speed cameras, at the same time as accepting 20 per cent reductions in drink-driving readings.

"I would have thought drunk driving and speeding are two of the most dangerous activities on Victorian roads," he said.

"To treat them differently is hypocritical."

Mr Ashby confirmed the automatic reductions built into the two tests, but strongly denied drink-drivers were going free.

He said police had the right to require anyone who registered over .01 to have a further test.

And police retained the right to ask questions about how much the person had to drink and when they had been drinking.

Mr Ashby said the initial roadside breath test was "an indicator to a member of the police to show the presence of alcohol".

"Because it is a non-evidentiary machine, it gives us the opportunity to err on the side of caution," he said.

"We recognise that science isn't alway perfect and we err on the side of caution . . . so we know if we go to court we are absolutely sure you are over .05.

"There is no screen in the world that can give you a blood-alcohol reading to a minute degree."

Mr Ashby confirmed that most traffic police were not aware of the automatic reductions built into the machines.

"They don't have to know the mechanics or science of it.

"In fact, we don't want them to know unless they are experts.

"What they need to know is the law."

Mr Ashby said the reductions were pretty widely known round the courts. Police who had undergone a 10-week specialised breathalyser training course were aware of the tolerance levels.

But Police Association secretary Paul Mullett plans to raise concerns with force command.

"Obviously there are road users getting away with being over the proscribed limit on the in-built tolerance of 20 per cent," he said.

"It follows that it then becomes a serious road safety issue."

Sen-Sgt Mullett said the experts may know about the in-built reduction in the machines, but not the officers on the street.

"Issues such as this should be open and transparent," he said.

Some DWI offenders don't learn their lesson until it's too late. But what if there was a way to keep them from having even one drink? Now there is. A device that tells authorities if you have been drinking at any time can be locked onto an ankle serving as a constant reminder. And while some complain it's like big brother, many believe it will prevent convicted drunk drivers from committing their crimes again. Ronald Markek is an admitted alcoholic. “You see, I can go 3 or 4 years without drinking and all of a sudden there's some urge in me that I gotta go out and get loaded and every time I do, I get caught and I wind up in court."





Markek is now on probation for his fifth drunk driving related offense which is why he was ordered this week to wear an ankle bracelet that detects if you've been drinking alcohol. "This device on here will show the public that you're safe in the community."



It's called SCRAM: Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor. It samples the offender's perspiration every hour and stores that data. "It has a small pump inside that actually takes the sweat of the individual and analyzes it and sends the information by modem to the vendor that produces the equipment," said Genesee County Probation Director Gary Clark.



The results are then relayed to the court or probation. Genesee County is the first in western New York to sign on to the program. Through a grant, Clark got 10 of the ankle bracelets to monitor repeat drunk drivers. "What we're looking at is the high risk offender."



Last year in Monroe County, police made 411 arrests for felony drunk driving, repeat offenders.



In July 2002, James Risch was driving drunk on East Avenue in Brighton when he plowed into a car, killing two people. Risch had a history of drunk driving convictions and had been charged with DWI just three days before the fatal crash.



Peter Navratil’s mother, Geraldine, was one of Risch's victims. " Rage. Anger beyond anger there's no point along the way that we see where there was any level of accountability put onto James Risch..."



Navratil has seen it all before. Not only did he lose his mother to drunk driving, he's also the program director for a drug and alcohol clinic. "This is not about reminding someone, don't drink and drive. This is about holding someone accountable. This device, this SCRAM device seems to me...it's a wonderful thing to have."



"We can't be there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so this is going to give us the additional ability to have an overview of periods of time when we couldn't be out there checking on these individuals," said Clark.



I-Team 10 was there as a Genesee County court judge began altering the sentences of repeat drunk drivers currently on probation. Defense attorney Michael Mohun represents two probationers. "I believe it is fundamentally unfair to change the rules of the game when the probationer has done nothing wrong.”



Mohun also questions the science behind the device and the reliability of the results. "If in fact you get a false positive, in other words, the SCRAM bracelet detects cologne or perfume or rubbing alcohol or any other analgesic you might apply to the skin, does that then read it as an alcohol?"



According to web reports, the scram device's reliability was successfully challenged in a Michigan case. Still, law enforcement agencies in 35 states are currently using it.



Clark says his department will use the ankle bracelet as an alert. "If we get an indication you've been drinking, we're going to go out and then validate that on the spot. But this is going to give us the information we've never had before."



Markek knows if he starts drinking again, he'll be sent to state prison. "If I get caught, I'm definitely going 4 to 7."



So he doesn't mind the constant reminder on his ankle. "This way it'll help you say, well I can't drink no more because I got a device on me."



The company that makes the scram bracelet says it can tell the difference between alcoholic beverages and things like cologne and it can also detect if the wearer tries to tamper with the device and triggers an alert.

Man arrested after testing nearly six times the legal limit

May 9, 2006

- GRESHAM, Ore. - Tipsy drivers getting ticketed for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants (DUII) is nothing new in the Portland metropolitan area.

But one man who hit street signs and several stopped cars in Gresham in March got the attention of police after his blood tested for an alcohol level nearly six times the legal limit.

One person in a vehicle hit by Steven Hawkins was injured, but is now out of the hospital.

Hawkins' .47 blood alcohol level was close to toxic, and the amount of drinking required to achieve that level was high.

Over a five hour period, a 185-pound adult male would have to consume either seven bottles of wine, nine pitchers of beer or 23 shots of hard liquor to achieve such a high blood-alcohol level.

The 39-year-old Canby resident told police he had been drinking vodka.

An officer involved in the case said that in over 20 years on the force, he had rarely seen anyone post such a high number.

Police say Hawkins was in and out of consciousness at the time of his arrest, and was lucky to be alive.

They also said he's lucky he didn't kill anyone.

The Multnomah County District Attorney's office said Hawkins could face a long list of charges besides the DUII charge, including fourth-degree assault charges.

Legal loophole in DUI cases could be tossed


May 5, 2006

The Florida Legislature voted Thursday to close a gaping loophole in a
state law that had resulted in hundreds of breath-alcohol tests being
thrown out of court.

By a unanimous vote, the House outlawed the release of computer-software
secrets at the core of the breath-alcohol machine used by every
law-enforcement agency in the state.

The bill, approved earlier by the Senate, now goes to Gov. Jeb Bush, who
has not indicated whether he will sign it into law.

A dispute over disclosure of proprietary information about the
Intoxilyzer 5000 has meant weaker cases against at least 1,500 drunken
drivers and delayed for months the trials of hundreds of others, an
investigation by the Orlando Sentinel found.

It is not clear how many drunken drivers have been acquitted because of
the problem.

For 11/2 years, defense attorneys have argued in counties across Florida
that state law required prosecutors to release the software information.
Without it, there's no way to know whether the breath-alcohol test unit
works properly, they said.

A few judges, especially in Seminole County, agreed, banning juries from
learning about breath-alcohol test results if the state didn't surrender
the Intoxilyzer 5000's software source code.

Prosecutors said they couldn't release the source code because they
didn't have it. The machine's manufacturer, CMI Inc. of Owensboro, Ky.,
says the code is a trade secret.

The legislation passed Thursday requires prosecutors to release details
about breath-alcohol test results, but not about how the machine works.
It also bans judges from ordering prosecutors to produce any information
not in their possession.

"I'm very happy to see it pass," said Rep. Sandra Adams, R-Oviedo, one
of the biggest supporters of the legislation. "I think it will mean we
will go back to looking at the evidence."

"It's a great thing," said Maj. Jim DiBernardo of the Miami-Dade Police
Department and state policy director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Defense attorneys questioned the constitutionality of the legislation
and said they would continue to challenge the machine's accuracy.

"What am I going to do? We're still going to keep doing the same things
that we're doing," said Joerg Jaeger, an Orlando lawyer and DUI
specialist. "I think it's a violation of due process."

Defense attorneys have successfully raised a variety of challenges
against the Intoxilyzer 5000 for nearly two decades. They include such
things as how the machines are maintained and whether testers follow
proper procedures.

"They're messing with the rights of defendants," said Dennis Salvagio,
an Orlando defense attorney.

Prosecutors were thrilled with the vote.

"I am very pleased, to say the least," said Gino Feliciani, the Seminole
County assistant state attorney who wrote the legislation and worked
with other Florida prosecutors to win its passage.

Feliciani was one of the trial lawyers who had to walk into court day
after day, stymied each time the issue came up because Seminole County
judges, in lock step, ruled it was unfair to introduce breath-alcohol
results if defendants could not fully analyze the machine that produced
them.

Seminole County is where the source-code argument had the most effect.
Four of the five county judges who hear misdemeanor DUI cases have
barred breath-alcohol results since January 2005. The fifth judge, Jerri
Collins, was appointed in December and has not yet heard the issue.

The source-code challenge quickly spread to more than a dozen other
counties, including Miami-Dade, Broward, Pinellas and Hillsborough.

Judges in Sarasota and Manatee counties have ordered the state to turn
over the source code, though they've stopped short of throwing out all
breath-alcohol test results.

Most judges in other counties have simply rejected the challenge.

"Overwhelmingly, other judges around the state have denied it," said
Earl Varn, who oversees misdemeanor DUI cases in Sarasota County.

Police agencies in Florida began using a new breath-alcohol machine, the
Intoxilyzer 8000, manufactured by the same company, on March 27.

Jaeger and Stuart Hyman, who often worked together in attacks on the
Intoxilyzer 5000, said they doubt the accuracy of the new unit and plan
to challenge it, too. Hyman said that in tests four years ago, the
Intoxilyzer 8000 reported there was alcohol in puffs of air that had
none.

"They had results that came out the way they weren't supposed to come
out," Hyman said.