Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Gurdev Singh: Ontario; Flawed Intoxilyzer 8000C breathalyzer acquittal case: (Aftermath 4); Manufacturer CMI defends the controversial instruments as approved and used “in many countries throughout the world." - and Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders queries the judge's "background in science"..."In a statement to CTV News, the U.S.-based company that makes the Intoxilyzer says the instruments are approved and used “CMI stands behind the accuracy and integrity of its breath testing instruments,” said the statement..........Toronto’s police chief raised questions about the judge’s decision. “I’m not sure what the judge’s background is in science, and we’ll see what science says in respect to those comments,” Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said."

"Thousands of impaired-driving sentences across Canada could be called into question after an Ontario judge found that a common type of breathalyzer test was inaccurate. Legal experts say the ruling could set a powerful precedent for impaired-driving cases and change the way police test for blood-alcohol content throughout the country. The ruling centres around a 2014 case in which Peel Regional Police arrested a driver who blew well over the legal limit. However, a defence lawyer and accompanying scientific expert convinced the judge that the breathalyzer device at the police station -- the Intoxilyzer 8000C -- was intrinsically flawed. The judge sided with the defence and dismissed the charges. “You can bet that there are defence lawyers everywhere saying, ‘Wait a sec, I want my turn at this same argument,’” legal analyst Edward Prutschi told CTV Toronto.........In a statement to CTV News, the U.S.-based company that makes the Intoxilyzer says the instruments are approved and used “in many countries throughout the world.”... “CMI stands behind the accuracy and integrity of its breath testing instruments,” said the statement..........Toronto’s police chief raised questions about the judge’s decision. “I’m not sure what the judge’s background is in science, and we’ll see what science says in respect to those comments,” Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said."
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/widely-used-breathalyzer-deemed-inaccurate-by-ontario-judge-1.2884620