BREATHALYZER TESTS

If you are arrested for drunk driving in Boston, Worcester, Springfield, and on the North Shore or South Shore/South Coast of Massachusetts, you will be taken to the police station for booking.  Once you are there, the police officer will ask you to submit to a test to determine your blood alcohol content ("BAC").

Massachusetts Laws provide for measuring blood alcohol by means of either blood or breath analysis.  However, the breathalyzer has been the commonly-used method.  It can be performed by a certified operator using approved methods.

Following his or her arrest, an arrestee breathes through a breath tube into a breathalyzer machine.  The breath test result is then translated into a blood alcohol level and printed on a ticket.

The arrestee again blows deep lung air into the machine.  This second test result should be within .02 percent of the first result for the test to be considered valid.  As an example, if the first test was .11 percent, the second test should be neither greater than .13 percent nor less than .09 percent.  If the two results are outside these limits, then the entire test is deemed invalid.

A valid test result of .08 percent or greater results in a pretrial suspension of the driver's license for 30 days, or until the case is disposed of — whichever comes first.

Similar to the provisions for revocation upon a refusal, either law enforcement or the court may trigger a six month suspension on a .08 percent or greater test result for first time offenses; levels of .02 percent or greater apply to underage drivers. When police immediately seize a license, they issue a written notice of intent to suspend, and the officer must submit a report to the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) setting forth detailed information.

Note certain provisions relating to the following:

• In some circumstances, breathalyzer test results are inadmissible at trial in the absence of expert testimony showing the relationship between the test results and intoxication or impairment of the driver.
  
• If you refuse to take the breathalyzer test, the District Attorney cannot comment on that refusal nor can the fact that you refused to take the test be admissible in any way at trial.

You're Innocent Until Proven Guilty

Just because you were arrested for Operating Under the Influence of Alcohol (OUI), don't assume that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts can automatically prove that you are guilty and have you convicted of the crime.

It is the District Attorney's duty to attempt to prove you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; it is not your job to prove your innocence.

Our DUI Defense Attorneys Attack Breathalyzer Test Results

The breathalyzer test can be attacked for failure of the Commonwealth to comply with strict test taking requirements, or for many other reasons listed below:

• The initial police stop was unjustified in the first place, thus triggering a Motion to Suppress the Evidence
  
• The test was not performed by a certified breath-test operator
  
• The breathalyzer machine was not certified
  
• The Defendant was not observed for 15 minutes before the test was administered