Breathalyzer

A New Jersey Superior Court judge threw out two drunken-driving convictions yesterday, ruling that widely used breath tests are highly inaccurate and raising questions about the prosecution of such cases in Burlington County. In overturning the two convictions and referring two others back to municipal courts, Judge Martin L. Haines cited evidence from experts that the field test, known as a Breathalyzer, can be off by as much as 50 percent. Three of the cases were on appeal from Medford Municipal Court; one was from Burlington Township.

Fieldsboro Mayor Edward G. Tyler has lost his bid to have a Burlington County judge overturn his conviction for failing to take a Breathalyzer test. Superior Court Judge Martin L. Haines, in a ruling released yesterday, said the state law governing Breathalyzer tests is constitutional and that Tyler did not have the right to consult with a lawyer before he took the test. Haines also wrote in his opinion that anyone who drives on a public highway has, in effect, consented to take a Breathalyzer test if police require one. Tyler's attorney, William E. Sitzler, said that Tyler intended to appeal Haines' ruling.

Next fall, high school students here will have a new test to worry about. A Breathalyzer test. Residents of Sayville, a tidy village on Long Island's south shore, like to think of their community as almost problem-free. But when scores of students showed up drunk at a high school dance in March, some started to worry. School officials did more, formulating a plan to conduct alcohol checks with a Breathalyzer at the beginning of each school day. Under the planned policy, starting in September a student whose breath or behavior raises suspicion will be told to take the test.

Suspected drunk drivers in New Jersey soon will have to blow into a testing device that represents a switch to new technology for the first time in decades. The state Attorney General's Office plans to abandon Breathalyzer methods, invented in 1953, for a roadside tester that uses more sophisticated means to determine whether and how much drivers have been drinking. The pilot program begins Monday as the first new unit - called the Alcotest 7110 - in the state is scheduled to arrive at the Pennsauken Police Department in Camden County.

To lengthen the list of people arrested for drunken driving and shorten the list of those killed by drunk drivers, a local Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter last week urged the use of a new breath-alcohol tester in New Jersey. The new tester, called the Intoxilyzer, uses infrared technology to measure the alcohol in a person's blood by analyzing a breath sample blown into the machine. New Jersey is one of four states that do not use infrared testers such as the Intoxilyzer, said Bob Gratz, sales manager for CMI of Owensboro, Ky., maker of the Intoxilyzer.

STATE REP. Cherelle Parker appeared near tears and refused to speak with reporters after leaving a Philadelphia courtroom yesterday. The Northwest Philadelphia Democrat had reason to weep, and her attorney, Joseph Kelly, had reason to promise an appeal and declared himself "shocked. " That's because Common Pleas Judge Paula Patrick reinstated Parker's drunken-driving charges after ruling that Municipal Judge Charles Hayden in November had "abused his discretion" by throwing out all evidence against Parker.

Flyers winger Donald Brashear was charged with drunken driving after being pulled over early Friday in Waterford Township, Camden County, police said. Brashear is slated to appear Jan. 8 in Waterford Township Municipal Court to answer charges of driving while intoxicated, careless driving, and refusing to take a Breathalyzer test, according to Sgt. Dan Cormaney of the Waterford Police Department. Cormaney said last night that Brashear was arrested at 3:01 a.m. Friday when his black 2002 Ford pickup was stopped after it was seen swerving while leaving a shopping center.

A broken Breathalyzer machine - and a judge's belief that a fired city cop couldn't have been drunk since he was able to drive down a narrow street after drinking while on duty - helped lead to a not-guilty verdict in the ex-cop's DUI case today. And now the former cop, William Haviland, who completed a program for first-time offenders after another DUI arrest in 2008, will try to get his old job back. Haviland, 43, was a seven-year police veteran when he was arrested several days after leaving a Tacony bar in his squad car on Nov. 7, 2010.

In a recent poll, city police got impressive marks from Philadelphians for being professional and courteous, and the leadership style of Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey could be part of the reason. This week, Ramsey was front and center, announcing that police failed to calibrate Breathalyzer machines accurately. The embarrassing disclosure Wednesday revealed that evidence might be compromised in 1,147 drunken driving cases. With refreshing candor, the commissioner made no effort to duck responsibility for what he called "human error," saying, "We screwed up, folks.

A judge on Tuesday dismissed evidence supporting a drunken-driving charge filed against a Philadelphia state legislator. Municipal Court Judge Charles Hayden granted a motion filed by Rep. Cherelle L. Parker's lawyer to suppress the evidence "based on creditability" of police testimony, court records show. "He didn't believe the officers," said her attorney, Joseph Kelly. The prosecutor, state Deputy Attorney General E. Marc Costanzo, could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

STATE REP. Cherelle Parker appeared near tears and refused to speak with reporters after leaving a Philadelphia courtroom yesterday. The Northwest Philadelphia Democrat had reason to weep, and her attorney, Joseph Kelly, had reason to promise an appeal and declared himself "shocked. " That's because Common Pleas Judge Paula Patrick reinstated Parker's drunken-driving charges after ruling that Municipal Judge Charles Hayden in November had "abused his discretion" by throwing out all evidence against Parker.

A BROKEN Breathalyzer machine - and a judge's belief that a fired city cop couldn't have been drunk, since he was able to drive down a narrow street after drinking while on duty - helped lead to a not-guilty verdict in the ex-cop's DUI case yesterday. And now the former cop, William Haviland, who completed a program for first-time offenders after another DUI arrest in 2008, will try to get his old job back. Haviland, 43, had been an officer for seven years when he was arrested several days after leaving a Tacony bar in his squad car on Nov. 7, 2010.

A broken Breathalyzer machine - and a judge's belief that a fired city cop couldn't have been drunk since he was able to drive down a narrow street after drinking while on duty - helped lead to a not-guilty verdict in the ex-cop's DUI case today. And now the former cop, William Haviland, who completed a program for first-time offenders after another DUI arrest in 2008, will try to get his old job back. Haviland, 43, was a seven-year police veteran when he was arrested several days after leaving a Tacony bar in his squad car on Nov. 7, 2010.

A judge on Tuesday dismissed evidence supporting a drunken-driving charge filed against a Philadelphia state legislator. Municipal Court Judge Charles Hayden granted a motion filed by Rep. Cherelle L. Parker's lawyer to suppress the evidence "based on creditability" of police testimony, court records show. "He didn't believe the officers," said her attorney, Joseph Kelly. The prosecutor, state Deputy Attorney General E. Marc Costanzo, could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

The car crash in Chester County that took the lives of television celebrity Ryan Dunn and his passenger Zachary Hartwell was tragic. Thankfully, preventive measures are making progress. The public's commitment to a "designated driver" and the slogan "Friends don't let friends drive drunk" have helped. So do local and state police, when they undertake sobriety checkpoints and roving patrols. Breathalyzer ignition interlocks are saving lives, but we need legislation requiring that they be used following first convictions and remain installed until offenders demonstrate repeated safe starts.

The investigation into the police department's bad-data-spewing Breathalyzer machines has found that 2,126 drunken-driving cases were affected, with 1,459 of those defendants able to request new trials, the district attorney announced yesterday. "This was an unfortunate case of human error," Philadelphia D.A. Seth Williams said in a statement. "But we identified it and have started the process of correcting any mistakes that were made. And the hardworking members of my office . . . have put in countless hours to make sure this doesn't happen again," added Williams, whose office conducted a six-week investigation.

Six weeks after Philadelphia police acknowledged that four Breathalyzer machines were not properly calibrated, the District Attorney's Office has decided to give almost 1,500 people arrested for drunken driving the chance for another day in court. "This was an unfortunate case of human error," District Attorney Seth Williams said in a statement Friday. "But we identified it and have started the process of correcting any mistakes that were made. " The people being offered a new trial were those charged in Philadelphia for driving while intoxicated between September 2009 and November.

The Intoxilyzers didn't fail. They faithfully detected the presence of alcohol when 1,147 drivers blew into them. But the mistakes made by humans were so basic - did anyone notice, for example, that 0.009 is a bigger number than 0.005 - that they raise questions about training and oversight in the Philadelphia Police Department. And at least one defense attorney, a DUI expert in Harrisburg with scientific training, argues that Pennsylvania's regulations are too weak to ensure that basic errors are caught and fixed statewide - an assertion that some in law enforcement dismiss.

In a recent poll, city police got impressive marks from Philadelphians for being professional and courteous, and the leadership style of Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey could be part of the reason. This week, Ramsey was front and center, announcing that police failed to calibrate Breathalyzer machines accurately. The embarrassing disclosure Wednesday revealed that evidence might be compromised in 1,147 drunken driving cases. With refreshing candor, the commissioner made no effort to duck responsibility for what he called "human error," saying, "We screwed up, folks.

And so it begins. The first of signs of fallout from the Police Department's admitted yearlong use of four faulty breathalyzers in numerous DUI cases emerged yesterday, as the District Attorney's Office announced a handful of internal actions. Prosecutors will review - by hand - every local DUI arrest from September 2009 to November 2010, which is when Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said cops were relying on improperly calibrated breathalyzers to test whether drivers were impaired.