How to Beat an Alcohol Breath Test

If you were arrested for DUI in Michigan, the police officer probably gave you a breath test at the police station. This is to determine if your breath alcohol level was above Michigan’s legal limit of .08.

While there is little question that juries tend to give breath test results a great deal of “weight” in deciding their verdicts, all breath test cases are defensible at trial. For example, the Top Michigan DUI lawyers at the Barone Defense Firm have successfully used the following defenses to beat the breathalyzer test:

1. Breath Test Operator Mistakes – the typical DUI law enforcement officer in Michigan has only attended a single one-day course after which they become certified class II operators of the breathalyzer. All officers pass this test and because the training is so inadequate, officers often make mistakes in administering the breath test. Some of these mistakes can lead to false and unreliable test results.
2. Abnormal Red Blood Levels – human blood is made up of several constituent parts, including red blood cells. Red blood cells are necessary to carry to alcohol a person has consumed from their gut to the brain and lungs. If a person’s red blood cells are not average this abnormality can result in falsely reported breath test result.
3. Unusual Weather – yes, something as simple as the weather can change a reported breath test result. This is because barometric atmospheric pressure impacts what is called “partition ratio” meaning the partitioning of alcohol from blood to breath in the lungs. Things like gravity, temperature and density can all change barometric pressure, and as air moves around our planet, and therefore as barometric pressure changes, so does the weather. And, so do breath test results.
4. Poor Breath Test Maintenance – There have always been problems with the way breath test machines are maintained by the police. Along with a few dishonest cops, this problem lead to the 2020 breath test scandal in Michigan. Maintenance issues can be uncovered through a careful review of the logs the police are required to keep as well as thorough cross-examination of the individuals charged with the maintenance of the machine.
5. Faulty Simulator Solutions – Michigan breath test machines are run through calibration checks once per calendar week using dry gas simulator solution. The 120-day simulator tests are wet bath tests. Any variation in the manufacture or production of these simulator solutions can cause a DataMaster to have faulty calibration.
6. Radio Frequency Interference – the DataMaster DMT is an electronic device the results of which can be impacted by radio frequency interference (RFI). Just as your Wi-Fi signal stops working when the microwave is on, the DataMaster breath testing device in Michigan is subject to reporting false results when certain other equipment is being operated nearby. Such mistakes can lead to falsely high breathalyzer test results.
7. Unusual Breathing Pattern – There are multiple problems with the current breath test machine in Michigan, and inadequate monitoring of breathing pattern is one of them. Holding your breath can raise the number and so can breathing into the machine for too long.
8. Body and Breath Temperature – Because heat drives the alcohol from your breath into your lungs, if you had a fever when you blew into the machine, then there will be too much alcohol in your breath, and the reported result will be falsely high.
9. Mouth Alcohol – Heart burn or GERD is the most common cause of alcohol in your mouth and if you suffer from this health issue, then the only reliable way to test your bodily alcohol level is with a blood tests. If you have heart burn, and mouth alcohol is present, and the breathalyzer machine misses it, the result will be grossly elevated Breath sprays can also have alcohol in them. If the police didn’t watch you for 15 minutes before you gave your breath test, you can produce a false positive.
10. Arterial vs. Vein Blood Differences – Breath testing relies on arterial blood whereas blood testing relies on venous blood. If you breath into the machine while you blood alcohol level is going down, and most drivers are in this state, then the breathalyzer test can be up to 230% too high.
11. Diabetes and Chemical Interference – Breath testing machines in Michigan use the science of infrared spectroscopy to measure the amount of alcohol in a breath sample. The breathalyzer machine only measures infrared absorption in a given bandwidth, in this case 3.4 microns. Other molecules can be present in a person’s breath that also absorb infrared at 3.4 microns. Diabetics for example can have acetone on/in their breath, and if the “filter” used to distinguish beverage alcohol from acetone fails to catch this, an innocent person can go to jail.

These eleven defenses only scratch the surface of all the available defenses to a breath test. If you were arrested in Michigan and your breath tested above the legal limit, you’ll need a great lawyer.

But when selecting a Top Michigan DUI lawyer, don’t rely on don’t trust bogus credentials. Call the Barone Defense Firm and ask one of the top drunk driving lawyers in Michigan, to review your case. The evaluation is free, and it could make a big difference in the outcome of your case.