In the aftermath of the ruling in Commonwealth v. Schildt, Pennsylvania State Police has decided to halt all DUI breath testing in Pennsylvania.
Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Lawrence F. Clark Jr. in his ruling in Schildt pointed out two major areas of concern in regards to DUI breath testings:
1. Breath testing machines calibration checked according to state regulations and as implemented all across Pennsylvania can only be considered scientifically proven within a specific range. Currently, breath testing machines are calibration checked at 0.05%, 0.10% and 0.15%. This constitutes a range. Any reading falling outside of this range does not have scientific basis, so found the Court.
2. The Intoxilyzer 5000EN made by CMI, Inc. and widely used across Pennsylvania, is calibrated with solutions that are only tested by CMI. This is in opposition to state regulations which mandate that the solution be tested by an independent source prior to their use as a calibration standard for these machines.
According to Zack Needles of The Legal Intelligencer, the ruling in this case has prompted State Police to halt breath testing for DUI cases and use blood testing only.
Dauphin County Assistant District Attorney Francis T. Chardo told the Law Weekly last Wednesday that he has met with members of the Pennsylvania State Police who agreed to suspend breath testing in favor of blood testing across the state until the case is resolved.
At The McShane Firm we know this decision will lead to safer roads and to less innocent people being accused of DUI because of ancient breath test technology.
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Justin McShane
PA DUI attorney Justin J. McShane is the President/CEO of The McShane Firm, LLC - Pennsylvania's top criminal law and DUI law firm. He is the highest rated DUI attorney in PA as rated by Avvo.com. Justin McShane is a double Board certified attorney. He is the first and so far the only Pennsylvania attorney to achieve American Bar Association recognized board certification in DUI defense from the National College for DUI Defense, Inc. He is also a Board Certified Criminal Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Approved Agency.