I've been incredibly interested in what your curriculum is based on in the academy.... that is pure chemistry as far as I'm concerned and I don't understand anything of the subject.

 

It's actually taught by DFS (Division of Forensic Science) It was 40 hours of in class/ lab work and documented hours of "homework". I can't remember the number of hours though. It was the hardest thing to learn in the academy. It is a lot of information and the tests were not exactly easy. Operators have to be re-certified at least every two years. If you don't pass the re-cert, you have to take the whole thing over again at DFS. (not just the re-cert, the 40+ hours)

 

As I understand Henry's law, there are a few reasons why using it in this application is less than ideal. The two that I remember off hand are that it requires a closed system (lungs are not) and how critical temperature is. As I understand the Intox 5000, it's calibrated to 34C. Everybody's breath temp is slightly different and ever changing, and to write off these inaccuracies as small is little comfort to someone who is facing criminal charges. Also, as I understand it, Henry's law doesn't dictate 2100:1, but rather the 2100:1 ratio is applied to Henry's law.

Yes, the machines perform self-checks. But who checks the self-checks? I haven't seen the check procedure for the ec/ir ii, but the one for the 5000 is dependant on machine's own checking to be accurate.

Edit: response to edit 1: I know that's what they say, but I've seen a guy trick the intox 5000 with mouth alcohol. Now, for all I know he had to practice to do it, but still, who is to say that whatever he did to cause that can't happen randomly?

Edit 2: response to edit 2: really? That's amazing. The judge didn't even think the device to capture the sample existed! How can it be that he has tried DUIs in VA and never come across this? I'll have to talk to him. (oh, and it's not just amazing that the judge didn't know about it, but it's also amazing to me that VA does this when I have never heard of a state doing this. Good on VA).

Edit 3: wow, VA is a lot better about the blood sample than NC. In NC all the police have to do is tell you how you can obtain your own. They won't take it for you. They'll send you to the hospital (well, they'll tell you to call a cab or a friend to take you to the hospital), and there is one PD that regularly sends people to a hospital that has told the PD on several occassions that they will not do blood draws unless a police officer requests it, so by the time you sort that out far too much time has passed to get a meaningful sample.

 

What you say may very well be 100% accurate to what happens in NC. I'm in VA and this is VAdriven.

Each state has laws that mandate the requirements of breath testing machines. Va must be a little different than NC in the requirements. I don't make the equipment requirements, nor do I have anything to do with the equipment choices. It's far beyond my hands. I've used the Intox 5000 for ten years, I've never seen a result that wasn't consistent the SFST's and driving behavior. The new machine just getting implemented into the field. I think I'm going to like the newer one better. Of course with a new machine comes "new defenses" which will be sorted out by the courts during trials.

Edit: Here in Va the "device" that captures the samples isn't attached to the machine itself. It's sent to DFS electronically. The result is printed out in triplicate. Two samples (breaths) are taking during one test. The machine prints the lowest of the two, but both are sent to DFS electronically.

 

FWIW, as pro-defendant as I may seem here, I'll say that cops know WAY more than most people realize. That's part of the reason I think the FSTs should carry more weight than the blow (except maybe the HGN test, since my brother, who is a doctor, says that there is no way to do that accurately on someone who is only marginally impaired on the side of an unlit road at night), and because we have these FSTs, and they don't require any implied consent or questionable science, I think we should just use those and get rid of the blow.

 

The 2100:1 ratio is not state dependant (I just checked the EC/IR II manual on the DFS website).

I'll admit the EC/IR II is improved, but IMHO it's still no better because the blow carries stigma it doesn't deserve. It's like if you made the polygraph twice as accurate, it still wouldn't be accurate enough.

 

Oh, well that's not the device I'm talking about at all. That's just the test ticket capturing what the machine said is the result of the breath test. There is a device that physically captures the breath sample, and once again AFAIK nobody uses it...darn it.

 

I don't think you'll see anyone contest that who is trained on HGN. HGN is known only to be effective at BAC's at .10 or greater.

 

Well, my brother was saying to do it reliably on the side of the road the person would have to be absolutely hammered (assuming the only impairing substance is alcohol), but he may just be underestimating police training (which is why I said maybe).

 

Nah dude he definitely knows what he's talkin about. We need to get up together and get some ball cancer sometime. It will be great times!