DA’s office: Some OUI defendants entitled to seek new trial due to unreliable breathalyzer results
Published: 2/9/2021 5:38:33 PM
NORTHAMPTON The Northwestern District Attorney’s Office plans to contact roughly 3,100 people convicted of operating under the influence of alcohol between 2011 and 2018, informing them that they may be entitled to seek a new trial due to unreliable breathalyzer results.
Litigation in the Boston municipal and district court departments resulted in breath test results in criminal cases during this seven-year period being deemed inadmissible for many thousands of defendants statewide.
In February 2017, Judge Robert Brennan ruled the Dräger Alcotest 9510 the type of breathalyzer in question produces scientifically reliable blood-alcohol content results, but that there was a deficiency in the annual calibration and certification methodology employed by the Office of Alcohol Testing between June 2011 and September 2014.
Thousands with OUI convictions to be offered new trials over unreliable breath tests
Published: 2/8/2021 8:18:04 PM
NORTHAMPTON Thousands of people in Hampshire and Franklin counties who were convicted of drunken driving between 2011 and 2018 may soon be eligible for a second trial due to unreliable breath test results, the office of the Northwestern district attorney announced Monday.
The office will send out letters to 3,100 residents of the two counties this week notifying them of their right to challenge a conviction for operating under the influence (OUI) from this period. Statewide, an estimated 27,000 people will receive notices.
Massachusetts District Court Judge Robert Brennan determined in 2017 that blood alcohol content test devices enacted by the state’s Office of Alcohol Testing from 2011-14 did not produce scientifically reliable results, making these tests inadmissible in court. In 2019, Brennan determined that the Office of Alcohol Testing had intentionally
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About 27,000 people convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol in Massachusetts may be able to get a second trial.
On Monday, Feb. 8, the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office said it would be notifying people convicted of OUI between 2011 and 2018 that they may be entitled to a new trial based on unreliable breathalyzer results.
In Hampshire and Franklin counties, more than 3,100 people will be getting such notices, the DA said. Each district attorney in Massachusetts is responsible for contacting qualifying OUI convicts in their regions.
In Massachusetts, breathalyzer results used in criminal cases from 2011 to 2018 were deemed inadmissible after several criminal defendants challenged the test results’ reliability in Boston Municipal and District Court.
Thousands with OUI convictions to be offered new trials over unreliable breath tests
Modified: 2/9/2021 3:11:12 PM
NORTHAMPTON Thousands of people in Hampshire and Franklin counties who were convicted of drunken driving between 2011 and 2018 may soon be eligible for a second trial due to unreliable breath test results, the office of the Northwestern district attorney announced Monday.
The office will send out letters to 3,100 residents of the two counties this week notifying them of their right to challenge a conviction for operating under the influence (OUI) from this period. Statewide, an estimated 27,000 people will receive notices.
Massachusetts District Court Judge Robert Brennan determined in 2017 that blood alcohol content test devices enacted by the state’s Office of Alcohol Testing from 2011-14 did not produce scientifically reliable results, making these tests inadmissible in court. In 2019, Brennan determined that the Office of Alcohol Testing had intentionally w