Often called the "mysterious machine," Florida uses the Intoxilyzer 8000 to analysis a breath sample after an individual is arrested for DUI and agrees to submit to testing. Unlike other types of testing, the breath sample is actually destroyed during the analysis. Many people believe if they blew over the legal limit then no defense would exist in their case. However, depending on the particular facts and circumstances of your case important defenses do exist.
If you agreed to submit to to the breath test on the Intoxilyzer 8000 and blew over the legal limit of 0.08, contact an experienced DUI breath test attorney at the Law Offices of Don Pumphrey, Jr. We represent men and women in DUI breath test cases throughout Tallahassee in Leon County, and the surrounding areas throughout Florida's Second Judicial Circuit, including Crawfordville in Wakulla County, Bristol in Liberty County, Quincy in Gadsden County, or Monticello in Jefferson County.
Intoxilyzer 8000 Information Center
Back to top
Surprising Facts about the Intoxilyzer 8000 in Florida
- No one outside of the company that manufactured the machine has ever seen the "source code" of the machine or an unencrypted version of the Florida software that runs the machine.
- Each state can design their own software to report or hide certain data that is important to determine whether the machine is working properly.
- The factory warranty on the Intoxilyzer 8000 only lasts for 90 days.
- The manufacturer states the machines are not warranted to be for “any particular fitness or purpose” which directly contradicts the reason the machines were designed.
- The State of Florida sued the manufacturer of the machines in order to determine whether it had any right to inspect the "source code" of the machine or the Florida software that runs the machine.
- Breath testing in DUI cases is the only type of scientific test that completely destroys the entire sample during the testing process, making independent retesting impossible, unlike fingerprint analysis, DNA testing, urine testing or blood testing.
Back to top
Legal Challenges to the Breath Test
In many DUI cases involving a breath test reading over the legal limit of 0.08, important challenges can be raised prior to trial in order to exclude any mention of the breath test result at trial. This area of the law is in a constant state of flux as new legal challenges are brought up constantly. As new problems are discovered with the Intoxilyzer 8000, the success of these challenges also change over time. The most common of these challenges include:
- Problems with an illegal stop or arrest
- The officer lacked probable cause to conduct a traffic stop of the vehicle.
- The officer lacked probable cause to order the driver to exit the vehicle and perform field sobriety exercises.
- After completing the roadside investigation, the officer lacked probable cause to arrest the driver for DUI.
- Problems with the Implied Consent Warnings
- The officer coerced the driver into taking the breath test by misadvising the driver of the "implied consent" law.
- Problems with administering the breath test
- The officer or technician failed to observe the driver for the entire 20 minute period before taking the breath test.
- The breath test technician attempted to improperly increase the breath volume (and the breath test reading) by yelling, "Blow! Blow! Blow!"
- Possible electronic interference during the test caused by a radio or cell phone.
- Medical problems could have led to an inflated breath test reading because of mouth alcohol contamination.
- Dentures or dental work that traps small amounts of alcohol.
- Any small burp or hiccup during the 20 minute observation period.
- GERD or acid reflux.
- Other medical problems that can lead to an inflated breath test result
- Unusual diets or fasting prior to testing.
- Fever which can dramatically cause an artificial increase in the breath test reading.
- Lung problems such as bronchitis.
- Asthma and other breathing problems.
- Special defenses for women
- Defense for thin or petite women who have a body’s partition ratio well above or below 2100:1.
- Normal fluctuations in a woman's body temperature which can artificially inflate the breath test reading.
- Differences in a woman's lung capacity compared to a man.
During the initial consultation the Tallahassee DUI attorneys at the Law Offices of Don Pumphrey, Jr., will discuss all the facts and circumstances of your case with you to determine what unique defense might apply to your case. Many of these defenses have been successfully asserted in cases throughout Florida's Second Judicial Circuit including Leon County for DUI breath test cases in Tallahassee, Liberty County for breath test cases in Bristol, Wakulla County for breath test cases in Crawfordville, Jefferson County for DUI breath test cases in Monticello, or Gadsden County for breath test cases in Quincy, FL.
Back to top
History of the Intoxilyzer 8000 and the Florida Software
In order to produce a breath alcohol level, the Intoxilyzer 8000 utilizes a computer program, versions of which range from 8100.08 to 8100.27. The FDLE is currently working on the 8100.28 version which may be utilized in 2012. Currently, the Intoxilyzer 8000 machines are using the software version 8100.27, although no independent testing of any version of the software has even been allowed.
All of the alleged "fail safe" procedures, supposedly designed to flag malfunctions of the Intoxilyzer 8000 machine, are contained in and performed by the computer program within the machine. For most of these "fail safe" procedures, what thresholds are required to trigger the "fail safe" flags are unknown. Additionally, the machine is programmed to only show one "fail safe" flag, and the priority used to determine which "fail safe" flag is shown is not known even to the FDLE.
Without the computer program, the Intoxilyzer 8000 will not operate. The FDLE has stated they approved software versions 8100.09 and 8100.10 in the 2002 version of FDLE Rule 11D-8.003. Since that purported approval of the Intoxilyzer 8000 there has been up to seventeen (17) subsequent revisions to the software, one of which is software version 8100.27 which is currently being used.
FDLE has admitted in correspondence dated October 5, 2006, that software flaws have been discovered wherein scientifically unreliable breath test results have been reported by the Intoxilyzer 8000 machine to be scientifically reliable. These flaws are based upon the Intoxilyzer 8000 machines ability or inability to measure the breath volume on any individual test in which a live human subject blows into the device.
Back to top
Intoxilyzer 8000 and Problems with Breath Volume
Since the Intoxilyzer 8000 is not designed to measure the accuracy of the breath volume when simulators are used to test the accuracy of the machine, department inspections, agency inspections, and registration inspections under FDLE Rules 11D- 8.003, 11D-8.004 and 11D-8.006 may not properly test the accuracy of results obtained on actual human breath samples.
FDLE Departmental Inspector, Roger Skipper, has admitted that FDLE has made no attempt by use of independent instrumentation to determine the accuracy of the volume provided on any individual breath test administered to live human individuals.
FDLE Commissioner, Guy Tunnell, in a letter to the President of the Florida Prosecuting Attorney's Association, dated August 11, 2005 stated:
The Intoxilyzer 8000 requires minimum time (one second), slope, flow and volume (1.1 liter) components. Only when those minimally acceptable requirements are met, will the breath sample be scientifically reliable and the quantitative result accurately reflect the alcohol concentration circulating in a person's body.
In the same letter FDLE Commissioner Guy Tunnell stated:
Volume is a key component in establishing reliability. Where a breath sample does not meet minimum volume requirements, the instrument cannot determine if there are interferants or mouth alcohol present, and cannot ensure that a deep lung breath sample has been obtained.
In the Intoxilyzer 8000 Instrument Specification Sheets provided by CMI, Inc., the company that manufactured the machine, CMI has admitted volume measurements accuracies are plus or minus 10%. The Intoxilyzer 8000 has undergone numerous software changes which directly and indirectly effect the analytical portion of the software that has been modified. Without either independent black box testing or an opportunity to analysis the source code, it remains unknown whether the results produced by the machine are accurate or reliable.
Back to top
The Law Offices of Don Pumphrey, Jr. - Tallahassee Breath Test Defense Lawyer
After taking the breath test and blowing over the legal limit, seek the services of a criminal defense attorney experienced in fighting these types of cases. Challenging the Intoxilyzer 8000 requires the knowledge and experience necessary to understand the machine and its limitations. Call an experienced DUI breath test lawyer at the Law Offices of Don Pumphrey, Jr. Our drunk driving defense attorneys represent men and women in DUI breath test cases throughout Tallahassee in Leon County, and the surrounding areas throughout Florida's Second Judicial Circuit, including Monticello in Jefferson County, Bristol in Liberty County, Crawfordville in Wakulla County, or Quincy in Gadsden County.