Breath-tester purchases delayed

Cincinnati Enquirer

A decision on whether to buy 700 new alcohol-detection devices for state and local police was postponed two weeks today by the Ohio Controlling Board.

After an hour of questioning about the Intoxilyzer 8000’s reliability, state legislators said they’d make a final decision on the purchase – proposed with $6.4 million in federal grant money – at the Controlling Board’s Dec. 15 meeting.

Lindsay Komlanc, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Public Safety, said she is confident state officials can reassure state lawmakers that the Intoxilyzer 8000 machines are up-to-date and won’t expose law enforcement to litigation or wrongful drunken-driving arrests.

The portable machine is used in 15 states, including by Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Watercraft, which cites about 200 boaters annually for boating under the influence.

The purchase must be approved by the Controlling Board, a seven-member panel of the General Assembly currently led by Republicans. The board approves spending requests not included in the state’s regular budget.

Komlanc said recent demonstrations of an Intoxilyzer machine, including last week in Blue Ash, used old computer software and did not follow testing protocol.

For instance, new machines to be certified by the state Department of Health would typically be used at least 20 minutes after a driver’s last drink. In the local demonstrations for judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and local police, some mock “drivers” were tested immediately after their last drink, Komlanc said, skewing the readings.

“Certainly we would have hoped to move forward,’’ Komlanc said. “We’re committed to answering any possible questions.”

At today's meeting, Joshua Engel, Public Safety’s chief legal counsel, said he welcomes any chance to dispel misinformation about the devices. For instance, CMI Inc. of Owensboro, Ky., has not been sued in any state over reliability of the Intoxilyzer 8000 device, Engel told legislators. The litigation involves the Kentucky-based company’s refusal to disclose the device’s source code to defense lawyers. Engel said news reports about litigation in other states have been exaggerated. “We are not aware of any single court or any purported opinion that has found that these machines are unreliable,” Engel said.

Ohio has until Sept. 30, 2009, to order and buy the new machines using $6.4 million in federal grant money. States that lowered their drunk-driving arrest threshold to 0.08 percent blood-alcohol content, from 0.10 percent, are eligible for the federal grants. more