For almost a year Michigan’s DUI lawyers have been waiting for the lastest and greatest breath test machine, the DataMaster DMT, to be rolled out in Michigan. Although Millions have been appropriated to purchase the DMT in Michigan, the new breath testing machine has still not been put into service. And Michigan’s DUI lawyers are asking “why.”
This entire scenario is not unlike what is happening in Michigan, only in reverse. Ohio had been a DataMaster state, but instead of buying the new DataMaster DMT, Ohio decided to go with a different breath test machine.
A recent front-page new story in the Columbus Dispatch had this to say:
In the nine months since state officials unveiled a new device hailed as a potent new weapon against drunken driving, the equipment has been used rarely and only in a few rural and suburban pockets of Ohio.
By comparison, Michigan’s DMT has not be used at all. The story continues:
Priced at about $9,000 each, the Intoxilyzer 8000 is supposed to be a big step forward in efforts by police to take drunken drivers off the road. Old breath testers require police to transport suspects back to a station to blow into a machine for a reading. The Intoxilyzer travels in police cars and can be used in the field. That allows officers to test a large number of suspects much more quickly than before.
The DataMaster’s cost about a third less each, but are also capable of roadside use. However, this function will not be used in Michigan.
Another interesting point in the article is where it says “Defense attorneys say they’re ready to pounce. “Our biggest problem right now is that you can get such a varied result depending on how you use the machine”
Likewise, once the new DMT is rolled out Michigan’s DUI lawyers will be ready to pounce. There are many potential court challenges and these challenges will begin almost immediately. The biggest problem facing Michigan’s DUI lawyers is figuring out when the new DMTs will go into service, and that’s a question to which no one seems to have an answer.
Want to know more?
- A Look Inside The DataMaster DMT
- Michelle Glinn Concludes DataMaster DMT Flawless
- Michigan’s New DataMaster DMT
Get a FREE confidential CASE EVALUATION on your Michigan OWI/OWVI/DUI by calling (248) 306-9159 , or filling out this consultation request form. Call now, there’s no obligation!
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baronedefensefirm – who has written 204 posts on .
Patrick T. Barone is the author on two books on DUI defense including the well respected two volume treatise Defending Drinking Drivers (James Publishing), and The DUI Book – A Citizen’s Guide to Understanding DUI Litigation in America. He is also the author of a monthly DUI defense column for the Criminal Defense Newsletter, published by Michigan’s State Appellate Defender’s Office. Mr. Barone is an adjunct professor at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School where he teaches Drunk Driving Law and Practice. He is also on the faculty of the Criminal Defense Attorney’s of Michigan’s Trial Lawyer’s College where he provides trial skills training to Michigan’s criminal defense practitioners. Mr. Barone lectures nationally on various DUI defense topics, and he has appeared in newspapers, on television and on radio as a drunk driving defense expert. Mr. Barone has been certified as an instructor and practitioner of the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and has also attended a 24-hour certification course at National Patent Analytical Corporation (the manufacturer of the DataMaster) and has thereby been deemed competent by the manufacturer to operate, perform essential diagnostic verifications and calibration checks on the DataMaster. Mr. Barone is a Sustaining Member of College for DUI Defense. Mr. Barone is the principal and founding member of The Barone Defense Firm, whose practice is limited exclusively to defending drinking drivers. The Firm is headquartered in Birmingham, Michigan.
