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Did he beat the system? BAC too high to measure -- lol - a novel idea

Fallschirjmäger

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I wouldn't put it past a lawyer to put it forth as his "theory of the case" but it would be pretty easily defeated by demonstrating that the manufacturer designed the machine to only have that display if the alcoholic content of the suspect's breath was in excess of what the machine was designed to measure.

"Too high to measure" still meets the definition of "more than enough to impair", unless... ... maybe the measurement is like the degrees of a circle it keeps getting higher and higher until it goes back to one?

At least one judge has found breathalyzers not scientifically accurate enough to convict merely on its results. Given that finding, the most probable course is that the officers will testify as to the subjects actual actions and their observations of his conduct.
 
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davidmcbeth

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Prosecutors have relied in the past on a 1984 Ohio Supreme Court decision that said because the machines were officially certified by the state, they could not be challenged by expert witnesses. However, several judges, including Judge Gary Dumm of Circleville Municipal Court in a 2011 decision, challenged that, saying Intoxilyzer 8000 results will not be admitted in their courts.

From above posted link...


So, since 1984 .. judicial notice has been handed off to a single official of the executive branch? Ohio, crazy state of evidence.
 

Brace

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At .467 that man should have been in a coma. I guess some people really do have superpowers.
 

stealthyeliminator

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lol. I imagine all that would be needed is a testimony or piece of evidence showing what a reading of "HI" from the device indicates, which will probably read something along the lines of "any reading over BAC over X will result in a reading of HI" which IMO would be sufficient evidence that he was over the legal limit even though the exact BAC might not be known.

I would be interested to know the margin of error on your typical breathalyzer, but I imagine that this guy's reading was high enough the margin of error would be completely irrelevant.

Edit: I also think it's a little funny how "just a couple" or "two beers" is like, the default answer when a cop asks a drunk guy how much he's had. It's almost so overused that if someone actually did only have two beers, it'd be better for them to say 3, because if they said 2 the officer would assume they're lying
 
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eye95

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lol. I imagine all that would be needed is a testimony or piece of evidence showing what a reading of "HI" from the device indicates, which will probably read something along the lines of "any reading over BAC over X will result in a reading of HI" which IMO would be sufficient evidence that he was over the legal limit even though the exact BAC might not be known.

I would be interested to know the margin of error on your typical breathalyzer, but I imagine that this guy's reading was high enough the margin of error would be completely irrelevant.

Edit: I also think it's a little funny how "just a couple" or "two beers" is like, the default answer when a cop asks a drunk guy how much he's had. It's almost so overused that if someone actually did only have two beers, it'd be better for them to say 3, because if they said 2 the officer would assume they're lying

If you ever watch the daytime court shows, there routinely are cases where someone gets drunk and trashes someone else's property. Invariably, when asked how many drinks he had, the defendant in these cases replies, "Two."

Anyone replying, "Two," to these questions might as well be saying, "I was stinko."

If I ever have really had two, I am going to lie and say, "One."


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk.

<o>
 

davidmcbeth

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If you ever watch the daytime court shows, there routinely are cases where someone gets drunk and trashes someone else's property. Invariably, when asked how many drinks he had, the defendant in these cases replies, "Two."

Anyone replying, "Two," to these questions might as well be saying, "I was stinko."

If I ever have really had two, I am going to lie and say, "One."


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk.

<o>

Perhaps they meant to say "too much" but are just too blotto to complete the sentence.
 
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