Chuck Ramsay, of our own Ramsay Law Firm, was selected as a 2011 “Attorney of the Year” by Minnesota Lawyer. Selection for this honor was due to both his “leadership in the profession” (Ramsay routinely educates other attorneys on topics relating to criminal law) as well as his instrumental efforts as part of the Consolidated Source Code Trial Team.
This recognition is just the most recent in a long line of awards that Ramsay has received for his dedication to the practice of criminal law, and all of us at Ramsay Law Firm continue to wish him the best in the future. Ramsay will receive the Attorney of the Year award at a banquet held on February 23, 2012.
This week, we headed down to Mansfield, Ohio to get some first hand knowledge about Minnesota's new breath test machine, the DataMaster. Today, we toured the plant and attended several lectures regarding the science behind infrared spectrometry and fuel cell detection of alcohol.
Tomorrow we get to grill several of the manufacturer's employees regarding the specifics of the machine that will be used in Minnesota.
Stay tuned- we'll be posting more about our impressions and analysis of Minnesota's new breath testing device in the upcoming weeks.
Today the Minnesota Supreme Court has released the date for En Banc Oral Arguments regarding the consolidated Source Code litigation. Oral Arguments have been scheduled to be heard on December 1, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. at the State Capitol Building.
View all the briefs leading up to the Oral Arguments here.
This type of conduct occurs, not only in Minnesota, but in other states as well. Unfortunately, officials are rarely held accountable. It seems a group of Texans are changing that in Houston.
INTOXILYZER TECHNICIAN BLOWS WHISTLE
When a technician blew the whistle on Houston’s breath testing program – which, coincidentally, also uses the Intoxilyzer 5000 – her supervisors did nothing. So she quit, putting many breath test cases in jeopardy.
Something went wrong along the way for the prosecutors. The Grand Jury ordered the bailiffs to keep the prosecutors out. As Murray Newman writes,
In legal terms, the proper response to this is "Holy Catfish, Batman."
Prosecutors are always in the room with Grand Jurors when they are interviewing witnesses. The only part they are excluded from in a Grand Jury is when the grand jurors deliberate. The Grand Jurors excluding the prosecutors from the testimony is kind of the equivalent of the President being booted out of a Cabinet meeting. It just doesn't happen. I mean, ever.
The prosecutors freaked and brought a motion before a judge to order the jury to allow them in. After the judge refused, the prosecutors appealed. Last week the court of appeals denied the motion!
GRAND JURY: ARREST THE PROSECUTORS!
It seems the Grand Jury wanted the prosecutors arrested according to the prosecutors’ briefs to the appellate court:
Just prior to being escorted out of the grand jury room by the bailiff, I observed the bailiff in her office and overheard the bailiff speaking in a telephone conversation. The bailiff said to the person on the phone, "They told me to arrest the DAs." From that, I assumed that the grand jury had instructed the bailiffs to arrest Mr. Hobbs, Mr. Morris and me if we remained in the grand jury room while the grand jury was attempting to question the witness.
Amanda Culbertson, the breath testing employee who blew the whistle on shoddy maintenance of the breath test machines, is a hero and so are those on the Grand Jury. The prosecutors are scared, and may be guilty of criminal behavior themselves. At a minimum they’re guilty of dereliction of duty. Instead of ensuring that justice is served by seeking to convict the guilty based only on forensically sound evidence, they make a mockery of the judicial system and embarrass themselves and other good prosecutors by failing to uphold their constitutional duties.
Meanwhile in Minnesota, we await someone like Amanda Culbertson to step forward….
The last source code brief is in! The Source Code Coalition filed its reply brief on behalf of thousands of Defendants and Drivers with the Minnesota Supreme Court on October 17, 2011. This is the last of the briefs to be submitted to the Minnesota Supreme Court on this issue. We anticipate the Supreme Court will schedule a date for oral argument soon.
Here are the other briefs filed in this matter pending before the Supreme Court:
Minnesota finally is using its new breath test machine, the DataMaster DMT. The state has produced no public information about these machines, so my office contacted the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) on two occasions last week in attempt to obtain documentation for the machine.
BCA employees initially claimed the DataMaster breath test machine was not yet “deployed” and therefore no manuals are available. After we told them that we are aware of several instances where police officers used the machine for DWI testing to revoke several drivers’ licenses, they admitted the machines were being used only in a “pilot program.”
One of my firm’s employees spoke to a supervisor. We specifically requested the DataMaster DMT manual, documents used to train operators and any other documents related to the breath test machine. The supervisor said the BCA would not provide any of the documents, and insisted we go through the Office of the Attorney General and obtain them through formal discovery in an actual DWI case.
This is disturbing. Because discovery is specifically limited by Minnesota’s Implied Consent Act, the BCA’s position requires a court order to obtain the public documents in a DWI case with the Attorney General.
The relevant part of the implied consent law says:
Judicial reviews must be conducted according to the Rules of Civil Procedure, except that prehearing discovery is mandatory and is limited to:
(1) the notice of revocation;
(2) the test record or, in the case of blood or urine tests, the certificate of analysis;
(3) the peace officer's certificate and any accompanying documentation submitted by the arresting officer to the commissioner; and
(4) disclosure of potential witnesses, including experts, and the basis of their testimony.
Other types of discovery are available only upon order of the court.
This is a change from the way the BCA has traditionally handled such requests. Previously the BCA was much more open to requests for information.
This is not the first time the BCA’s toxicology section has copped an attitude. As Judge Abrams wrote in his source code order:
Those responsible for the operation and maintenance of the [Intoxilyzer 5000 at the BCA] have been defensive and at times outright hostile to the suggestion that problems may exist, which has in turn led to the instant challenge. … A less defensive posture and access to the [information] at an earlier time would likely have increased confidence in results and reduced the need for this protracted litigation.
While we hope the government learns from its mistakes, it seems the BCA is unaware of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act which requires disclosure as well. Failure to turn over the documentation under the act could likely result in payment of sanctions.
While we will be filing a formal data practices request this week, we are disappointed the BCA would again entrench itself in secrecy.
Under a shoot-first-ask-questions-later philosophy, the Minnesota Commissioner of Public Safety can take away drivers’ licenses without first conducting a hearing on the propriety of the revocation pursuant to the Minnesota Implied Consent Act. Although drivers may challenge the license revocation in court, it can take months before the case goes to court. Even in those cases where a judge ultimately orders license reinstatement, the damage is already done. There is no way to “undo” the loss of a license during the wait. But a major overhaul to the law may have so radically changed the legal landscape that the law is no longer constitutional.
Previous Constitutional Challenges to Minnesota’s Implied Consent Law
The Minnesota Supreme Court has found the basic premise of pre-hearing license revocation to be constitutional. In balancing the interests of public safety against the rights of individual drivers, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld in Heddan v. Dirkswager (1983) that there were sufficient procedural safeguards to protect the private interest of the driver. At the time those protections included (1) the relatively short revocation period; (2) the immediate availability of a work permit; and (3) a speedy hearing.
After the legislature tinkered with the statute, the Minnesota Supreme Court warned the legislature in the 1994 Davis case not to further erode the procedural safeguards or it would strike down the law as unconstitutional. Although the court upheld the statute, it was troubled by the fact that “a court cannot undo an erroneous revocation,” because “full retroactive relief cannot be provided” and “even a day’s loss of a driver’s license could inflict grave injury upon a person.”
Minnesota Supreme Court: Law Violates Constitution
While it was not “prepared at [that] time to conclude that the legislation in question violate[d] either federal or state due process guarantees,” in 2003 the legislature removed drivers’ right to a prompt hearing. For the first time, the Minnesota Supreme found the law unconstitutional in Fedziuk v. Commissioner of Public Safety (2005), holding that that the law offended the constitution’s right to due process.
New, Radical Changes
Despite the Supreme Court’s early warnings and then later finding the Implied Consent Act unconstitutional, the 2010 legislature radically changed the implied consent law. In doing so, the legislature increased the duration of a first time misdemeanor revocation from 90 days to one year and completely removed the right to a work permit for those with an alleged alcohol concentration of .16 or more.
The legislature attempted to give the appearance of softening the blow to drivers by providing for “zero day eligibility” for ignition interlock. This is just a mirage. First, the administrative process is so unwieldy the Department of Public Safety has been unable to provide anything close to immediate reinstatement, even with the installation of the interlock devices. Second, the cost is prohibitive for most. While the costs vary, drivers must pay hundreds of dollars in fees for installation and monitoring to private carriers. They must pay a $680 reinstatement fee. Finally, they must fork over a four digit amount in advance for a one-year, non-cancellable insurance policy. Presumably, even if a court finds the revocation improper, it would be impossible to undo the erroneous revocation and provide full retroactive relief. Not only would the interim loss of the license inflict injury, but the driver would lose thousands in costs of the ignition interlock program and non-cancellable insurance.
The Risk of Erroneous License Revocation is Higher Today Than Ever
Finally, the risk of erroneous deprivation is higher today than ever. The state continues to use the Intoxilyzer 5000 for DUI breath testing, which does not always work properly according to the judge in the consolidated source code case. Or, it relies on DUI urine testing using procedures not accepted by the scientific community – and not used at all in any other jurisdiction in the entire country.
Our firm is raising this issue in almost every DUI case. There is no doubt it will eventually come before the Supreme Court. Will it find the law unconstitutional?
Last week we told you that the scientific community requires blood, breath and urine tests be reported not as a certainty, but with a confidence interval that has a high probability of containing the true alcohol level. (This is not to be confused with results involving mistakes or blunders; uncertainty assumes that no mistakes or blunders have been made.) Therefore, due to the uncertainty in every measurement, the state must report a DWI alcohol test results with a range, not as a single number.
This raises some interesting questions for drivers in Minnesota who face criminal penalties or civil license revocation, or vehicle forfeiture.
Are there established confidence intervals for Minnesota DWI tests?
Despite the 2009 National Academy of Science Report to Congress which requires that each lab analyze and establish confidence intervals for each type of test, Minnesota has failed. Nationally renowned attorney, Ted Vosk, has advocated with some success that no test result should be admitted as evidence unless it meets these criteria. (Note to practicing attorneys, judges and scientists: I highly recommend you read Mr. Vosk’s work along with the NAS report to get a better understanding. See others including Justin McShane.)
How can I use measurement uncertainty in my case?
One well respected scientist has analyzed the data from Minnesota’s Intoxilyzer 5000 to establish a confident interval. Analyzing test data provided by the Minnesota BCA of more than 44,000 breath tests, Rod Gullberg determined that the uncertainty of measurement of a .08 breath test in Minnesota’s Intoxilyzer 5000 EN is approximately nine percent. Rod G. Gullberg, Breath Alcohol Measurement Variability Assessment with Different Instruments & Protocols, 131 Forensic Science International 30 (2003).
This percentage increases with the level of alcohol. At an alcohol concentration of 0.20, the measurement uncertainty is even greater. One must have a thorough understanding of complicated mathematical and scientific concepts to use his formula. For more information, see his work at the Borkenstein Course.
So what does this mean for drivers with alcohol concentrations close to critical levels? The Minnesota legislature has mad .04, .08, .16, .20 critical levels of alcohol concentration. In addition to other defenses, measurement uncertainty should be employed to defeat blood, breath and urine testing.
Currently, the consolidated source code litigation, originally presided over by Judge Abrams, is up on appeal before the Minnesota Supreme Court. This has caused more than a little confusion in the various district courts, as each judicial district tries to decide how to proceed with DWI cases based on Intoxilyzer 5000EN breath test results.
Most counties seem to be of the opinion that they need to stay all proceedings pending a final decision by our Supreme Court. In our opinion, this is not only the smart option, but the only legal one. Minnesota Rule of Civil Appellate Procedure 108.01, subd. 2 makes it clear that our lower courts are prohibited from doing anything to affect the current source code appeal - which includes setting cases on for trial (cases that could then be “re-appealed” and effectively double the judicial system’s workload).
While most counties have followed this route, there are some exceptions - notably Anoka and Ramsey counties. In Anoka County, all of the previously stayed cases were returned to active judicial calendars after Judge Abrams issued his order. However, after the Minnesota Court of Appeals granted review of that order and the Supreme Court granted expedited review, Anoka County chose to reverse course - and continued to stay all Intoxilyzer breath test cases.
Ramsey County, on the other hand, who also originally stayed all of its Intoxilyzer cases, recently issued an order lifting that stay and ordering all cases to proceed. In light of Rule 108.01 and the currently pending motion to stay proceedings pending in front of the Supreme Court, it is unclear how much progress will be made on these cases . . . but as of today, every pending Intoxilyzer case is being pushed back on to Ramsey County judicial calendars.
It will be interesting to see how the situation in Ramsey County progresses. Maybe Ramsey County will reverse course in the same way that Anoka did (the coalition emailed the Ramsey County Court objecting to the new order). Or maybe Ramsey County will set hundreds of cases for trial, only to be ordered by the Supreme Court to cancel everything and wait for the conclusion of the appeal. Only time will tell, but for now, defendants and attorneys with Ramsey County DWI cases should be prepared to resume their cases while the final determination of whether Intoxilyzer test results are admissible is still up in the air.
The Minnesota Supreme Court has accepted accelerated review of the appeal that was made of Judge Abrams' Order as part of the consolidated Source Code litigation. This means that rather than arguing this case to the Minnesota Court of Appeals before appealing to the Minnesota Supreme Court, the case is being immediately sent to the highest court in the land. This should ensure the speediest possible resolution to the consolidated challenge to the Intoxilyzer 5000EN.
Yesterday the Commissioner of Public Safety filed a Petition for Accelerated Review with the Minnesota Supreme Court. This Petition follows the April 27, 2011 Order of the Minnesota Court of Appeals granting the Petition for Discretionary Review which was filed by counsel for Minnesota Petitioners and Defendants.
The thousands of consolidated DWI cases stemming from tests on the Intoxilyzer 5000EN, previously heard by Judge Abrams in the First Judicial District, have officially been accepted for review by the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
In an Order filed April 28, 2011, the Court of Appeals held that there were “compelling reasons” to grant review of Judge Abrams’ Order. While this case might ultimately be forwarded directly to the Minnesota Supreme Court, we are currently preparing to present our arguments to the Court of Appeals.
Minnesota’s expansion of ignition interlock devices this summer may cause more problems than state officials anticipated. You might remember our previous blog about the earlier stages of this program, but now the “pilot” project is official. As of July 1, 2011, first time DWI arrestees may be required to install the devices in their vehicles in order to get their drivers’ licenses back in a reasonable period of time.
State officials might see the interlock device as a panacea for repeat DWI offenders (see below), but what I see are all of the potential problems that will arise.
Minnesota Lawyer’s front page story this week, headlined, “DWI Law Changes Worry Lawyers,” cited Bill Lemons, the traffic safety resource prosecutor from the Minnesota County Attorneys Association, as saying,
[T]he program helps offenders get their lives back on track sooner because they can drive right away, and the ignition interlocks will mean safer roads for everyone else. In addition, it ensures offenders will drive legally instead of driving with a revoked license.
“We would like to see all [of those offenders] get the ignition interlock,” said Lemons. “The research shows that the program is only effective when the device is in the car. Absent that behavior changing program, the likelihood to re-offend goes right back to where it was.”
Defense attorneys paint a less-rosy picture. Jeff Sheridan, a criminal defense attorney from Eagan, told the paper the law fails to take into account that not every other state has an ignition interlock program.
“What about the guy who is up here on business and gets arrested and his state doesn’t do interlock?” Sheridan said. “Is his home state is required to enforce the revocation? Is he supposed to put [a device] on his car anyway?
“I encourage the interlock device [with my clients] but assuming that there are going to be no problems is a bit of a step,” he said.
Kelly Keegan, an Anoka defense attorney, pointed out other limitations to the program, including the hefty price of participating - costs that may prevent many from using the device at all.
Minnesota Lawyer asked me about a bill pending before the legislature which would significantly increase the driver’s license revocation period for repeat offenders and for those with an alcohol concentration .16 or more. As I told the weekly publication, the legislature’s tinkering will have unintended consequences. As just one example, the current version of the bill acts as an incentive for drivers to refuse testing, which is something that State undoubtedly wants to avoid.
-How well do these ignition interlock devices actually work?
-Who gets these government contracts? As Mike writes, “It can be a nice money making monopoly for some companies.”
I will be watching this issue very closely, including how other states have handled the problems that go hand in hand with ignition interlock. But for now, I agree with Minnesota Lawyer reporter Patrick Thornton, “Come this summer, DWI defense lawyers are going to be busy.”
Judge Abrams ruled at the conclusion of the consolidated source code hearings that the Intoxilyzer cannot reliably determine deficient samples. Unlike most Intoxilyzer test results, which were deemed admissible, Judge Abrams ruled that test results reporting a sample as “deficient” should not be allowed into evidence. Specifically, he stated that:
In cases in which the Intoxilyzer 5000EN ... reported a “Deficient Sample,” the Source Code of the instrument does impact the reliability, solely, of this result. Evidence of such cases of a “Deficient Sample” test report should not be allowed unless other evidence exists which provides reasons and/or observations of testing which supports the sample being deficient.
Judge Abrams explicitly found that the Intoxilyzer cannot properly determine a deficient sample - and therefore does not support a charge of test refusal. In the order, it appears that the door has been left open for the government to bolster this faulty test result with “other evidence” that the test subject “refused” to provide a valid sample. However, the actual state of the law in Minnesota says the opposite - under Minnesota law, only a breath test machine that determines a deficient sample, not the officer.
Minnesota’s DWI laws make it a crime to “refuse” alcohol testing, which is defined as a “failure of a person to provide two separate, adequate breath samples in the proper sequence . . .” Minn.Stat. § 169A.51, subd. 5(c) (2010). A sample is defined as “adequate” if, “the instrument analyzes the sample and does not indicate the sample is deficient.” Id.,subd. 5(b). A plain reading of these statutes means that only the Intoxilyzer test result, and not the opinions of an officer, determine if a person actually “refused” to provide an adequate sample.
We know, because we recently won on this issue in front of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, in Hansen v. Comm’r of Pub. Safety. In Hansen (a “deficient sample” case) the trial court judge ruled that the source code was irrelevant, because “other evidence” besides the Intoxilyzer test result proved that our client refused to provide a valid sample. We disagreed, and appealed. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial judge’s decision in favor of our client.
In Hansen, the Minnesota Court of Appeals said,
We have held that an identically worded statute “makes it clear that the Intoxilyzer, not the police officer, is to determine the adequacy of a breath sample.” Genia v. Comm'r of Pub. Safety, 382 N.W.2d 284, 286 (Minn.App.1986). And we found no statutory authority that, once the breath test began, “a refusal can be based on an officer's conclusion that a driver is not making a good-faith effort to provide an adequate sample.” Id.
Hansen at *4.
So, it’s clear that only a breath test machine (for now, the Intoxilyzer 5000EN) can determine whether a breath sample is deficient. Any officer’s subjective opinions are irrelevant. What this means is that the government can only prove a “refusal by conduct” charge by presenting a test result that lists the sample as “deficient.” And as long as the State continues to use the outdated, broken and error-prone Intoxilyzer, any “deficient” result cannot be admitted into evidence.
Judge Abrams noted that Minnesota officials and the BCA have been aware of the broken Intoxilyzer since at least 2006, but have refused to install corrected software.
The slope detection software … does reject under somecircumstances samples which are valid. … In situations where this result has been reported due to slope acceptance criteria in the 240 version of the software, the BCA could have implemented corrective software but chose not to update the instruments. This conclusion is confirmed by the testimony of the BCA witnesses.
Now that Judge Abrams has made official findings that the Intoxilyzer 5000 software does not work properly and that the BCA has a fix to correct the problem, it would be reasonable to believe we would stop using these broken machines for DWI alcohol testing.
[T]he BCA was aware from the fall of 2006 onward that a change in the Source Code was made that caused, under some circumstances, previously acceptable breath samples to be rejected. This software, version 240, continues to be used with knowledge of this problem and without change or correction by the BCA.
Surprisingly, Minnesota continues to use these fatally flawed machines to revoke drivers’ licenses and put innocent people in jail.
Why?
Perhaps the answer lies in the arrogance of state officials responsible for the use of the Intoxilyzer 5000EN. According to Judge Abrams:
There is a general perception that perfection and flawless operation is present in the Intoxilyzer and its test results. Those responsible for the operation and maintenance of the device have been defensive and at times outright hostile to the suggestion that problems may exist….
Luckily, we now have the evidence we need to suppress every Intoxilyzer test that reports a “deficient sample,” no matter how long the State continues to use this broken machine. Be sure to stick around for tomorrow’s blog, where we detail how every case where the Intoxilyzer reported a deficient sample should be dismissed . . . and why.
Minnesota continues to use Intoxilyzer 5000 Despite Hundreds of Defective Breath Cases Annually.
Last month, Judge Abrams issued his consolidated Intoxilyzer source code order. In a case directly affecting more than 4,000 Minnesota DWIs – and thousands more indirectly – the court decided that the Intoxilyzer, while suffering from many defects, is not so flawed as to prevent the test results from being admitted into evidence in most cases. In other words, the test results are “close enough for government work,” but drivers’ attorneys are still free to present evidence attacking the results (even this conclusion is currently under appeal).
Few people realize that Judge Abrams did not find that all test results are admissible. He actually highlighted the fatal errors in the source code that wrongly reject perfectly valid samples, stating that, “In cases in which the Intoxilyzer 5000EN … reported a ‘Deficient Sample,’ the Source Code of the instrument does impact the reliability, solely, of this result. Evidence in such cases of a ‘Deficient Sample’ test report should not be allowed ….”
In the order’s Conclusion, the court indicates the machine reports a deficient sample even when the sample is not actually deficient.
There is one limited situation, as discussed earlier, in which the labeling of a sample as “deficient” arises from multiple causes. At least one of these causes is a consequence of the Source Code's instructions to the microprocessors and has little, if anything, to do with whether the sample is actually deficient.
Under my cross examination, BCA experts were forced to openly admit that the current version of the source code has more than three times the number of deficient samples as the prior version. According to the BCA’s own data, hundreds of drivers each year who provide a sample greater than 1.1 liters are deemed to have provided a deficient sample!
We’ve been striving for years to bring these issues into the public spotlight. Now, with Judge Abrams’ order, we finally have the evidence we need to successfully debunk the myth that every driver who provided a “deficient sample” was somehow at fault.
Of course, now that we’ve unmasked these fatal errors in the source code, the State will stop using the Intoxilyzer . . . right? If only life were that simple: stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog, explaining just how long the State has known about these errors, and why they plan to keep on using the broken Intoxilyzer, regardless of its known flaws.
Then be sure to check back on Thursday, when we will discuss exactly why Judge Abrams' order should results in the dismissal of almost any case where a "deficient sample" was reported.
Today, the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General on behalf of the Commissioner of Public Safety and Prosecution Liaison Counsel for the State of Minnesota filed responses to the Appeal of Judge Abrams’ Order. The defense trial team appealed Judge Abrams’ Order on March 28, 2011.
Yesterday the defense trial team filed an appeal of Judge Abrams Order regarding the statewide consolidated challenge to the Intoxilyzer 5000 based upon deficiencies in the Source Code.
The briefs are in! Today both the state and drivers submitted written closing arguments to Judge Abrams in the consolidated breath test case. The Court will render its decision within 90 days.
For years now, we’ve blogged about problems with the Intoxilyzer 5000 - and one problem in particular. In a typical scenario, a driver is arrested for DWI and told that they have to submit to a breath test. They try - and try, and try - but the machine will not accept the sample, and ultimately reports a “deficient sample.” These people are charged with the crime of Test Refusal (always a gross-misdemeanor, sometimes a felony).
In court, the arresting officer will usually say that the driver was trying to “fool the machine” by blowing around the straw, blocking the straw with their tongue, or not actually blowing any air. This may be true in some cases, but in our experience, its more likely that the driver WAS trying to give a sample - and the machine still rejected it, for reasons unknown.
The question is “who should the judge trust?” The arresting officer, the driver, or the machine? The answer matters, because if the court chooses to trust the officer, the driver is going to lose; if the judge decides to “trust” the machine, it means that the defense needs to have the opportunity to examine that machine’s source code - and the driver can win.
We recently won a huge case at the Court of Appeals that helps settle the matter. In Hansen v. Commissioner of Public Safety, we convinced the Court that it takes more than the testimony of the arresting officer to convict someone of test refusal - the machine itself needs to be analyzed. This is a potentially huge win for our clients and for anyone else charged with “refusal by conduct.” It means that the Courts are finally beginning to accept what we’ve said all along - the Intoxilyzer is not a perfect machine, and one area where it is prone to failure is when it deems otherwise-valid samples “deficient” for unknown reasons.
At the end of last week, the State finished presenting its evidence in support of the continued use of the Intoxilyzer 5000 to prosecute Minnesota drivers for DWI. All of the evidence has now been submitted to Judge Abrams; it is expected that he will issue an order in early 2011.
It was a long, hard road to get to this point, and far longer than it had to be - if the State had complied with our basic, standard discovery requests years ago, this challenge to the Intoxilyzer would have long since been finished. Instead, the State fought us tooth and nail the entire way: fellow members of the trial team have been to the Supreme Court not once, but twice, demanding access to the software that controls the Intoxilyzer. Our firm spent countless hours litigating the same issue in Federal Court, doing everything we could to ensure that we received actual access to the source code, rather than the sham settlement that was originally reached between the State and CMI.
Once the groundwork had been laid, we pulled together a truly impressive coalition of defense attorneys to help foot the enormous costs that go into a detailed review of an embedded system like the Intoxiliyzer. And now, finally, after years of preparation and litigation, the evidence we’ve been demanding for years has been presented in open court, and we’ve reached the calm before the storm.
We’ll be filing our final written arguments by the end of January. Given the volumes of testimony presented, it’s likely that Judge Abrams won’t issue a final order until April of 2011. It’s a waiting game now, with over 4,000 cases at stake, and we’re optimistic about the outcome.
Today, the members of the trial team for the Source Code Coalition finished presenting our evidence. At stake are over 4,000 DWI criminal and civil cases that rely almost entirely on test results produced by the Intoxilyzer 5000's “source code.”
Once we finished presenting our evidence, the State made a motion for a directed verdict - in effect, claiming that the defense failed to demonstrate that the Intoxilyzer 5000 is an error prone, faulty machine. Judge Abrams quickly ruled in our favor, and we have indeed made a prima facie case that the Intoxilyzer does not produce valid and reliable results in all cases.
This ruling is a great victory for both the Coalition and for all Minnesota drivers, and underscores the fact that this machine is indeed flawed. We’ve said for years that there are problems with this machine, and have repeatedly asked for nothing more than an opportunity to prove our case. Now we’ve done our part, and proved our case- and the State has no choice but to try and rebut the evidence that we’ve presented, because otherwise the Intoxilyzer test results would be deemed inadmissible in court. The State is going to start attempting to meet that burden this afternoon.
We expect the State to spend most of next week trying to overcome the evidence we’ve presented. While the judge hasn’t issued a final ruling in this case (and likely won’t do so for some time) today’s ruling in our favor is a promising sign of things to come.
As members of the trial team and lead counsel for the consolidated challenge against the Intoxilyzer 5000, we’ve spent the last few months working overtime in preparation for the hearing that started on December 8, 2010. We’ve already presented three days of expert testimony, and aren’t even halfway done - but we’ve already presented substantial evidence that calls into question the “scientific results” that come out of this machine.
1) The Intoxilyzer does not, to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, accurately report alcohol concentrations. For example, an Intoxilyzer test result of .08 does not actually mean, and cannot be used to show, an alcohol concentration of .08.
2) Numerous scientific safeguards that are supposed to ensure that Intoxilyzer results are valid and reliable simply don’t work. This includes some shocking revelations, including the fact that the Intoxilyzer just flat out cannot properly measure breath volume, despite claims to the contrary. The Intoxilyzer also reports the presence of alcohol when a totally “clean” air sample is provided. Basic safeguards, like the ability to detect interferents (non-alcohol substances that show up as alcohol), the ability to detect radio frequency interference, and various “self-tests” all fail to work as advertised.
3) Essential components of the Intoxilyzer can be disabled without sending up any red flags. This includes heating elements and interferent detectors that are essential to providing consistent, reliable results.
4) The “slope detector” is shaping up to be about as faulty as we expected. Many people are being charged with “test refusal” because source code errors are reporting otherwise valid samples as “deficient.”
Numerous other flaws have been exposed, all leading towards the final question: can we trust this machine to ensure that our roads remain safe, or is it little more than a “random number generator” that is sending innocent people to jail?
This week we expect to get even more information as we examine several experts from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, as well as experts in breath testing from other States. Stay tuned!
After years of carefully crafted discovery requests, and a lengthy lawsuit in Federal Court, the source code to the Intoxilyzer 5000EN was finally released to the experts hired by the Source Code Coalition.
The Supreme Court ordered a state-wide consolidated hearing be held on the validity and reliability of the Intoxilyzer. That hearing is scheduled for December 8, 2010 before the Honorable Judge Abrams, district court judge for the First Judicial District.
As a member of the trial team and as lead counsel for this complex and controversial hearing, we’ve been working overtime to prepare all of our experts and exhibits for what is bound to be an eye-opening hearing. It is expected that Judge Abrams will issue a final decision on this matter in early 2011. It is also likely that his decision will be appealed by at least one of the parties to the consolidated case, creating considerable uncertainty in what the future status of the Intoxilyzer will be.
Joel Watne, 72, a lawyer with the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, is also being phased out. This week, Joel retired after 37 years as a lawyer. While Joel may not be personally responsible for as many revocations and convictions, he has an impressive resume.
Joel wrote and lobbied for many of Minnesota’s DWI laws. He has logged over 11,700 court appearances, handled over 300 appeals in Minnesota Supreme Court and Court of Appeals and some in federal court, including the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court according to his Linked-In page.
Last week I appeared in a civil implied consent hearing in Dakota County. Joel was my opponent. That battle was Joel’s last court appearance.
As a criminal defense attorney, I won’t miss Joel. He was always a pain the neck and always gave it his best. Because Joel handled primarily civil implied consent cases, he was not subject to the higher ethical standards of criminal prosecutors– his duty was not to “do justice” but, like a defense attorney, to zealously pursue his case and do whatever it took to win. He was passionate about keeping our roads safe and used every weapon in his arsenal to win – whether I thought it was fair or not.
He was passionate about his work and always brought his A-game. He was a resource for not only the other lawyers in the Attorney General’s office, but for peace officers and prosecutors around the state. As a husband and father of two young children, my family is safer because of his efforts. As a tax payer, I recognize the state got its money’s worth out of Joel and thank him for his 37 years of service.
The Chief Justice for the Supreme Court penned an incredibly articulate and devastating attack against Minnesota’s test refusal law today. In the case of State v. Larson, the Court held that:
"Larson also argues that his due process right to a fair trial was violated because the State was allowed to introduce evidence that he had refused to submit to voluntary . . . testing, and that the State used his refusal as evidence of his guilt. It is uncontested that Larson refused to allow the police to take a . . . sample . . . until the police produced a warrant. At trial, the district court ruled, over Larson’s objection, that Larson’s refusal to submit voluntarily to . . . testing could come before the jury. The court acknowledged that, while Larson “had that right to refuse to cooperate,” he did not see that “any constitutional rights of [Larson’s] are violated by that fact being told to the jury.” This ruling was erroneous. See Jones, 753 N.W.2d at 687 (“It is a violation of the defendant’s right to due process for a prosecutor to comment on a defendant’s failure to consent to a warrantless search.”)." (Emphasis added)
There is one problem: the above quote doesn’t refer to blood, urine, or breath samples for alcohol concentration - it refers to blood samples for DNA testing. Thus, the legal conclusion that our current test refusal law is unconstitutional can be craftily avoided by simply invoking the DWI exception to the Constitution.
We’ll be bringing the Larson case to the attention of every judge that is presiding over a test refusal case, and it will be very, very interesting to see how they can “distinguish” (legalese for “ignore) this case from the line of cases mysteriously holding that charging someone for test refusal is constitutional.
One Hennepin County judge wrote in a source code order that it may be malpractice for a lawyer not to seek breath test software. That remains to be seen and depends primarily on the outcome of our experts' analysis. Practically speaking, however, the source code coalition has prepared matters to point where it requires little effort from attorneys to take advantage of this issue.
The upside is obvious -- drivers' DWI breath tests could be thrown out. There is little down side -- a minimal contribution from each lawyer and a delay necessitated by the review.
So the question is: is your lawyer a member of the Minnesota Intoxilyzer 5000 Source Code Coalition.
If not, get another lawyer.
I've listed of all members below as of today. In addition to this, all state public defender cases are included.
A special thanks goes to Pennsylvania attorney, Justin McShane of the McShane Firm, LLC. Although Justin represents none of the Minnesota litigants, he generously donated a hefty sum in an effort to support the cause. Justin, recognized as one of the top criminal defense attorneys in the country, probably has more scientific knowledge in the criminal defense arena than any other lawyer.
Once others learn of Justin McShane's leadership here, other lawyers from around the country will soon follow his lead with their kind contributions.
The common perception among the public is that “you can’t beat a DWI.” We’ve proved that bit of conventional wisdom as dead wrong, time and time again. However, it’s just as frustrating to hear someone claim that they were charged with “test refusal” and that it’s all but impossible to win a test refusal case. The average attorney might not be able to win a test refusal case, but we’re not average attorneys.
Minnesota is one of only a few states that actually make test refusal a crime. So how do you win a test refusal case? We win by knowing the law, knowing your rights and through experience. We recently convinced an Aitkin county judge to dismiss the test refusal charges against our client, and we did it by following these three simple steps.
Know the Law: Minnesota’s Implied Consent Law and criminal test refusal law are confusing and counterintuitive to all but the most experienced attorneys. The average person would be surprised at how many defenses are available to a person who just said “no” when the State attempted to coerce them into submitting to a chemical test.
For example, an officer needs probable cause to arrest you before they can even properly demand that you submit to testing - you can’t “refuse” a test that the police had no right to request. And while the police won’t tell you this, you actually have the RIGHT to refuse a urine or blood test - without consequences. If you refuse to submit to a blood test, the officer MUST offer you a urine test before you can be charged with refusal. In other words, unless you refuse both a urine and a blood test, you’re not guilty of test refusal.
Know your Rights: Everyone in Minnesota has the right to consult with an attorney before deciding whether or not to submit to a test. If your right to counsel is denied by the police, you can’t be found guilty of test refusal. You also have the right to “change your mind.” We’ve successfully defended clients in situations where the officer was too quick to claim that our client “refused,” when in reality our client was ready and willing to submit to testing, and was just nervous.
Rely on Experience: Experience and imagination can get test refusal cases thrown out of court as well. There are powerful arguments to be made that the refusal law violates the basic Constitutional right against self-incrimination, and that the statute itself is so vague and ambiguous (there is no actual, clear cut definition of “refusal” in the criminal context, and civil refusal is also loosely defined) so as to offend the Constitution. Likewise, the Implied Consent advisory that every Minnesota officer reads to every alleged drunk driver actually mis-informs those drivers about the consequences of refusal!
All of these legal strategies can and do result in the dismissal of criminal charges that resulted from an alleged “refusal to test.” If you’ve been charged with test refusal, don’t assume your case is hopeless. There are many defenses available to attorneys who know the law, know your rights, and have the experience to put that knowledge into practice.
Today, Judge Abrams issued an order extending the timeline for the consolidated Minnesota Intoxilyzer 5000 source code cases. In his order, the judge set the final hearing to start on December 18, 2010.
The source code coalition requested this extension about a month ago, due to delays caused by CMI, the manufacturer of the breath test machine. Most troubling was the fact that CMI recently notified the Source Code Coalition that it had provided us with the “wrong” source code. Instead of reviewing the actual source code used in Minnesota, coalition experts had been reviewing different code for nearly two months at CMI’s headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky.
If this wasn’t absurd enough, our experts also discovered the state had improperly “burned” the source code onto the Intoxilyzers’ microprocessors. It appears that in its haste to convict Minnesota drivers, government scientists included unintended machine code on the chips which govern the machines’ testing of Minnesota drivers. Our experts now have the added task of determining if and how this unintended code affects the validity, reliability and accuracy of DWI breath tests – tests dating all the way back to 2004.
To date, nearly 3,000 DWI breath test cases have been consolidated by the Minnesota Supreme Court. Some expect that number to rise to more than 5,000 cases before the end of the year.
The latest numbers are in. As of August 4, 2010, nearly three thousand cases have been consolidated in Minnesota's consolidated source code challenge. A total of 3,830 are attempting to consolidate according to Christina LeClaire from the Minnesota Courts.
The number of cases will continue to climb as long as some police departments insist on using the beleaguered machine. I predict 5,000 cases will be at issue before the court makes its ruling. I estimate the court will be unable to make its ruling until 2011.
If the State replaces the Intoxilyzer 5000 with the Datamaster, doesn't this start everything all over again? Requesting the source code. Why doesn't the State just eliminate the breath test machines altogether and strickly go with blood tests?
Attorney Dan Koewler responds:
Scientifically, it would make perfect sense to discard breath testing altogether, and rely strictly on blood sample testing. Breath testing has numerous problems completely independent of possible software errors. That being said, there is no way that the State would discard such an “easy” test method just because of a few measly scientific concerns. Remember, the State measures its success rate by how many convictions it can rack up, and it wants those convictions as fast as possible.
Additionally, National Patent (the manufacturer of the Datamaster) is a drastically different creature than CMI (the manufacturer of the Intoxilyzer). Datamaster has a track record of actually working with defense attorneys, rather than stonewalling them. In fact, we already know that their source code is available – for about $250, they’ll put the code on a disk and send it directly to us. Compare that attitude with CMI, where it took four years of litigation and hundreds of thousands of dollars just to get a chance for our experts review some of the source code, in a remote location, under some pretty ridiculous terms.
Given National Patent’s history of being rather transparent, there likely won’t be much to gain by a protracted source code challenge. The real challenges will remain with how the State chooses to implement the Datamaster; our State has spent years pretending that its breath test machines were flawless, with the full support of CMI. With National Patent, I expect the State will have to find better explanations for its failure to have a regular maintenance schedule for its machines, among numerous other scientific safeguards that have been ignored with the use of the Intoxilyzer.
We’re defense attorneys – its we do, and what we love. I know that there will be numerous challenges to the Datamaster’s integrity, but at this point, I’m just not sure that source code challenges will be one of them.
The State’s decision to give over $1.5 million dollars to a company other than CMI, Inc. of Kentucky (the manufacturer of the Intoxilyzer) is hardly surprising to us, but is an interesting decision that speaks volumes about the State’s lack of faith in the Intoxilyzer machine.
The State has repeatedly claimed that it has absolute faith in the accuracy, validity, and reliability of the Intoxilyzer 5000. However, it’s difficult to believe these claims when the State made the clear decision to abandon the Intoxilyzer altogether (they could have purchased the “state of the art” Intoxilyzer 8000).
The State has requested discovery of all independent alcohol tests taken in conjunction with Intoxilyer tests at issue in the consolidated source code matter.
While the coalition opposes this request, we will need them in the event Judge Abrams orders the coalition to turn them over to the state as part of either the consolidated civil implied consent cases or the consolidated criminal cases.
Please send any independent test results taken in your cases and the corresponding Intoxilyzer test result to Liason Counsel Lee Orwig, by email, fax or mail:
Many people believe that it is impossible to beat a drunk driving criminal charge or the DWI driver’s license case. The public believes this for a number of reasons.
First, ill informed police and prosecutors believe DWI science is beyond reproach.
Second, attorneys who are ill prepared to handle complex DWI cases will often merely exacerbate the problem. In most cases they take their client’s money, then hold their hand as they plead them guilty.
Finally, the personal guilt that many people feel when charged with DUI crimes can be overwhelming, even if they thought that they were okay to get behind the wheel. They either hire a “dump truck lawyer” or plead guilty.
We’ve busted these DWI myths time after time. It takes hard work, dedication, and a heartfelt desire to vigorously defend our clients, but in the end, the effort pays off. Here’s a sampling of some of our more recent successes, accumulated over the last few weeks. These victories demonstrate our commitment to our clients and our never-ending crusade to debunk the myth that DWI’s are “unbeatable.”
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“B Card Violation” – Judge Order Driver’s License Reinstated
The Department of Public Safety cancelled my client’s license to drive. They claimed that he was driving in violation of his restricted driver’s license (which prohibited him from consuming ANY alcohol while behind the wheel).
Our client was involved in an accident in Hennepin County. After reporting to the scene, the police officer claimed to smell an order of alcohol, said our client failed the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test, and reported my client’s alcohol concentration was .06 on the preliminary breath test.
Many attorneys believe such “B card” cases are impossible to win – after all, the government just has to prove that our client had a drink (not that he was impaired). Despite the common misconception that this type of case is unwinnable, we won! We challenged the DPS’ evidence in court and convinced the judge to overturn the license cancellation and reinstate my client’s driver’s license.
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DWI – Police Officer Coerced Driver’s “Consent” to take DWI alcohol test
In another case we challenged how the police officer obtained our client’s “consent” to a urine test. As we’ve blogged about before, we believe Minnesota’s implied consent law is unconstitutional as it unlawfully coerces all drivers to submit to DWI alcohol testing.
The judge disagreed with our argument, and we lost at the district court level. That didn’t slow us down – we simply took the fight to the next level, and we appealed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. After we submitted our appellate memorandum, we received a stunning letter from the government – they would agree to give our client his license back (a victory) if we withdrew the appeal. Thus, solely on the strength of our written memorandum (before we even had to argue the case in front of the appellate court) we won the case!
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Prostitution Sting: Soliciting Prostitution – Case Dismissed
Our firm practices only criminal defense and related civil cases, e.g., automobile forfeitures. Although the majority of our case load is Minnesota DWI cases, we regularly represent people charged in other types of cases as well.
In Ramsey County, our client was arrested as a result of a St. Paul Police prostitution sting. He was charged with Loitering with Intent to Solicit Prostitution. After we obtained the police reports, video & audio recordings, and other documents, we started pushing the government hard – and were able to obtain a complete dismissal of the charges.
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Fifth Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct – Case Dismissed
In another criminal case in Ramsey County, the government charged our client with Fifth Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct. We challenged the criminal charges and showed the prosecutor the weaknesses in its case. Again, they dismissed all of the criminal charges.
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DWI – Bad Seizure– Judge Orders License Reinstated after Urine Test
In a Scott County case, our client was charged with a DWI after he was arrested and given a urine test. The results were .11, well over the legal limit.
Through experience and a desire to fully defend our client, we were able to get the state to dismiss the DWI charges against our client. Shortly thereafter, we convinced the judge in the implied consent case to rule in our favor as well, and restore our client’s driver’s license.
The end result of this “unbeatable” DWI charge? All criminal charges were dismissed, and our client’s driving record doesn’t even reflect being pulled over for a DWI offense.
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DWI – Judge Grants Motion for Post-Conviction Hearing
A judge granted our motion for a post-conviction hearing in our efforts to get a new trial in a highly publicized case that we took to trial more than four years ago. In that case, our client was charged with “test refusal” on the Intoxilyzer 5000 because she was unable to provide an “adequate sample.” She begged for the chance to take another test, but wasn’t allowed to. Because we had not yet uncovered the critical flaw in the Intoxilyzer that causes such errors, the jury found our client guilty of test refusal.
Since that trial, our client’s conviction was overturned by the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and then reversed again by the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Now, four years later, the trial court judge is granting us a new hearing based on the evidence we discovered concerning the faulty source code that runs Minnesota’s breath test machine, the Intoxilyzer 5000. The case is scheduled to be heard next month.
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DWI – Judge Grants Motion for Unprecedented Access to the Source Code
In a civil license revocation case involving the same driver as above, a judge granted our motion for the source code to the Intoxilyzer 5000. However, this case is a good example of what can happen if you reach for the stars; we not only asked for the source code, but also demanded key pieces of source code information well beyond that which was provided in the federal court settlement last year. After listening to our arguments, the court granted our motion, further opening the door to prevent our client from being wrongfully charged as a “test refusal.”
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DWI – .19 Blood Test Dismissed
DWI – .19 Breath Test Dismissed (Source Code)
DWI – .10 Breath Test Dismissed (Source Code)
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“Can’t Win ‘em All . . . But Can’t Win Any If You Don’t Try”
A prosecutor in Ramsey County did manage to hand us our first DWI trial loss in years, in a case where the judge admitted into evidence a .14 urine test result. After careful consultation, our client decided that he wanted his case tried to a jury, despite the prejudicial test result. That jury ultimately found our client guilty.
Fortunately, the judge gave our client the exact same sentence he would have handed down had our client pled guilty without going to trial. As long as there is no disincentive to go to trial, we’ll do just that!
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DWI –Just Reinstates License to Drive – Right to Counsel – .14 Breath Test
In a huge win in a difficult case, a Hennepin County judge ruled in our favor and reinstated our client’s driver’s license after an implied consent hearing (we had already beat the DWI charge on the criminal case). This was a difficult situation where our client was deaf, and had repeatedly begged the arresting officer for either an interpreter or the advice of a lawyer. Although the officer did make some attempts to communicate with our client, he did not know American Sign Language, and the court agreed that her right to counsel was not vindicated.
This is a huge win not only because our client got her driver’s license back, but because this case also resulted in the police department installing a TTY communication device, for hearing-impaired persons.
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Finally, Chuck was named, “Geek of the week” by nationally renowned attorney, Justin McShane of Pennsylvania. The “Truth About Forensic Science”, McShane’s forensic blog, named Ramsay winner of his weekly forensic science quiz, aptly entitled, “Geek of the Week.”
Okay, so it is not a Nobel, but it's a good distraction for Chuck.
Today CMI, the Intoxilyzer manufacturer, faxed a letter to Federal District Court Judge Frank, Magistrate Boylan and Judge Abrams disclosing "that the software that is presently installed in the ... Intoxilyzer 5000EN instruments in service in Minnesota does not ... match the 75_0240 software that was preserved at CMI at the time it was created for use in Minnesota."
CMI admits in the letter that neither CMI nor the State knows the reason for the difference.
The Honorable Donovan W. Frank
United States District Court
District of Minnesota
316 North Robert Street
St. Paul, Minnesota 55101
The Honorable Jerome B. Abrams
Scott County Courthouse
200 Fourth Avenue W.
Shakopee, Minnesota 55379
The Honorable Arthur J. Boylan
United States Magistrate Judge
334 Federal Building
316 N. Robert Street
St. Paul, MN 55101
RE: State of Minnesota v. CMlof Kentucky, Inc.
Court File No. 08-CV-603 (DWFIAJB)
In re: Source Code Evidentiary Hearings in Implied Consent Matters
Consolidated File No. 70-CV-09-19459
In re: Source Code Evidentiary Hearings in Criminal Matters
Consolidated File No. 70-CR-09-19749
Dear Judges Frank, Boylan and Abrams:
As the Courts may recall, the Intoxilyzer 5000EN breath-alcohol test instrument contains two
memory chips (EPROMs), which contain software that performs distinct functions within the
instrument. One EPROM, often referred to as the "master," contains software identified as
"1408.62." The other EPROM, sometimes called the "slave" or "side processor," is loaded with
different software, identified as "7502.40" or "75_0240."
In accordance with the July 16, 2009 Consent Judgment and Permanent Injunction, CMI has
been providing Authorized Minnesota litigants access to all Source Code files for the current
version of Intoxilyzer 5000EN software (1408.62 and 75_0240) in both native electronic and
printed, hardbound (redacted) book format.
However, it has recently come to CMI's attention that the software that is presently installed in
the side-processor EPROMs in the Intoxilyzer 5000EN instruments in service in Minnesota does
not identically match the 75 0240 software that was preserved at CMI at the time it was created
for use in Minnesota.
At present, neither CMI nor the State is certain of the cause of this difference, or of its impact, if
any, on the Source Code review currently underway. I assure the Courts that CMI and the State
are working cooperatively and diligently to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.
Very truly yours,
WINTHROP & WEINSTINE, P.A.
William A. McNab
WAM/lm
cc: Counsel of RecordiLiaison Counsel (via e-mail)
Anyone will be upset after being arrested for DWI. They are usually put in handcuffs, transported in the back of a squad car to a nearby (or not-so nearby) police station, and then told to submit a sample of blood (ouch) urine (embarrassing) or breath (inaccurate). After that, many are thrown in jail; others post as much as $12,000 in bail, while others need to find a ride home and a way to get their car out of an impound lot.
After this incident has robbed them of their dignity, many are then even more shocked to discover that they are being charged with not one crime, but two, based off of this arrest. While this seems illegal, it’s actually common, and a good defense attorney can work this to your advantage.
There are two types of DWI Crimes in Minnesota: 1) “driving while impaired” and 2) “per se intoxication.” There is only one real difference between these two crimes, and that is what type of evidence the State can use to prove guilt.
Driving while impaired means just that: the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were impaired by alcohol or drugs while you were driving. The type of evidence in this type of case ranges from performance on field sobriety tests to the arresting officer’s “opinion” of your level of impairment to the reason the police office stopped your vehicle. Note that for this type of offense, it’s not necessary to prove an alcohol concentration above a .08 - sometimes a driver’s alcohol test result isn’t even relevant.
Per se intoxication, on the other hand, doesn’t mean that a driver was a danger to anyone on the road. In fact, someone who is per se intoxicated might not even feel the effects of what they drank. Instead, per se intoxication just means that someone’s alcohol concentration was at or above .08, as measured anytime within two hours of driving. You can perform perfectly on a field sobriety test and enunciate every word flawlessly, and still be guilty of per se intoxication - if the State has a test result that “proves” you were above a .08.
Back in the day, the only offense drivers could be charged with was “driving while impaired.” These are the types of drivers that can be the most dangerous. However, in close cases, they are also the types of drivers that are hardest for a prosecutor to convict.
Because it can be hard to convict an otherwise safe driver of driving while impaired, the legislature chose to pass a per se law and create a level of alcohol concentration that automatically renders someone “drunk.” This use of “science” makes it far easier for prosecutors to get convictions. Obviously, any prosecutor would rather just flash a test result in front of a jury, say “this number is higher than .08," and get a conviction, than actually prove that someone was impaired!
Of course, these per se laws were both a blessing and a curse for prosecutors. A blessing, because now it’s so much easier to convict people who otherwise do not appear impaired - just look at the test result! However, it’s also a curse, because if they don’t have a test result to rely on, most prosecutors won’t even bother to litigate a driving while impaired case.
That’s where we come in: we often gear our defensive strategy towards getting that test result suppressed, which forces the prosecutor to try their case the “old fashioned” way. Whether that test result is an example of junk science, flawed logic, or the secretive workings of the incomprehensible Intoxilyzer 5000 breath test machine, if there is a way for us to get it suppressed, we will get it suppressed. And without a test result, the vast majority of prosecutors will lose interest in gaining a conviction, and seriously consider settlement or dismissal.
You can feel stone sober and still commit the crime of driving while per se intoxicated. Winning your case means hiring an attorney who knows every possible way to attack the State’s best evidence - a test result - and get it suppressed. If you’ve been charged with driving while impaired, driving while over a .08, or both, contact Ramsay Law Office as soon as possible. We’ll carefully explain the legal process to you and answer your questions.
Earlier this year Judge Abrams issued his case management order for the review of the Minnesota Intoxilyzer 5000. Among other deadlines, he set July 1 as the due date to provide the government with our experts’ report of our source code review.
Last week the source code coalition brought a motion to extend the timelines set by the court. We asked for a three month extension given the circumstances. The Court responded by extending these timelines by a little more than one month. I can’t help but compare this deadline with the current fiasco in the Gulf of Mexico.
While I’m not our president’s number one fan, I empathize with his position. He did not cause the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but many look to him to stop the oil and limit the scope of this disaster. Given a choice, I’m sure that everyone would prefer that this oil leak was just offshore, instead of under 5,000 feet of water, and that those responsible for causing the problem would solve it themselves before anyone innocent is harmed.
Likewise, it was the state and CMI who have repeatedly dragged their feet and interfered with our software review. It was the state and CMI that mandated that we travel to Kentucky to review the software, instead of reviewing it from established computer forensics laboratories. Yet, Judge Abrams is expected to speed this whole review process along, meaning that we are expected to inspect, analyze and present a full report in less than two months! I feel like we are trying to plug a leaking oil well miles below the surface of the gulf - and what’s worse, it’s a leak that wewarned everyone about years ago!
“Need for Speed?”
This six week extension of the deadline for our experts to finish their report is already causing serious problems, and simply isn’t enough time to properly analyze a complex piece of ancient software. What makes this “need for speed” especially odd is the fact that the State has been dragging its feet for years on any issues regarding the source code!
I “led the charge” against the Intoxilyzer, and was one of the first attorneys in Minnesota to ask the state to produce the source code. This was back in 2006 - over four years ago - and sadly, I have a number of cases that have been consolidated dating all the way back to then.
The Minnesota Supreme Court issued Underdahl I in 2007, holding that Minnesota owned the source code and the state is required to provide it. As early as then, the state acknowledged it could sue CMI for access to the source code, but it did nothing until March, 2008. It was then, over two years after I made my first request, that the state filed a law suit against CMI. And even then, while the state outwardly claimed that it was suing to obtain the software, it was obvious the suit was primarily designed to keep it from us.
With barely a shot fired in the litigation, the state secretly (and hastily!) settled a second time with CMI in June, 2009. We objected to this settlement - we claimed that it rendered source code review too costly, too time consuming, and too inefficient. Nevertheless, Federal Judge Frank approved the settlement over our objection on July 16, 2009. Thus, over three years from the first request for the source code, the state finally crafted a half-cocked method of analyzing this problematic software.
Unfortunately (but not unexpectedly) this interesting settlement was simply the starting point for more and more delay . . .
Relying upon the terms of the settlement reached between the State and CMI, the breath test machine’s manufacturer delayed analysis of the software for months. It boasted about how it would provide a “hard copy” of the source code . . . and then it blacked out large portions of the material throughout the book.
Our experts had to cancel flights to Owensboro, Kentucky on several occasions. We were forced to bring motions in federal court to get greater access to the code, made agreements which CMI breached, and had to bring even more motions. All of this occurred months and months after the State had reached its secretive settlement with CMI, and years after the State was first asked to disclose the source code.
10,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Our experts finally - finally! - got access for the first time on May 11, 2010. Since then, they have worked diligently to get the job done, despite onerous conditions. They must perform review at CMI’s headquarters in Kentucky, under the constant supervision of CMI security. Hours are limited to Monday to Friday, 8:30-4:30. Each day, ½ hour is wasted for “check-in.” Additional time is wasted setting up and tearing down their equipment. Although it sounds like an exaggeration, our experts (who otherwise spend their time reviewing software on behalf of such clients as the U.S. Navy) assure us that these work conditions make no sense, and that their job has gone from a simple analysis to one that is more like capping an oil leak at the bottom of the ocean - a new, strange, and incredibly difficult experience.
This is the history behind our request for an additional three months to analyze the source code and issue a report. It is a history full of delay tactics, hidden agendas and double-speak. Yet here, now that we’ve finally pushed the State long enough and hard enough to actually provide us with some access to the source code, they are objecting to our request for more time, saying we’ve had plenty!
We are at a critical stage. After almost half a decade of motions, arguments and appeals, we are finally on the threshold of proving what we’ve always known to be the case: there are serious problems with the Intoxilyzer 5000 that is used in Minnesota. Drivers and their families have the right to ensure the black box accuser works as designed. Otherwise, we will blindly trust this Intoxilyzer and risk more erroneous convictions.
The State did everything it could to prevent us from reviewing this software. Then it was CMI’s turn to prevent analysis of the source code. Now, due to overly-restrictive scheduling orders (prompted by the State) our careful analysis is being rushed to a sudden conclusion. It almost seems like the State is being rewarded for dragging its feet for so long.
Many people believe our government should have secrets, at least when it comes to our national security. But scientists agree that forensic testing should be open. Their formulas, procedures and test results must be reproducible in order to be good science. But government scientists and the companies that supply them disagree.
CMI, the manufacturer of the Intoxilyzer 5000 and Intoxilyzer 8000, is holding its 26th Annual Meeting of the Intoxilyzers Users Group in Providence, Rhode Island on August 15-19, 2010. Although I own my own Intoxilyzer 5000 and am certified to operate the breath test machine, I am not permitted to attend. CMI is guarding the program’s agenda, only saying “This conference promises to be an exciting one with many new things, courses, and information to share.”
CMI is notorious for its secretiveness. It has shunned its customers – numerous states including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Minnesota – by refusing to provide access to the software that runs its breath test machines. Only after we obtained a federal court order, was CMI forced to permit us access to its source code. (Our experts are currently in Kentucky at CMI’s headquarters examining the Intoxilyzer 5000 software).
Intoximeters, another breath testing company which produces the EC/IR II and the alco-sensor, also conceals the science behind its breath test machine. It is holding its 2010 Users Group Meeting in its home town September 12-15, 2010. Intoximeters program will include the “’Thomas Workman’ Update” and “Source Code Challenges”. Apparently it felt it was being to open, however, as it recently revised its program omitting the above and instead chose the more generic “Legal Challenges.”
It, too, however, will not permit me or defense experts to attend.
Under our government’s leadership, it’s not surprising breath test manufacturers are so secretive about their breath test machines, the science they use and the software that runs their machines. The Minnesota County Attorneys Association (MCAA) is one of those organizations that perpetuates the covert treatment of DWI law enforcement.
The MCAA describes itself on its internet page:
The Minnesota County Attorneys Association is an independent, voluntary organization of County Attorneys dedicated to improving the quality of justice in the State of Minnesota. The Association is a not-for-profit corporation governed by a Board of Directors elected annually by the membership.
The members of the Association are dedicated to the accomplishment of this Mission by developing consensus on legal and public policy issues of statewide significance to County Attorneys. The Mission will be implemented competently and professionally while adhering to the highest ethical standards of the legal profession.
The MCAA closely follows my work. On its home page, it tracks my issues including the consolidated source code case, urine testing cases (see “Matthys Order”), and obtains transcripts (see “Implied Consent Transcript Bank”) of my expert witnesses and case issues. It will not give me access to its indexed transcript data base.
MCAA’s clandestine treatment of DWIs is particularly troubling. Its annual DWI Program includes:
Initial contact, probable cause and preconditions to a test request
Testing and refusal issues
Right to counsel and additional testing issues
Tips from judges and prosecutors on how to proceed with your case
The impact of administrative rules
The program, entitled “Impaired Driving: New Laws, New Issues, New Decisions” will be held June 25, 2010 at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in St. Paul.
To help satiate my thirst for knowledge, I thought it would be beneficial to attend. I registered and paid my fee. However, the MCAA told me that defense lawyers are not welcome at the continuing education seminar.
I was surprised given the fact that it advertised one of courses would include “Tips from judges … on how to proceed with your case.” I wonder which judges will present the (secret) tips and if they know the MCAA is precluding defense lawyers from hearing the inside information?
Should your government keep secrets? Maybe when it comes to matters of national security. But not when it comes to “science” that puts innocent people behind bars.
Almost every client that calls us for legal advice and representation will ask it at some point. Most clients who retain us will hear the question from their friends and family. The government and the media have done a great job of making the “science” of DWI prosecutions seem unbeatable.
Which always begs the question: is it even possible to beat a DWI charge?
The answer, our answer, and the correct answer, is always “YES!”
A good criminal defense attorney will help guide anyone through the hoops, traps and pitfalls that make up our complex DWI laws. A great defense attorney will have a proven track record to demonstrate their ability and desire to make sure that you get the best effort and the best outcome possible. But the truly top-notch defense attorneys are the ones who understand that the “science” surrounding DWI prosecutions is little more than smoke and mirrors - and like any illusion, once you see the “science” for what it really is, your attorney is in the best position to reveal how shaky the State’s case really is.
A recent situation that arose in Colorado highlights the fact that any test - blood, breath, or urine - can successfully be challenged in court by top-notch attorney. In Colorado, over 200 blood tests were found to have been horribly botched - some tests reported a blood alcohol concentration 40% higher than the actual concentration should have been! Everyone here at Ramsay Law Office shuddered a little bit at that statistic, but what really gets to us is that the crime lab still can’t explain how so many tests came back with such inaccurate results.
Many people convince themselves that, “if the State’s test says I was over the legal limit, I must have been over the legal limit.” I’m sure that the vast majority of all of the improperly analyzed samples in Colorado went unchallenged in court. And that is the only real way to lose a DWI case - to not examine the evidence, to take the State’s word at face value.
At Ramsay Law Office, we’ve won many “unbeatable” cases, and we’ve done it by staying current with the scientific literature and never taking the State’s evidence at face value. If you’ve been charged with a DWI, and the State has a blood, breath, or urine test up their sleeve, don’t buy into the hype. Contact Ramsay Law Office - we don’t buy into the hype either. We get results.
Today we conclude our four part blog series on independent testing and analysis. In parts two and three we discussed how independent analysis of the state’s blood and urine samples revealed inaccurate BCA test results. Today our series concludes with our posting of the administration of independent testing. We describe a case litigated last month where our client’s independent blood test refuted the state’s breath test.
INACCURATE DWI BREATH TESTS
We have revealed numerous problems with Minnesota’s Intoxilyzer 5000 breath test machine in this blog and elsewhere. Yet the BCA continues to claim the breath test machine yields accurate, valid and reliable results. With a little foresight, leading to the administration of an independent blood test, we are able to demonstrate the inaccurate breath test results.
The Intoxilyzer 5000 is designed to retain a portion of the breath sample collected in an apparatus called a “tox trap”, a silicon device that attaches to a connection on the back of Intoxilyzer. After a subject has supplied a breath sample, the machine blows the sample out an ejection port, to which the the tox trap is affixed. The operator then seals the tox trap, keeping the air within the tox trap so that it can be independently analyzed in the future.
Although Minnesota breath test machines have this capability, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) decided against using a tox trap to preserve breath samples. As a result, we are unable to obtain an independent analysis of a subject’s breath as we are able to do with blood and urine samples.
We don’t let the BCA’s decision to discard critical evidence prevent us from fully representing our clients. While we can’t independently analyze a breath sample, we are able to obtain an independently collected sample under Minn. Stat. sec. 169A.51, subd 7 (b). The statute states:
The person tested has the right to have someone of the person's own choosing administer a chemical test or tests in addition to any administered at the direction of a peace officer; provided, that the additional test sample on behalf of the person is obtained at the place where the person is in custody, after the test administered at the direction of a peace officer, and at no expense to the state.
Mark’s DWI Breath Test Case & Independent Blood Test
In a case I litigated last month, we introduced the results of my client’s independent blood test to demonstrate the breath test results were inaccurate. My client was arrested for DWI. He had called me before giving a breath test. During the “midnight call” I arranged for him to obtain an independent blood test. Mark submitted to the breath test which showed his alcohol concentration was .11, well above the legal limit. His independent blood test, administered two hours and 20 minutes later was .04.
The two test results cannot be reconciled.
The average burn off rate recognized by forensic scientist (including the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension) is .015/hour. Multiplying .015 by 2 1/3, we had a total “burn off” of .035 during the time between the breath test and the blood test. Subtracting the burn off of .035 from .11, the breath test result should have been .075 at the time the blood was drawn – under the legal limit! The breath test result was very inaccurate.
Conversely, if we were to add the total burn off of .035 to the .04 blood test result, we would see that my client’s actual alcohol concentration by blood at the time of the administration of the breath test was .075!
We are well aware of Minnesota’s Intoxilyzer 5000 software problems. The problems deal with sampling, volume measurement and specificity. The BCA continues to insist the test is accurate. This demonstrates the Intoxilyzer 5000’s problems are well beyond source code issues, it does not provide accurate test results. Only by obtaining an independent blood test were we able to prove the breath test inaccurate.
This week we present our blog series about the value of obtaining independent tests and conducting independent analysis to reveal inaccuracies in government testing. This year alone our firm discovered cases where the Minnesota BCA has reported inaccurate DWI test results.
Yesterday, we told you how independent analysis of the state’s blood sample in a case last month revealed that it was inaccurate. The BCA reported our client’s blood alcohol concentration was over the legal limit of .08 and independent analysis by a local reputable lab showed it was actually .078 – under the legal limit.
Today our series continues with urine testing. We describe two separate cases from this year where the prosecutors agreed to dismiss charges as a result of our independent analysis of the state’s sample. In one of the cases, however, the results were actually higher than what the BCA reported.
INACCURATE DWI URINE TESTS
We have blogged extensively that urine testing is not generally accepted by the scientific community as a valid and reliable means of measuring impairment or determining the amount of alcohol in a person’s body. That is another topic. This blog posting addresses analyses of the samples.
When a urine sample is collected for DWI prosecution, the lab must ensure the evaluation of the sample conforms to those procedures necessary to ensure the test results are valid, accurate and reliable. It appears that the Minnesota BCA does not share this view.
Eric’s Urine Test Case
In January we tried Eric’s urine case to jury. Before trial we had the state’s urine sample analyzed by an independent lab. The Minnesota BCA had reported the urine alcohol concentration as more than .08. The independent test result was a .07, below the legal limit.
The information was sufficient to convince the prosecutor to dismiss the .08 charge. The key evidence in most DWI trials – the state’s DWI alcohol sample – became irrelevant. With the critical evidence removed from the case, we easily prevailed on the impaired charge and the jury acquitted Eric. See, First Not Guilty Verdict of 2010: Hennepin County Jury Acquits Man of DWI Charges. I don’t know if the outcome would have been the same without the independent analysis of Eric’s urine sample.
James’ Urine Test Case
While we are unaware of the precise reason for the discrepancy between test results in Eric’s case, we are aware the BCA procedures are lacking as they do not ensure the test results are scientifically valid, reliable or inaccurate. For example, glucose – a sugar found in one’s urine – may ferment, artificially increasing an alcohol concentration test result. Reputable labs promulgate procedures to check for glucose and avoid reporting tests that may be contaminated with the sugar.
Nationally recognized forensic scientis, Dr. Staubus, recently provided me with the State of Wisconsin’s procedures it implemented to ensure test samples are not contaminated with glucose. Wisconsin, unlike Minnesota, employs significant requirements to ensure glucose does not interfere with valid and reliable test results. They include lab technicians to:
1. Check all ethanol-positive urine specimens for the presence of glucose with a Keto-diastix reagent strip. Record the Keto-diastix result on the sample submission form (implied consent specimens) or internal tracking form (MVD, death investigation specimens).
2. If a urine specimen is glucose-positive, store a room temperature for at least two days and re-analyze for ethanol concentration. If the ethanol concentration has increased by 5% or more, the ethanol result is not reported and an appropriate comment is placed on the report.
The BCA claims that because each urine kit contains sodium fluoride, it need not promulgate procedures for collection, storage and transportation of urine samples to prevent fermentation. For the same reason, it need not promulgate procedures to check for glucose.
We proved the BCA wrong. James was arrested for DWI and given a urine test. The BCA reported the alcohol result as .16. James was adamant the result could not be correct. We sent the sample to an independent lab to be retested. The independent test result was .18. The urine alcohol concentration had increased by more than 12 percent! As I explained in a previous blog post, More Issues with DWI Urine Testing: Fermentation, we demonstrated that fermentation can and does occur. Once we provided the prosecutor documentation of our independent analysis, he dismissed all the DWI charges.
In both Eric’s and James’ cases, we were able to prove the state’s tests results were inaccurate due to independent analysis of the state’s samples. We were able get the .08 DWI charges dismissed and prevailed in both cases.
Tomorrow in the final post of our four part series, we address a different method of checking the accuracy of the state’s alcohol test. Unlike the previous posts where we covered independent analysis of the state’s samples, we will discuss how administering an independent test at the time of arrest may provide valuable information in the defense of a DWI breath test case.
Yesterday, we blogged about the serious deficiencies of our nation’s forensic science system. We noted that although Minnesota’s crime lab has escaped wide spread scandal (notwithstanding the source code debacle), anecdotal evidence has emerged indicating the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is not immune from shoddy work.
Using independent analysis and independent testing, our firm discovered specific cases this year where the Minnesota BCA has reported inaccurate Driving While Impaired (DWI) test results. The BCA’s errors apply to all three DWI alcohol tests – blood, breath and urine. Today, we report on an erroneous BCA blood test result.
INACCURATE DWI BLOOD TESTS
Our client (“JM”) was arrested in February, 2010 for suspicion of driving while intoxicated in Ramsey County, Minnesota. The police asked JM to submit to a blood test and she complied. A paramedic withdrew the blood at the police station and mailed the blood sample to the Minnesota BCA for analysis. The BCA reported JM’s alcohol concentration to be .08, over the legal limit. The state revoked JM’s license to drive and charged her with Fourth Degree DWI.
We believe that good DWI defense attorneys never assume that government tests results are accurate. To verify JM’s BCA test results my firm had her blood retested by a reputable, independent lab. The results were astounding. The independent lab’s analysis revealed the BCA test results were inaccurate. The independent lab results were .078 – below the legal limit!
We have already had JM’s driver’s license reinstated and the incident removed from her driving record. With the benefit of the independent lab results of JM’s blood sample, I fully expect we will be successful in the criminal DWI case as well.
Blood testing is widely recognized as the “gold standard” for DWI alcohol testing. But a test is only as good as those who conduct the testing and only as reliable as the procedures they follow, including reporting the uncertainty in the test results (for an excellent article about metrology and reporting uncertainty, see The Truth About Forensic Science by Pennsylvania attorney, Justin McShane).
When investigating a blood test case, DWI lawyers should obtain not only the final lab reports, but also such information as all Quality Control tests used; all Quality Control tests performed on the test kit; any and all records relating to the test results; Chain of Custody records; the actual Gas Chromatograms; and Proficiency Records or results of proficiency tests for the BCA lab and the analyst who conducted the test.
Finally, attorneys should consider having the government’s DWI blood test results independently evaluated. In many cases, your clients may gain their freedom through independence.
Tomorrow in part three of our series on independent testing and analysis: DWI urine test results.
Our society has a blind faith in government forensic test results. The public’s confidence is particularly fervent in drunken driving cases. This confidence in government tests, however, is unfounded.
In 2009, the National Research Council reported serious deficiencies in the nation's forensic science system and called for major reforms and new research. It discovered that mandatory certification programs for forensic scientists were lacking, as were strong standards and protocols for analyzing and reporting on evidence. It found a scarcity of peer-reviewed studies establishing the scientific bases and reliability of many forensic methods.
Media reports provide support for the 2009 study. Major crime labs around the country have been exposed for unscrupulous behavior, resulting in erroneous, untrustworthy forensic testing. For example:
In Washington, a judge found “ethical lapses, systemic inaccuracy, negligence and violations of scientific principles” in the state’s crime lab and threw out hundreds of breath tests.
The mayor completely shut down the Detroit crime lab after voluminous errors were discovered.
Colorado Springs metro crime lab’s blood alcohol results were just plain wrong.
San Francisco’s crime lab is in the midst of a scandal which jeopardizes “thousands of cases.”
Minnesota’s crime lab, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), has thus far escaped wide spread scandal (notwithstanding the source code debacle). Still, it is not immune. Anecdotal evidence has emerged, signaling similar problems exist in Minnesota.
This year, our firm has discovered the Minnesota BCA has reported inaccurate test results in specific cases with all three of its DWI alcohol tests: blood, breath and urine. In the following three parts of our series, we will provide information about these cases demonstrating that individual drivers can help protect themselves through both administering independent tests and performing independent analysis of the state’s DWI alcohol samples.
Part 2: BCA Reports Inaccurate Blood Test Results
Part 3: BCA Reports Inaccurate Urine Test Results
Part 4: Intoxilyzer 5000’s Inaccurate Breath Test Results
Minnesota uses three types of chemical test to investigate DWI cases. There are breath tests on the Intoxilyzer 5000EN. Then Minnesota has its unique take on urine testing. The third type of test is the blood test; a type of test used in nearly every state for DWI prosecutions and considered the “gold standard” with respect to value as evidence.
Despite the massive problems with the Intoxilyzer, and the overwhelming criticism of its urine testing regime, the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill and signed into law by Governor Pawlenty, seriously undermining its last, best chance at equitably enforcing our DWI laws. Starting July 1, 2010, it appears that almost anyone a police officer chooses can draw a driver’s blood - not just registered nurses, EMTs, and the other specifically listed persons currently authorized by statute. The law protects them from civil suit if they were to cause infection or other injury.
This is troubling for numerous reasons, the least of which is the fact that blood draws, if improperly performed, can be painful, traumatic, and can transfer infectious diseases. Moreover, the current law is likely unconstitutional.
Currently, blood tests for evidentiary purposes are deemed constitutional - but not by much. In the Supreme Court case that first authorized these types of blood draws, the Court clearly explained that such a test is only reasonable where it is “taken by a physician in a hospital environment according to accepted medical practices. We are thus not presented with the serious questions that would arise is a search . . . were made by other than medical personnel or in other than a medical environment.”
Police officers with limited training have routinely drawn blood in Cottage Grove, Woodbury and a few other jurisdictions. We expect that to expand. Soon, that Supreme Court’s warning 45 years ago will be ignored, at least in Minnesota. The Legislature just legalized a practice that has opened the door to roadside blood tests by officers. Instead of blood drawn “in a hospital environment according to accepted medical practices,” we fully expect cops to routinely suck drivers’ blood on the hood of a filthy squad car at the side of the road. Rest assured, we plan on fighting this law at the first available opportunity.
At Ramsay Results, part of our job is to keep current on the latest changes in the law, so that we can effectively represent our clients. If you’re arrested for a DWI - especially if the arrest involves a blood test - contact Ramsay Law Firm immediately.
One Hennepin County judge wrote in a source code order that it may be malpractice for a lawyer not to seek breath test software. That remains to be seen and depends primarily on the outcome of our experts' analysis. Practically speaking, however, the source code coalition has prepared matters to point where it requires little effort from attorneys to take advantage of this issue.
The upside is obvious -- drivers' DWI breath tests could be thrown out. There is little down side -- a minimal contribution from each lawyer and a delay necessitated by the review.
So the question is: is your lawyer a member of the Minnesota Intoxilyzer 5000 Source Code Coalition.
If not, get another lawyer.
I've listed of all members below as of today. In addition to this, all state public defender cases are included.
This is false. My law firm demanded full, unfettered access of the software on disc so that our experts can review it at their labs.
Because CMI and the state government secretly settled the federal lawsuit over our objections, we are limited to reviewing the source code at CMI corporate headquarters. CMI's onerous conditions have caused the cost of review to skyrocket and has slowed the process dramatically.
Interestingly, computer experts routinely conduct independent and adverse examinations of military and corporate source codes. The industry standard is to provide the software on disc to allow the experts to review the source code at their own labs. Why does CMI need protections greater than Coca-Cola, Microsoft and Apple Computer?
After months of negotiations, expert analysis of the breath test machine has come to a halt – before even getting started.
Last June the state of Minnesota and CMI announced they had secretly negotiated a resolution to the source code dispute. Attorneys who represent drivers charged with DWI objected, noting the agreement denied them reasonable access to the machine’s software that determines the guilt or innocence.
Since then, source code coalition leaders hired computer experts to analyze the Intoxilyzer 5000 source code and began preparation for software analysis in Kentucky. CMI, however, has continued to thwart coalition efforts, refusing to provide access meeting industry standards for software analysis.
Upon reaching an impasse with CMI, this week the source code coalition sent this letter to Judge Frank, the federal court judge who oversaw the state agreement with CMI, and to Judge Abrams, the Minnesota state court judge who is overseeing the consolidated state court cases. The coalition is asking the judges to remove the barriers erected by CMI, so the coalition can begin its review of the source code.
Recently, the Superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension sent a “fluff piece” to the Minneapolis Star Tribune titled, “Some Love for Forensic Scientists” touting why everyone should have “confidence in the quality of the BCA scientists’ work.”
The whole theme of this article can be summed up in one of the first sentences, where the Superintendent states, “without the painstaking work performed by forensic scientists . . . I'm confident justice would be served far less often in real life.”
This statement baffles me, and should baffle you too. Where was this confident sense of justice when the Intoxilyzer 5000 was failing? Are we honestly expected to have confidence in an agency that knewfor years that the Intoxilyzer was experiencing critical flaws, and boldly refused to fix those errors because of fears that fixing their mistakes would undermine the aura of perfection the BCA attempted to create around the Intoxilyzer? That’s neither justice nor good science.
And what about the BCA’s DWI urine testing regime? Minnesota is probably the only state to actually use first void testing regularly for DWI prosecutions. In fact, even other countries, those with far stricter DWI laws, won’t use urine testing for DWI prosecutions.
When a scientific agency is the only one doing something a particular way, it can only mean one of two things – either they are on the cutting edge of science, or they’re stubbornly clinging to science that has already been clearly and unequivocally refuted. I can tell you for a fact that the BCA’s treatment of urine testing isn’t cutting edge science.
What we have here is an agency that claims, in the newspapers, to be using scientific principles to ensure justice in the courtroom. What every Minnesotan needs to know, however, is that those scientific principles are typically ignored by the BCA for purely political reasons, and that always leads to injustice.
A truly independent scientific agency would not refuse to fix its Intoxilyzers for fear of looking foolish. An agency dedicated to sound science and fair convictions would not cling to an outdated and discredited method of urine testing to convict Minnesotan drivers of DWI.
Maybe a better title for that article would have been, “Science Only When it Suits Us.”
If you or your attorney have bought into the belief that the scientific evidence presented by the Minnesota BCA is unassailable, you’re wrong. We fight this evidence every day - and win. If you’re being charged with a crime based on supposedly scientific evidence, call the Ramsay Law Firm. We don’t believe the hype – we get results.
Minnesota’s DWI law (Chapter 169A) consumes 186 pages on Westlaw. By comparison, the entire First Degree Murder law easily fits on a single page.
Without an attorney who has the experience, knowledge and skills in the field of DWI law, you run the serious risk of losing what otherwise should be a winning case. This is especially true when it comes to the some of the arcane and obscure rules that apply in the civil “Implied Consent” case that trails along with almost every criminal DWI case.
In the context of a criminal case, any attorney worth his or her salt should know that the government must prove that an allegedly intoxicated driver was either driving, operating, or in “physical control” of a motor vehicle.
What most attorneys don’t know - probably because it isn’t even listed in a Minnesota statute - is that the State is alsorequired to prove that a person was driving, operating or in physical control of a vehicle in the civil Implied Consent case. This is an issue that can win cases, but first you have to recognize that the issue exists!
The civil implied consent law seems to limit the issues a driver may raise at the implied consent hearing. Note that none of the Implied Consent Statute does not permit a driver to challenge whether he or she was actually driving. Instead it permits a driver to challenge only whether the police officer had “probable cause.”
The scope of the hearing is limited to the issues in clauses (1) to (10):
(1) Did the peace officer have probable cause to believe the person was driving, operating, or in physical control of a motor vehicle or commercial motor vehicle in violation of section 169A.20 (driving while impaired)?
(2) Was the person lawfully placed under arrest for violation of section 169A.20?
(3) Was the person involved in a motor vehicle accident or collision resulting in property damage, personal injury, or death?
(4) Did the person refuse to take a screening test provided for by section 169A.41 (preliminary screening test)?
(5) If the screening test was administered, did the test indicate an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more?
(6) At the time of the request for the test, did the peace officer inform the person of the person's rights and the consequences of taking or refusing the test as required by section 169A.51, subdivision 2?
(7) Did the person refuse to permit the test?
(8) If a test was taken by a person driving, operating, or in physical control of a motor vehicle, did the test results indicate at the time of testing:
(i) an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more; or
(ii) the presence of a controlled substance listed in schedule I or II or its metabolite, other than marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinols?
(9) If a test was taken by a person driving, operating, or in physical control of a commercial motor vehicle, did the test results indicate an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or more at the time of testing?
(10) Was the testing method used valid and reliable and were the test results accurately evaluated?
Despite the statutory limitations to the contrary, drivers can and should challenge whether the state can prove they were driving when appropriate. Many attorneys miss this since the statute does not seem to permit it.
Too many attorneys give a passing glance to the maze of DWI statutes, shrug their shoulders, and decide to plea their clients and outright waive the right to a hearing. At Ramsay Results, we’re always one step ahead, looking beyond the law to make sure that any issue that can be raised, will be raised. It’s how we practice law - and it’s how we get results.
One Hennepin County judge wrote in a source code order that it may be malpractice for a lawyer not to seek breath test software. That remains to be seen and depends primarily on the outcome of our experts' analysis. Practically speaking, however, the source code coalition has prepared matters to point where it requires little effort from attorneys to take advantage of this issue.
The upside is obvious -- drivers' DWI breath tests could be thrown out. There is little down side -- a minimal contribution from each lawyer and a delay necessitated by the review.
So the question is: is your lawyer a member of the Minnesota Intoxilyzer 5000 Source Code Coalition.
If not, get another lawyer.
I've listed of all members below as of today. In addition to this, all state public defender cases are included.
Here's the latest on the expert analysis of the software: While CMI, the Intoxilyzer 5000 manufacturer, has yet to provide us reasonable access, Marsh Halberg, one of the other lead attorneys, has made significant progress. Our experts are ready to go. We hope to have them in Owensburo Kentucky by the end of the January to begin the software review.
As the battle of Minnesota’s Intoxilyzer 5000 continues with no real end in sight, many metro counties have consolidated their source code cases to conserve state resources, prevent inconsistent rulings and to manage the growing caseload.
The First Judicial District, with its seven counties, has consolidated its cases before one judge and has issued an Intoxilyzer 5000 Source Code case management order along the lines of the federal court’s multidistrict litigation rules. Judge Abrams, who teaches complex litigation at the University of Minnesota Law School, has by far done the best job organizing and scheduling the consolidated cases. Other counties have begun formal consolidation of Intoxilyzer 5000 source code cases, including Hennepin, Anoka and Chisago.
Judge Abrams:
When I began writing this blog last month, Ramsey and Washington Counties seemed to be of the only metro-area counties which had yet to consolidate.
Ramsey County’s chief judge had written to the Minnesota Supreme Court requesting consolidation on a state wide basis, but the request was denied for procedural reasons.
This week, Minnesota Lawyer reported that Ramsey County has a consolidation plan in place.
Ramsey County is following a kind of hybrid model of consolidation, Ramsey County District Court Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin said. Cases involving challenges to the source code will be assigned to one judge, but only for the purpose of resolving the source code issue. The cases will then be assigned to different judges for trial. Cases not involving source code issues must proceed, she added. ... Gearin said that there are discussions ongoing about multi-county proceedings, but Ramsey doesn’t want to wait while those talks run their course.
I have yet to see any orders reflecting this.
Judge Gearin:
The last Ramsey County order I received was before Thanksgiving from Ramsey CountyJudge Marrinan. The order addresses the timing and sequence of expert review of the breath test machine’s software.
The order states:
1. Defendant shall receive access to the source code from CMI pursuant to the instructions and parameters set forth in State v. CMI.
2. Consistent with the Permanent Injunction at Paragraph 3(b) of the above, the Court has executed a Protective Order in this matter, which is attached.
3. Within 90 days after execution of the NDA, Defendant's expert shall report his or her findings to Defendant's counsel, who shall forward a copy to the Court and to counsel for the State within three working days after receipt.
4. The State and CMI shall then have 90 days in which to have their experts review the report of defendant's expert, review the source code, and submit their reports.
5. The State and CMI, shall forward copies of their experts reports to the court and Defendant's counsel within three working days after receipt.
6. Defendant shall appear for a JT in this matter on 7/26/10 at 8:45 am in Maplewood Courtroom A.
While the Ramsey County order is designed to keep the source code battle moving, it is silent regarding issues that already have arisen. For example, CMI, the Intoxilyzer 5000 manufacturer, continues to thwart the Minnesota source code coalition’s experts’ review of the software. As a result, we have been unable to begin analyzing the code which will certainly delay our experts’ report. What if we are unable to complete the report in the time they required?
Minnesota DWI Defense Blog will continue to update its readers as information becomes available on the Intoxilyzer 5000 Source Code battle.
Many consider the test refusal law to be unbeatable. The law is not straightforward and is difficult to understand. A lawyer well versed in the law, science and facts of your case can beat the crime of test refusal.
The law as it exists today came about to close a loophole in Minnesota’s DWI law. Decades ago, people refused to submit alcohol testing which limited the evidence available to the state. Then, the state passed the "Implied Consent Law." Under the original law, upon refusing to test the state would revoke a person’s license for one year. This caused most people to submit to testing. To increase those numbers, the state made it a crime to refuse testing under the Minnesota Implied Consent Act. This crime was treated the same as taking the test and failing. Later, when the state amended the criminal DWI law making the consequences more severe for those over .20, many drivers began to refuse to take the test rather than risk facing enhanced charges for a high alcohol test result.
Once drivers became more aware of the enhanced charges for a .20 or greater, more drivers again began refusing DWI tests rather than risk facing the more serious consequences. The state closed that loophole earlier this decade by making test refusal a crime more serious than merely failing a DWI alcohol test over .08 or more.
As a result of the piecemeal amendments to Minnesota’s Impaired Driving Laws, the laws have become an unconstitutional, knotted mess.
The refusal provision states:
“It is a crime for any person to refuse to submit to a chemical test of the person's blood, breath, or urine under section 169A.51 (chemical tests for intoxication), or 169A.52 (test refusal or failure; revocation of license).” Minn. Stat. § 169A.20, subd. 2 (2008).Under the law, the refusal crime is more serious than taking and failing the test.
Is Minnesota’s DWI Test Refusal Law Constitutional?
Minnesota is one of fifteen states that make it a crime for a driver to refuse to submit to blood, urine or breath testing after being arrested for a DWI.The rationale behind the criminal law is obvious: to coerce drivers into providing an alcohol test to increase the likelihood of conviction.
I believe the law is unconstitutional as it compels citizens to waive their right to warrantless searches and seizure.I argued this before the Minnesota Supreme Court last year, but the Court sidestepped the issue in State v. Netland.The court left undecided one question, as articulated by the dissent.
Minnesota Intoxilyzer 5000: Using Science to Beat a Test Refusal
Fortunately, DWI lawyers who are particularly skilled and knowledgeable about Minnesota’s Implied Consent DWI law may be able to beat a DWI test refusal charge when the driver submits to the Intoxilyzer 5000 breath test.
The local twin cities media has reported on how I’ve exposed flaws in the breath test software causing the Intoxilyzer 5000 to erroneously deem a person to have refused to submit to a breath test.The documents I’ve discovered and the testimony I’ve elicited have resulted in a federal judge ordering CMI to disclose the source code to Minnesota defense attorneys.
A driver is not likely to beat a breath test refusal charge without a Minnesota lawyer who knows the scientific flaws of the Intoxilyzer 5000, the issues involving the source code and how the state’s experts will testify in court.
Blood Tests and Urine Tests: Using the DWI Law’s Provisions to Beat the Refusal Law
A client hired me last month in a blood test refusal case.I thought the facts from the case can help explain how to beat a test refusal to test charge.
My client was stopped by police and arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.The officer took her to a hospital for a blood test.The officer asked my client if she would submit to a blood test and my client agreed.
Here are relevant facts from the officer’s police report:
I began to read the Implied Consent document to “Kim.” Kim agreed to take a blood test.An RN assisted me with the blood draw.I opened the blood kit and began filling out the paper work. Kim was physically pulling away from the nurse when she put the tourniquet on her arm. Kim said she didn't like needles. I explained to Kim that this was a registered nurse and she will be fine.Kim would not let the nurse touch her.
Kim would physically pull away every time the nurse would touch her arm. I explained to Kim that she already agreed to take the blood test and that if she did not allow the nurse to take blood that it will be considered a refusal.
Another nurse was called to assist. The nurse said she will hold her arm straight for her while the other nurse inserts the needle. Kim lifted her feet off the floor almost kicking the nurse in the stomach, RN told Kim that the other nurse was pregnant and that she needed to settle down. Kim said “just do it.”RN attempted again to draw blood and Kim pulled away swinging her arms. RN said that she would attempt one more time because she was making it dangerous with the needle. Kim again physically pulled away from the nurse, RN said she would not draw blood because she was physically uncooperative and it was dangerous.Due to Kim’s aggressive behavior all testing was stopped.
Kim refused to test.
Does this violate Minnesota’s Implied Consent/DWI Test refusal law?No.
Under the Statute, “action may be taken against a person who refuses to take a blood test only if an alternative test was offered and action may be taken against a person who refuses to take a urine test only if an alternative test was offered.Minn. Stat. § 169A.51, subd. 3 (emphasis added).
It is clear that the legislature never intended for a person to be subject to criminal charges simply for refusing a blood test or urine test without being offered an alternative.
In this example, although Kim said she would submit to a blood test, she prevented the RN from withdrawing blood and she refused the test.However, the officer should have offered Kim the opportunity to submit to a urine test before declaring, “Kim refused to test.”
Because no action can be taken against a person for refusing to submit to a blood test unless an alternative test is offered, the judge should dismiss the test refusal charge.As a footnote, the state took my client’s car in this very real case.Once the judge dismisses the refusal charge the state will be forced to return my client’s car to her.
If you have been charged with DWI, DUI or Refusal to Submit to Testing, call Chuck Ramsay immediately.
Hennepin County consolidated 102 DWI breath test cases. Today it held a hearing at which the attorneys, prosecutors and all 102 defendants were required to attend. The theory was that the prosecutors were going to offer deals to get the cases settled.
Someone forgot to tell the prosecutors.
Although some cases may eventually get resolved, it seemed few, if any cases, settled today. Instead, we learned:
·Prosecutors would not object to consolidation on a state wide basis, but have yet to file a motion to do so.
·Prosecutors have not looked into retaining an expert to analyze the source code, instead they will use the expert retained by the Attorney General on civil cases.
·Prosecutors do not want their expert to begin work until after the defense has concluded its work.
·Prosecutors believe it is best to set a “tracking date” to move things along.
·The Source Code Coalition requested consolidating HennepinCounty cases with the First Judicial District. This would save judicial resources as well as the resources of its municipalities.
The next date was set for June 1, 2010.
Judge Abrams has done an excellent job coordinating the 700+ cases in the First Judicial District and has issued a strict scheduling order, with a trial date of May 10, 2010. Trial is expected to take three weeks.
Is it a coincidence that HennepinCounty scheduled the next source code case immediately after the First Judicial District’s case?
In my opinion, the prosecutors from HennepinCounty don’t want consolidation because they want two bites at the apple. If the prosecutors like the results from the First District, will they seek to use the results in HennepinCounty. If they don’t like the results, then they have the right to their own hearing on the source code issue.
It would in the best interests of Minnesotan’s to move these cases along and stop wasting the tax payers’ money, particularly in these tough economic times. As I blogged previously, otherwise, CMI, the Intoxilyzer 5000 manufacturer, will be the sole winner here.
HennepinCounty is the sole county in the Second Judicial District, which has the largest population in the state of Minnesota. It has the following cities:
Hennepin County Judge Daly issued an email today regarding the approximately 90 criminal DWI Intoxilyzer Source Code. In the email addressed to the Source Code Coalition, judges of the Judges of the Fourth Judicial District and others, she wrote:
Good afternoon,
Tomorrow we will be conducting a hearing on the criminal source code cases. The hearing will be on the A Level of the GovernmentCenter, in the Jury Assembly Room, at 9:00 AM. I will be there along with Judges Wernick and Cahill. Judge Jerry Abrams of the First District will be attending the hearing.
Given that there are over 90 cases on that calendar we need to have some efficiencies. The hearing will be reported and so consideration will be given to the reporter as well. For those reasons we are asking that each “group” select a spokesperson. By “group” we mean the private defense group( MSCJ), the Meaney/Patrin group (if they wish to have a separate spokesperson), the PD (if they wish to speak separately from the MSCJ), the suburban prosecutors and the Minneapolis City Attorney.
We will be asking Judge Abrams to talk about what is happening in the First. We will then ask each group to state what they are requesting of the court going forward. Finally, ever hopeful, Judge Wernick and Cahill will be available to accept pleas should the parties wish to resolve their case. The defendants are required to appear at this hearing.
Please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns. See you all tomorrow.
Judge Daly
Given that CMI does not seem to be cooperating with the Source Code Coalition's efforts to examine the source code -- thus further delaying the review -- I hope prosecutors are in a mood to resolve these cases. To do so, I believe they should have the mindset that the Intoxilyzer 5000 test result will not be available to them in their case. Otherwise, the defendants will have no incentive to settle.
Today, Judge Abrams issued his Case Management Order (CMO) for Minnesota's First Judicial District's Intoxilyzer 5000 Source Code litigation. The order sets a final hearing on the source code issue for May 10-21, 2010.
WHEREAS, the Court has determined that this Case Management Order
("CMO") is appropriate and will be of assistance in the efficient management of this litigation; IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, that this CMO be and hereby is entered as follows:
1. Case Designation
Every filing shall contain, in its caption, the Master File Number 70-CV-09-19459.
In addition, for each separate case the individual originating County file number assigned to each case must also be included in the caption for any filing which pertains to an individual case. Filings in the Master Court File shall be made as set forth in the following paragraph. Attached hereto as Exhibit A is a listing of the original file numbers and other pertinent information for each case which is subject to this Order.
Allcases and all filings for the Master Case File herein shall be directed to the attention of Lori Brandon, Court Administration Scott County. Regardless of where the case was initially filed, all cases Subject to the Consolidation Orders issued in the First District by the Honorable Edward Lynch, as attached in Exhibit A, are to comply with the terms of this CMO. All filings for the individual matters shall be filed with the Court Administrator's Office in the originating county.
2. Applicability of Order
This Case Management Order ("CMO") applies to all pre trial, and trial proceedings concerning the "Source Code" issue in the Implied Consent Master Case and in all cases listed in Exhibit A. Upon resolution of the "Source Code" issue, each case shall be returned to its originating County for such further trials or hearings as may be required.
3. Filing and Service of Papers
a. Master Service List.
Except as otherwise provided for herein, all papers or pleadings filed with the Court or served upon a party shall be served as described in this CMO on counsel for all parties to this action in accordance with the Master Case List, attached hereto as Exhibit A. For the purposes of economy, it shall be sufficient to state in a certificate of service that the relevant document was served on counsel for all parties and on unrepresented parties listed on the Master Case List current as of that date. The Master Case List may be incorporated by reference with express reference to the revised date thereof, and need not be attached to the certificate of service. The document served must be addressed to the individual attorney(s) or unrepresented party(ies) on the Master Case List.
b. Method and Timing of Service.
Service of all pleadings, motions, deposition notices, requests for discovery and other papers required to be served upon counsel for the parties or unrepresented parties (collectively "papers") shall be affected upon the parties with copies to all persons on the Master Case List by electronic mail. Papers served by electronic mail shall be attached to emails as Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files or Microsoft Word (.doc) files. To the extent a party is unable to effect service by electronic mail to counsel for any party or any party not represented by counsel, service may be affected by facsimile, overnight mail, or regular mail. Large exhibits, affidavits, declarations, or other supplemental documents may be served by overnight mail. With respect to any papers served as described in this paragraph 3b, three (3) days shall be added to any time computed under the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure or the Minnesota General Rules of Practice for any party to respond to any such papers.
All Orders of the court in connection with this case shall be posted on the First Judicial District Website at http://www.mncourts.gov/districU1/?page=3753 and shall also be simultaneously transmitted to Liaison Counsel for service upon parties in accordance with the procedures set forth herein.
c. Filings.
The original of every pleading and motion shall be filed with this Court along with proof of service on all counsel and unrepresented parties. The original of each filing shall be directed to the Master File; one copy shall be directed to the originating county for filing in the individual case file. A courtesy copy of every pleading, motion, or letter shall also be directed to Judge Abrams, C/O Daniel J. Sagstetter, Judicial Law Clerk. The parties are advised that for each case in which a fee may be required for filing, (e.g. motion fee, fax fee) THE FEE MUST BE PAID FOR EACH CASE INWHICH RELIEF IS BEING SOUGHT. The fee should be submitted to
Court Administration in the originating county for each individual file. No additional fee is required for the service copy directed to the Master File.The filing of discovery materials with this Court shall be governed by the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure, except that the original of all such papers which are not filed with this Court under such rules shall be kept in the offices of counsel responsible for generating such pleading, motion or discovery.
d. Correspondence.
All materials, such as correspondence, which are not due to be docketed, shall be sent directly to the chambers of Judge Abrams. Correspondence and other materials will only be accepted if they are in regards to general administrative matters. The parties shall not submit correspondence regarding substantive matters or any other substantive materials directly to the Judge assigned to the case unless requested by or authorized by Judge Abrams. The corresponding party shall contemporaneously forward a copy of all correspondence and other materials sent to Judge Abrams to all counsel and unrepresented parties by electronic mail or regular mail, as may be necessary.
e. Documents Filed with the District Court.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, any motion genuinely requiring emergency relief shall be delivered directly to the chambers of Judge Abrams. Any such document shall also be served electronically or faxed to all parties on the date of delivery. Proof of service shall be filed within (5) five business days thereafter.
4. Discovery
a. Avoiding Redundancy.
All parties should use their best efforts to avoid unduly duplicative submissions and propound joint discovery requests to the end of minimizing the need for any other party to perform repetitive file searches or interviews of employees and agents on the same topics.
b. Document Requests.
The parties shall not unreasonably refuse to grant extensions of time if reasonably required due to the voluminous number of documents being produced or other necessity associated with their document production.
i. Place of Production and Procedures.
Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, parties shall produce documents for inspection and copying, to the extent practicable, in the form and manner in which the documents have been maintained in the ordinary course of business or in which they previously have been maintained for production in litigation. To distinguish effectively among the documents designated for copying by the parties, each page of each document copied by any party shall bear a unique document identification number, with a unique prefix which identifies the party producing the document ("Bate Stamps" or "Bate Label"). Where documents or portions of documents are withheld, the parties shall, either through the numbering system or as otherwise provided in this Order, to the extent reasonably practicable, identify the number of pages withheld in a manner sufficient to indicate their location in the file being produced. Where part of a page is redacted, both the fact and location of the redaction, and the size or extent of the redaction shall be made clear on the face of the document.
Within a reasonable time before production, the producing party shall advise the inspecting party of the approximate volume of the documents and a general description of the types of files or other materials involved. Each party shall produce its documents at its option: (a) by production of originals as they are kept in the ordinary course of business; (b) by production of as legible as possible photocopies in the same format; or (c) by electronic means or other computerized storage. Notwithstanding these provisions, any party may request to inspect the original of any document, communication, or thing produced and the parties shall make arrangements for such inspection within ten (10) days of the request.
The location of the production shall be at the place where the documents are kept in the ordinary course of business, at the office of the producing attorney, or as otherwise agreed by the parties, provided, however, that all such document productions shall take place in the United States.
ii. Privilege Log.
If a party determines that a document responsive to a document request is subject to attorney/client privilege, attorney work product protection, or any other form of privileges or protection, the following method of handling the privileged or protected writing shall be followed.The producing party may withhold the privileged or protected document and must identify the withheld document on a privilege log which shall be provided to the requesting party and all other parties as soon as practicable, but no more than thirty (30) days following the date on which the producing party is due to commence physical production of the requested documents. If after completion of production pursuant to a particular demand for inspection the producing party discovers additional responsive documents and determines any of them to be subject to attorney/client privilege, attorney work product protection, or any other form of privilege or protection, the producing party may withhold any such privileged or protected document and must identify the withheld document on a privilege log which shall be provided to the requesting party as soon as practicable but in no case more than thirty (30) days after the documents are discovered. Likewise, to the extent any material within a document otherwise producible contains privileged or protected information, the document shall be produced subject to redaction of the subject privileged and protected material and shall be listed on the privilege log. All privilege logs shall identify each privileged document or work product by providing the Bates Label range, date, author(s), recipient(s), the subject matter of the document withheld or information redacted and the nature of the privilege or work product protection asserted. Nothing in this section shall preclude a party from challenging a claim of privilege.
c. Confidentiality Order.
All documents and other discovery materials and testimony produced or provided in this action may be subject to the terms and provisions of the Protective Order, in the form as attached as Exhibit B hereto, which has been entered in each case.
d. Inadvertent Production of Privileged Information.
If a party inadvertently produces information or documents that it considers privileged or protected material, in whole or in part, or learns of the production of its privileged or protected material by a third-party, the party may retrieve such information or documents or parts thereof, memoranda and other material as follows:
(1) Any assertion of inadvertent production shall be made as soon as practicable, but in any case within ten (10) days of the date the party discovers that it, its agents or attorneys, or a third-party has inadvertently produced the privileged document. The party asserting inadvertent production must provide written notice to all parties on the Master Case List via electronic mail or as otherwise provided herein that the party claims the document, in whole or in party, to be privileged or protected material; in addition, such notice must state the nature of the privilege or protection and the factual basis for asserting it. No assertion of inadvertent production will be made less than thirty (30) days before trial or fourteen (14) days after service of a trial exhibit list, whichever comes later.
(2) Upon receipt of such notice, all parties who have received copies of the document shall, within five (5) days thereafter, confer with the producing party and discuss how to resolve the issue. If no agreement is reached, the producing party may request reasonable relief from the Court, including an order that all copies of inadvertently produced documents shall be returned to the producing party, destroyed or otherwise be made available for procurement by the requesting party. Parties who received copies of inadvertently produced documents may oppose the granting of such relief on any permissible basis, including requesting an order that the inadvertently produced documents are not privileged and do not constitute protected attorney work product.
(3) In the event that only part of a document is claimed to be privileged or protected, the party asserting inadvertent production shall furnish to all parties redacted copies of such document, removing only the part(s) thereof claimed to be privileged or protected, together with such written notice.
e. Mutual Use of Discovery.
To help avoid redundancy, all discovery served by any party inure to the benefit of and are enforceable by any other party. The settlement, release or dismissal by any means of any party propounding such discovery will not in any way limit or extinguish any other party's obligation to comply with the discovery.
5. Motion Practice
Except as otherwise provided by the Court, pretrial motions in this litigation shall be governed by the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure and by the General Rules of
Practice for the District Courts, provided that these latter rules are modified procedurally as follows:
(1) Motion hearing dates shall be obtained directly from Jan Vohnoutka at Scott County Court Administration;
(2) Proposed orders for dispositive motions shall not be submitted unless specifically requested by the Court;
(3) The moving party shall provide a certification of an attempt to meet and confer to resolve their dispute, (such as is described in Rule 115.10 of the Rules of General Practice for the District Courts) which shall be in writing and shall be filed separately at least two (2) days prior to the hearing date.
Counsel shall attempt to coordinate a hearing date and the notice of motions for hearing on a date cleared with Jan Vohnoutka at Scott County Court Administration.
Nothing shall restrict any party's right to apply to the Court for an order shortening or extending time or page limitations on a motion upon a showing of good cause, but only after making good faith efforts to resolve the issue among counsel.
6. Coordination Among Parties
The Court expects cooperation among the parties to coordinate motion practice, discovery, trial, or otherwise to minimize the expense in this litigation. The parties shall, to the maximum extent practicable, avoid duplicative motions, briefs and discovery ("filings") consistent with each party's individual interests. Since many parties have a commonality of interest as to many issues in the actions, they may serve joint discovery and file joint submissions with the Court and/or adopt, join in or support any motion made or discovery propounded by another party simply by so noting in writing.
Each party has an affirmative duty to immediately notify the involved party upon receipt of any misdirected attorney/client or other privileged communication or work product document, outside the ordinary course of discovery. Upon written request, the receiving party shall either (a) return such communication or other document, along with any and all copies, to the involved party, or (b) provide correspondence or affidavit to the involved party attesting to the fact that such communication or documents and all copies thereof have been destroyed.
7. Depositions
a. Cooperation.
The parties will use reasonable efforts to schedule depositions by agreement. To that end, the parties will participate in bi-weekly discovery conferences by telephone for the purpose of making best efforts to select mutually convenient dates and places for the initial round of depositions, identifying witnesses and arranging other matters. Unless otherwise agreed, formal notice of scheduled depositions is required. Unless exigent circumstances exist, the parties will be advised of a deposition at least ten (10) calendar days before a deposition is scheduled to commence.
b. Non-Party Depositions.
Counsel shall attempt to resolve with any non-party deponent the identification for production and subsequent production of any documents being subpoenaed. Whenever possible, this process shall be completed no later than seven (7) days before the date on which the deposition has been scheduled. All counsel shall be given notice of any documents identified for production pursuant to subpoena and shall have the right to inspect and copy, at each inspecting party's expense, whatever documents are produced by a non-party in response to a subpoena.
Upon request, a party shall conduct a search of all records that may disclose the present address of any former employee and shall provide such information to the requesting party as soon as practicable. Nothing in this Order shall preclude any party, if it so chooses, from obtaining the attendance of any former employee or officer of another party for deposition by subpoena in the first instance.
c. Stipulations.
Unless otherwise noted on the record, the following stipulations shall apply to all depositions in these actions:
(1) Any objection by a single party shall be deemed an objection by each and every similarly situated party;
(2) Corrections to a deposition transcript shall be listed on an errata sheet, copies of which shall be served on all parties by counsel for the deponent or the deponent, within thirty (30) days following receipt of the deposition transcript;
(3) To the extent practicable, exhibits shall be attached to the original transcript. Where the form or volume of exhibits makes attachment to the transcript impractical, the custody of such exhibits shall be maintained at the office of the attorney taking the deposition or the court reporter and such exhibits shall, after reasonable notice, be subject to inspection and copying by any party during normal business hours or by appointment;
(4) The parties shall strive to select and retain court reporters that can produce transcripts in both manuscript and computer-readable format, other agreed format. The parties may stipulate to maintain an online repository for all depositions taken in these cases subject to limitations on accessibility as may be determined by the parties.
d. DepositionSchedule.
With respect to aged or infirm witnesses, counsel shall abide by the reasonable request of such witnesses with regard to timing and availability for deposition testimony. The parties will undertake all reasonable efforts to conduct depositions in an efficient, cost-effective and expedited manner.
e. Attendance and Interrogation.
All parties shall be entitled to be represented at every deposition and to inquire of a deponent through their counsel. A former employee or officer may be represented at his or her deposition by counsel for the former employer. In order to facilitate necessary arrangement for attending counsel, not less than two (2) days prior to the commencement date of a deposition, any counsel intending to attend the deposition shall use its best efforts to notify the noticing party and counsel for the deponent.
f. Time and Location of Depositions.
Depositions may be held Monday through Friday, and shall commence no earlier than 9:00 a.m., and conclude no later than 5:00 p.m. local time, unless otherwise agreed between counselor ordered by the Court. No deposition shall be scheduled for more than two (2) consecutive days absent agreement by the parties or order of the Court. A deposition may, however, proceed for a third consecutive day without agreement of the parties or order of the Court if there is at least eighteen (18) hours between the end of the second deposition day and the commencement of the third. To save expense and travel time, all sessions of the deposition of a single deponent shall, to the extent consistent with the witnesses' schedule and health and the deposition schedule, and unless otherwise agreed, proceed on successive weekdays and for the full deposition day until completion. Except as the parties may agree, no deposition shall be scheduled on the following dates: Court hearing dates, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday, President's Day, Good Friday, Passover (the first two days), Memorial Day, Independence Day (including the preceding Monday if it falls on a Tuesday or the following Friday if it falls on a Thursday), Labor Day, Rosh Hashanah (two days), Yom Kippur (two days), Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday). Depositions of witnesses residing outside the United States shall not be scheduled on national holidays in the witness' home country. In addition, no depositions shall be scheduled between December 21, 2009 and January 4, 2010 except upon agreement of the parties.
g. Out of State Depositions.
In order to facilitate the orderly taking of any such foreign deposition, the
Court hereby orders commissions to be granted to take out of state depositions of parties and non-party witnesses, at such times and in such places as are agreed upon by counsel, such commissions to be issued to persons duly authorized by the law of the foreign state to take such testimony. This Order appointing commissions to take foreign depositions shall be applicable to all out of state depositions taken in this action, without the need for any party to file any additional motion for appointment of a commission to take any out of state deposition. The parties will provide the Court with a template order, or otherwise with other necessary appropriate orders respecting the appointment of commissions.
h. Exhibits.
To the extent practicable, all parties intending to question a witness at a deposition with respect to documents shall provide a reasonable number of copies of such documents for the use of the other parties in attendance at the deposition. Exhibits should be identified by the name of the witness and numbered consecutively in each deposition.
i. Objections.
The only objections that shall be raised at any deposition are those involving a privilege or other protection against disclosure or some matter that may be remedied at the time, such as to the form of the question, that the question has previously been asked and clearly answered, or the responsiveness of the answers. Objections on any other grounds shall be avoided and are not waived but preserved until trial. All objections shall be concise and must not suggest answers to the deponent. So called "speaking objections" are not permitted. Except as to an objection on grounds of privilege, any objection made by one party reserves that objection for all other parties and duplicate objections shall not be made.
j. Directions to Deponent Notto Answer.
Directions to a deponent not to answer are improper except on the grounds of privilege, confidentiality, or other similar protection, or to enable the party or deponent to present a motion to the Court for termination of the deposition or protection such as under Minnesota Rule of Procedure 26.03. When privilege, confidentiality or other protection is claimed, the witness shall nevertheless answer questions relevant to the existence, extent or waiver of the privilege, confidentiality, or other protection.
k. Immediate Presentation of Deposition Disputes.
Consistent with discovery concepts and objectives set forth above, if disputes arise during a deposition which the attorneys cannot resolve by agreement and which, if not promptly decided, will critically disrupt the discovery program or court-imposed schedules, the parties may submit the matter orally by telephone to the undersigned if available.
8. Avoidance of Unnecessary Duplication
Cooperation and communication among parties as ordered herein shall not constitute the waiver of any applicable privilege or be construed as evidence of wrongful conduct. In the event that any party is in genuine doubt about the legal effect of the communication and cooperation ordered herein, such party may seek the Court's clarification of the party's responsibilities before proceeding.
9. No Waiver of Privilege Due to Joint Efforts
Communications in connection with this case between and among counsel for the parties and/or their clients, including the exchange of documents and information, shall be deemed subject to the attorney/client privilege, work product protection, and any other applicable privilege or protection to the same extent as if the communication had taken place within one law firm or between one law firm and one client represented by that firm. Protection afforded by this Order will survive the conclusion of this litigation and the dismissal of any party from this action. If a party withdraws from any cooperative litigation efforts with other parties, previous communications among the withdrawing party and such other parties and all work product shared by or with the withdrawing party with respect to this action, will remain subject to any attorney/client privilege, work product protection, or other privilege that attached at the time the communications were made or the work product was shared. Any such withdrawing party is under a duty not to reveal information obtained through such cooperative efforts.
10. Rules and Procedures
This CMO supersedes any provision of the Minnesota Rules of Civil procedure
and General Rules of Practice for the District Court that are in conflict with the provisions of this CMO.
11. CMO Binding on Subsequently Added Parties
Any new party to this consolidated action after the date the CMO is entered up to and including February 16, 2010 shall be served with a copy of this CMO by Liaison Counsel and any subsequent Case Management Orders. Any such new party will be bound by this CMO and all other Case Management Orders unless it files a motion for relief with the Court within ten (10) days after service of this CMO and other case management order upon it. Upon the addition of any party to this action, the party adding the new party shall serve a copy of this CMO on counsel for the new party within five (5) days of the date of receiving notice of the identity of the new party's counsel.
12. Liaison Counsel
In recognition of the large numbers of prosecutors, petitioners, and defendants in this action and to promote sufficient communication between and among the parties and the Court, the parties will appoint counsel to serve as Liaison Counsel, designated as follows:
Marsh Halberg
Minnesota Society for Criminal Justice - Source Code Coalition
Lee Orwig
Minnesota Society for Criminal Justice - Source Code Coalition
Jeff Sheridan
Minnesota Society for Criminal Justice - Source Code Coalition
Chuck Ramsay
Minnesota Society for Criminal Justice - Source Code Coalition
Derek Patrin
Meaney&Patrin, PA
Kristi Nielsen
Minnesota Attorney General's Office
David Koob
Minnesota Attorney General's Office
Subject to the right of any party to present individual or divergent positions, the liaison counsel is vested by this Court with the following responsibilities and duties:
(1) Communicate with opposing counsel, communicate with all other counsel in its respective liaison group and receive orders, notices and correspondence from this Court and the District Court Administrator in any matter pertaining to this action;
(2) Promptly forward to all counsel for its respective liaison group copies of all documents from the Court or the District Court Administrator, not otherwise provided to them electronically, report to all counsel in the represented group on all meetings and communications with this Court or other liaison counsel;
(3) Organize and schedule meetings of counsel for joint action;
(4) Coordinate common discovery;
(5) Initiate action by the Court to remedy disputes among the parties;
(6) Participate in conference calls with this Court to resolve disputes and scheduling matters;
(7) Maintain a current copy of the Master Case List, and serve and file any updated Master Case Lists; and
(8) Perform such other duties as may be expressly authorized by further order of this Court or agreed to by counsel.
Liaison counsel shall not be deemed to speak for, act for, or bind any particular litigant or group of litigants absent express authority provided by such litigant or group.All counsel of record shall have an opportunity to present to this Court their respective views and opinions as to matters before this Court. The liaison counsel shall not be liable for any actions arising from their respective roles as such and this Court shall act to remedy any inadvertence as appropriate.
13. Pro Hac Vice Admission of Attorneys
Any lawyer admitted or currently licensed to practice before a Court of general jurisdiction in any state in the United States and who is specifically associated with a currently licensed Minnesota lawyer may be deemed admitted pro hac vice to practice before the Court in this litigation only. Other than those attorneys admitted pro hac vice prior to the date of issuance of this Order, attorneys may be deemed admitted pro hac vice upon completion of the following:
A. An Affidavit Setting Forth:
(1) His or her full name and non-Minnesota business address;
(2) His or her date and place of each state licensure;
(3) A representation that the affiant's license to practice law is current and is not under revocation, suspension, restriction or limitation in any other state of admission or in the federal courts, and that the affiant is an attorney in good standing in all states of licensure;
(4) A representation that the affiant is, or will promptly become, familiar with all applicable Minnesota court rules, procedures and requirements of professional conduct, and will follow and abide by such rules, procedures and requirements.
B. A Notice of Pro Hac Vice Representation Selling Forth:
(1) The non-Minnesota lawyer's full name and non-Minnesota business address, telephone number, facsimile number, and e-mail address;
(2) The name, address, telephone number, facsimile number and e-mail address of the Minnesota lawyer or law firm with whom the attorney will associate for purposes of this litigation;
(3) The name of each party whom the attorney will represent.
Such affidavit and notice of pro hac vice representation shall be filed with the Court Administrator of the originating county of the case within the First judicial District.
Notice of pro hac vice representation shall be served upon all counsel on the Master Case List.
14. Status Conferences and Scheduling
a. Status Conferences.
General status conferences shall be held at 1:30 p.m. every other Friday as needed from December 11, 2009 (excluding December 25, 2009) until no longer needed. The principal purpose of the general status conference is to discuss and resolve administrative issues common to all parties. Issues that affect only specific parties and that have no significant implications for other parties will be calendared for a separate hearing date or, if the status conference agenda permits, for 2:30 p.m. on a status conference date.
Not later than the preceding Friday before the status conference, liaison counsel shall confer and shall determine whether or not a status conference for the following Friday will be necessary. If they agree that such conference is not necessary, they shall cancel the conference and promptly notify the Court and the remaining parties of the cancellation. Ifliaison counsel decides to proceed with the status conference, they shall prepare a common agenda and shall notify all parties and the Court thereof not later than the close of the business day on the Monday preceding the conference date.
b. Scheduling.
In recognition of the complexity of the issues before the Court, the Court will discuss the progress of the parties in discovery and other matters at the status conferences and upon application of the parties jointly or unilaterally may amend or modify the scheduling order from time to time.
The following dates and deadlines shall apply to all actions subject to this CMO:
February 16, 2010- Petitioner expert disclosure deadline; non-expert discovery ends; final date for adding new cases to docket of consolidated cases
April 2, 2010- Respondent expert disclosure deadline
April 6, 2010 - Expert discovery begins
April 19, 2010 - All non source code pre trial issues are to be resolved
May 3,2010 - Expert discovery concludes
May 10-21, 2010 - Final hearing on source code issue
Dated 12.1.09 by The Court: Jerome B. Abrams, Judge of District Court
Exhibit B
State of Minnesota, District Court
County of First Judicial District
Petitioner vs. Commissioner of Public Safety, Respondent
Court File No.
Protective Order
WHEREAS, the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota has entered a
Consent Judgment and Permanent Injunction regarding access to the source code used in the operation of the Intoxilyzer SOOOEN ("Source Code"), the breath-alcohol testing instrument used to enforce the driving while impaired ("DWI") and implied consent laws in Minnesota. This Consent Judgment and Permanent Injunction requires issuance of a Protective Order as a precondition to obtaining access to the Source Code; and
WHEREAS, this Court has ordered that the Source Code be made available for inspection and review or has found the Source Code to be relevant or material in the above-captioned case; and
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:
1. As used in this Protective Order, the listed terms have the following meanings:
"Attorneys" means counsel of record in this matter;
"Confidential" documents and information are documents or information designated Confidential pursuant to Paragraph 2 herein; and
"Source Code" refers specifically to the Source Code for the Intoxilyzer 5000EN used in the State of Minnesota.
2. A Party may designate any document "Confidential," including interrogatory responses, other discovery responses, or transcripts, based on a good faith belief that the document constitutes or contains trade secrets or other confidential information. Source Code is hereby designated as Confidential, except for that portion of the Source Code assigned and delivered to the State pursuant to the Settlement Agreement between the State and CMI dated June 1, 2009.
3. All Confidential documents and information shall be used solely for the purpose of the above-captioned matter, or as otherwise permitted by the federal Consent
Judgment and Permanent Injunction.. No person receiving such documents or information shall, directly or indirectly, use, transfer, disclose, or communicate in any way Confidential documents or information to any person other than those specified in Paragraph 4 herein and the federal Consent Judgment and Permanent Injunction.
4. Access to any Confidential document or information shall be limited to:
(a) The Court and its staff;
(b) Attorneys of record and their law finns;
(c) Persons shown on the face of the document to have authored or received it;
(d) Court reporters retained to transcribe testimony;
(e) The Parties to this case;
(f) Outside vendors (limited to professional copy services);
(g) Outside independent persons who are retained by or otherwise assist a
Party or its Attorneys to provide technical or expert services and/or give testimony in this action, and who are not, and have not been, employed by (as an employee, agent, or consultant) or otherwise affiliated with, any manufacturer of breath alcohol testing instruments within the preceding twenty-four (24) months.
5. Any outside independent person (as defined in Paragraph 4(g) herein) who receives access to the Source Code or other Confidential information shall execute a Non-Disclosure Agreement in the form prescribed in Paragraph 3(c) of the federal Consent Judgment and Permanent Injunction before receiving access to the Source Code or Confidential Information. In addition, any Attorney or Party (as defined in Paragraphs 4(b) and (e) herein) who receives access to the Source Code shall also execute a NonDisclosure Agreement in the form prescribed in Paragraph 3(c) of the federal Consent Judgment and Permanent Injunction before receiving access to the Source Code. Receipt of access to the Source Code pursuant to this Protective Order shall not constitute or convey any right, title, license, or other interest in any portion of the Source Code.
6. Non-parties producing documents in the course of this action may also designate documents as "Confidential" subject to the same protections and constraints as the Parties to this action. A copy of this Protective Order shall be served along with any subpoena served in connection with this action. All documents and information produced by such non-parties shall be treated as "Confidential" for a period of 15 days from the date of their production, and during that period any Party may designate such documents as "Confidential" pursuant to the terms of this Protective Order.
7. Any testimony or written report that contains Confidential documents or information will receive the same protections afforded to Confidential documents themselves. Confidentiality designations for testimony shall be made on the record or, where appropriate, by written notice to the other Party. It shall be the responsibility of the Party who noticed the deposition, called the witness, or seeks to introduce the evidence, to designate such testimony or information as Confidential. The testimony of any witness (or any portion of such testimony) that contains Confidential information shall be given only in the presence of persons who are qualified to have access to such information pursuant to Paragraph 4 herein.
8. Any Party or non-party that inadvertently fails to identify documents or information as Confidential in accordance with this Protective Order shall, upon discovery of its oversight, promptly provide written notice of the error and substitute appropriately designated documents or information. Any Party receiving notice of improperly designated documents or information shall act immediately to retrieve such documents or information from persons not entitled to receive such documents or information and shall return the improperly designated documents or information to the producing Party.
9. Any document designated Confidential or containing Confidential information that is filed with this Court, including any expert report, shall be filed under seal. Any Confidential information shall be redacted from such document or report before it is made publicly available.
10. No action taken in accordance with this Protective Order shall be construed to be a waiver of any claim or defense in the action or of any position as to discoverability or admissibility of any evidence in the case.
11. The obligations imposed by this Protective Order shall survive the termination of the above-captioned matter.
12. Any violation or breach of the terms and conditions set forth in this
Protective Order shall be grounds for any appropriate sanctions available under the law.
Is your DWI lawyer a member of the Minnesota Source Code Coalition? If you took an Intoxilyzer 5000 breath test and lost your license and/or you are being charged with a DWI, your attorney may not be doing all he or she can to win. Urge them to become a member immediately to defend you against the state's unscientific breath test machine.
In each of the implied consent cases, the petitioner has challenged the reliability of his or her Intoxilyzer 5000EN test result based on their belief that reviewing the source code for the Intoxilyzer 5000EN will reveal a material defect affecting the instrument’s ability to produce accurate alcohol concentration results.I have addressed the flaws of the Intoxilyzer in past blog entries.
The Chisago County Court Administrator’s office notified my office today that it was consolidating the county’s source code cases into one hearing. The hearing is scheduled to be heard on May 5, 2010.
Coincidentally, Anoka County has scheduled its consolidated source code hearing for the same date. Chisago County seemed unaware of this. I do not know whether Chisago will reschedule the hearing. Since Chisago County is in the Tenth Judicial District with Anoka County (along with the counties of Isanti, Kanabec, Pine, Sherburne, Washington, and Wright), perhaps the district will consolidate the entire district’s hearings. In my opinion, this would save judicial resources and be more efficient for the courts and litigants.
On July 1, 2009, Minnesota implemented a statewide pilot Ignition Interlock program. This program allows drivers who have had their licenses revoked, cancelled, suspended or withdrawn due to multiple DWI convictions or revocations get their licenses back earlier, if they agree to install an ignition interlock device on their car.
This is the first sensible move by Minnesota in the DWI arena in decades. Until now the Department of Public Safety had a policy that made no sense. It preferred people to drive without a valid license – knowing people must drive on many occasions – than fashioning a workable solution to Minnesota’s drunk driving problem. This allows citizens to drive to work, school and other places legally while at the same time ensuring our roads are same for our loved ones. Bravo DPS!
According to a Duluth news outlet 400 DWI offenders have already participated in Minnesota’s Ignition Interlock Program. Some benefits to this program include driving sooner, being able to drive to work, school, or wherever you need, avoiding future DWIs, driving legally and quite possibly saving money by being able to drive your own vehicle in lieu of cabs, bus fare, or saving the hassles of having to ask others to drive somewhere for you. There are potential disadvantages, whether it is worth it for you to enroll will depend on your needs, preferences and level of offense. You will also have to have to bring your vehicle for monthly maintenance appointments so that engine start information can be downloaded into a report format.
The ignition interlock is a small device that is installed into the vehicle and is used to measure an individual’s alcohol concentration. If the driver has been drinking and blows into the tube and registers a high alcohol concentration level the vehicle will not start. The device will also trigger random retests as the vehicle is driven to ensure that alcohol has not been consumed while operating the vehicle.
It remains to be seen what if any flaws exist in the program which may cause a device to erroneously stop one’s automobile.
For your convenience, I’ve posted Minnesota Statute sections 171.305 and 171.306 in their entirety below:
171.305 IGNITION INTERLOCK DEVICE.
Subdivision 1.Definition.
"Ignition interlock device" or "device" means breath alcohol ignition equipment designed to prevent a motor vehicle's ignition from being started by a person whose alcohol concentration exceeds the calibrated setting on the device.
Subd. 2.
[ Expired]
Subd. 3.Performance standards.
The commissioner shall specify performance standards for ignition interlock devices, including standards relating to accuracy, safe operation of the vehicle, and degree of difficulty rendering the device inoperative. The interlock ignition device must be designed to operate from a 12-volt DC vehicle battery and be capable of locking a motor vehicle's ignition when a minimum alcohol concentration of 0.020 grams of ethyl alcohol per 210 liters of breath is introduced into the device. The device must also require a breath sample to determine alcohol concentration at variable time intervals ranging from five to 30 minutes while the engine is running. The device must also be capable of recording information for later review that includes the date and time of any use of the vehicle or any attempt to use the vehicle, including all times that the vehicle engine was started or stopped and the alcohol concentration of each breath sample provided.
Subd. 4.Certification.
The commissioner shall certify ignition interlock devices that meet the performance standards and may charge the manufacturer of the ignition interlock device a certification fee. A manufacturer who submits a device for certification must provide an application for certification on a form prescribed by the department.
Subd. 5.Issuance of limited license.
The commissioner may issue a limited license to a person whose driver's license has been canceled and denied due to an alcohol or controlled substance-related incident under section 171.04, subdivision 1, clause (10), under the following conditions:
(1) at least one-half of the person's required abstinence period has expired;
(2) the person has successfully completed chemical dependency treatment and is currently participating in a generally recognized support group based on ongoing abstinence; and
(3) the person agrees to drive only a motor vehicle equipped with a functioning and certified ignition interlock device.
Subd. 6.Monitoring.
The ignition interlock device must be monitored for proper use and accuracy by an entity approved by the commissioner.
Subd. 7.Payment.
The commissioner shall require that the person issued a limited license under subdivision 5 pay all costs associated with use of the device.
Subd. 8.Proof of installation.
A person approved for a limited license must provide proof of installation prior to issuance of the limited license.
Subd. 9.Misdemeanor.
(a) A person who knowingly lends, rents, or leases a motor vehicle that is not equipped with a functioning ignition interlock device to a person with a limited license issued under subdivision 5 is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) A person who tampers with, circumvents, or bypasses the ignition interlock device, or assists another to tamper with, circumvent, or bypass the device, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(c) The penalties of this subdivision do not apply if the action was taken for emergency purposes or for mechanical repair, and the person limited to the use of an ignition interlock device does not operate the motor vehicle while the device is disengaged.
Subd. 10.Cancellation of limited license.
The commissioner shall cancel a limited license issued under this section if the device registers a positive reading for use of alcohol or the person violates any conditions of the limited license.
Subd. 11.Program standards.
The program standards applicable to section 171.306 also apply to this section.
The commissioner shall conduct a statewide two-year ignition interlock device pilot project as provided in this section. The pilot project must begin on July 1, 2009, and continue until June 30, 2011. The commissioner shall submit a preliminary report by September 30, 2010, and a final report by September 30, 2011, to the chairs and ranking minority members of the senate and house of representatives committees having jurisdiction over criminal justice policy and funding. The reports must evaluate the successes and failures of the pilot project, provide information on participation rates, and make recommendations on continuing the project.
Subd. 2.Performance standards; certification.
The commissioner shall determine appropriate performance standards and a certification process for ignition interlock devices for the pilot project. Only devices certified by the commissioner as meeting the performance standards may be used in the pilot project.
Subd. 3.Pilot project components.
(a) Under the pilot project, the commissioner shall issue a driver's license to an individual whose driver's license has been revoked under chapter 169A for an impaired driving incident if the person qualifies under this section and agrees to all of the conditions of the project.
(b) The commissioner must denote the person's driver's license record to indicate the person's participation in the program. The license must authorize the person to drive only vehicles having functioning ignition interlock devices conforming with the requirements of subdivision 2.
(c) Notwithstanding any statute or rule to the contrary, the commissioner has authority to and shall determine the appropriate period for which a person participating in the ignition interlock pilot program shall be subject to this program, and when the person is eligible to be issued:
(1) a limited driver's license subject to the ignition interlock restriction;
(2) full driving privileges subject to the ignition interlock restriction; and
(3) a driver's license without an ignition interlock restriction.
(d) A person participating in this pilot project shall agree to participate in any treatment recommended by a chemical use assessment.
(e) The commissioner shall determine guidelines for participation in the project. A person participating in the project shall sign a written agreement accepting these guidelines and agreeing to comply with them.
(f) It is a misdemeanor for a person who is licensed under this section for driving a vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device to drive, operate, or be in physical control of a motor vehicle other than a vehicle properly equipped with an ignition interlock device.
License that is issued to a person using ignition interlock.It restricts a person to only driving a vehicle with ignition interlock installed.All other driving privileges remain.
Limited License
Paper license that is issued to a person while their driving privileges are revoked.With a limited license, a person can drive to work, school, and support programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).
*Cancelled License
A license is cancelled with the Commissioner of Public Safety determines a driver is harmful (“inimical”) to public safety; abstinence from alcohol is required (and most be proven) for a certain amount of time, which varies depending on the offense or submission of assessment only.
As was previously reported in a previous blog on 10.19.09 - Updated - Source Code Review Process - See who is involved - many private attorneys have each donated $1,000 to MSCJ’s source code review process. All of this is in addition to the tens of thousands the MSCJ membership has already expended leading the defense bar on this issue and the tens of thousands more it intends to commit as well.
If your attorney is not on the list, he or she is not keeping up with even the minimal requirements of a dwi lawyer.
Recently, a headline from various Minnesota publications - Drunken Mother Led Chase, Her Two Kids in Tow – captured my attention. A Woman had her two sons, ages 2 and 4, in a car and an open bottle of rum in a diaper bag when she led police on a chase last week in western Hennepin County, police said Wednesday.
This is, indeed, a tragic situation. In 2008, 7 percent of children age 14 and younger killed in car crashes were passengers in a car with a drunken driver, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Hennepin County alone usually sees three to four cases a year involving a parent who has been drinking and is driving with child/children in the car.
Please note, that merely being charged with child endangerment has consequences that are much more severe than a drunk driving conviction, which are potential loss of license, potential jail, fines, probation, etc. If child endangerment charges are filed, it’s possible for child protection to become involved and, in extreme cases, the state can take away a parents’ children.
If you are facing similar charges,
CONTACT RAMSAY LAW FIRM AT 651.604.0000 IMMEDIATELY
TO PROTECT YOUR PARENTAL RIGHTS
If you are facing these types of charges, Ramsay Law Firm has and continues to represent many cases like this; we realize our clients underlying chemical dependency issues that helped to cause a situation like this and our goal is to help beat the charges or minimize the consequences.
At the heart of the matter is the reliability of the Intoxilyzer 5000 and whether or not this machine accurately measures a person’s alcohol concentration under Minnesota's DWI laws. This is the machine used state wide. I have addressed the flaws of the Intoxilyzer 5000 in past blog entries.
At yesterday’s mass hearing, coalition attorneys told Judge Abrams that they had hired Computer Forensics Services to review the source code as allowed under the federal court settlement. This would take approximately 2-3 months and will be done at CMI headquarters in Kentucky.
Judge Abrams decided he would schedule one mass hearing for next spring, to determine whether the breath test machine is reliable after the findings of the source code review. The hearing which includes 286 civil cases and 238 criminal cases (and growing) throughout the First Judicial District is expected to last anywhere from one to three weeks.
Other District Courts may join the First Judicial Districts in this hearing or conduct mass hearings of their own on the reliability and accuracy of the Intoxilyzer 5000.
Chuck Ramsay, Jeff Sheridan and Marsh Halberg have been named as lead counsel for the Minnesota Source Code Coalition. The three Minnesota attorneys have established themselves as leaders on the Minnesota DWI breath test issue. Ramsay obtained the source code in a federal lawsuit when he thwarted a Minnesota/CMI settlement which would have buried the software. Instead, he forced the state and CMI into providing unfettered access to the source code at the manufacturer's headquarters. Ramsay uncovered the secret "smoking gun" and "inferno" internal emails. Sheridan prevailed at the Minnesota Supreme Court in the Underdahl case opening the door to the source code issue. Halberg has been instrumental in organizing the defense bar and leading the coalition and also submitted valuable memoranda on behalf of the MSCJ in the federal case.
Lead counsel is appointed when multiple parties share sufficient common interests so that one attorney may represent them as a group, without conflict, on substantive matters. Typically, when a number of attorneys are appointed as co-lead counsel, each is charged with a particular specialty. Commonly, lead counsel will be appointed to head the trial team, for expert discovery, for factual discovery and for briefing.
Earlier this month, fellow criminal defense lawyer, Ms. Christine Funk interviewed Mr. Charles Ramsay for asegmentof her online show, The Crime, Science and Information Show, that provides answers to various questions regarding workings of thelaw, the judicial system and the principles of forensic science.
Mr. Ramsay met with Christine Funk in order to discuss intoxication laws – including what those laws are, evidence and scientific issues concerning those laws and legal challenges that may occur now that evidence and scientific angles are being challenged.
During the interview, Mr. Ramsay explains the difference between driving while intoxicated (DWI) and driving under the influence (DUI), various tolerance levels for individuals and the government's means for determining an individual's alcohol concentration (urine testing, blood testing, breath testing). He also provides more information on breath test machines and the source code issues breathalyzers face.
Like Charles, Christine believes in knowing the law, the facts surrounding each case and the science behind each case.
Ms. Christine Funk has been with the Public Defenders Office for the State of Minnesota, serving as a member of the Trial Team Office. Christine has made great strides in challenging DNA evidence in cases throughout her career and has strived to make scientific evidence understandable to other lawyers, along with average, ordinary citizens. She hosts the online show, The Crime, Science and Information Show on The Women’s Information Network website.
On October 21, 2009 an order issued by the Honorable Jerome Abrams was filed by the First Judicial District which sets an agenda for a scheduling conference on November 4, 2009 to discuss factors in the on-going Source Code dispute. Judge Abrams has been assigned to this matter by Order of the Chief and Judge of the First Judicial District pursuant to minn.stat. §484.69, subd.3. Minnesota’s First Judicial District is comprised of the following counties: Carver, Dakota, Goodhue, LeSueur, McLeod, Scott and Sibley.
This hearing will address how the First Judicial District Court of Minnesota will proceed in the Source Code Evidentiary Hearings in Implied Consent and Criminal matters. Key topics in source code evidence such as source code disclosures, timing of disclosures, identifying all experts for the defendant, petitioner and State, and expert opinion disclosures/reports along with additional fact disclosure will be determined. To read the complete agenda please see the Order Setting Agenda for Hearing dated 10.21.09.
This mass Source Code Scheduling Conference will more than likely take an entire day and will consolidate 286 civil cases and 238 criminal cases. While the idea of doing a ‘mass’ hearing seems logical at first – saving judicial resources, time and expenses – one has to ask – what expense does each individual face?
Dr. Staubus says the forensic science treatise published the results of a scientific study that demonstrates the Intoxilyzer 8000 has a poor ability to detect mouth alcohol.
To be scientifically valid and reliable, DWI breath tests must detect mouth alcohol in test subjects. Otherwise, the test result will read erroneously high. See Professor Harley Myler’s Affidavit for more information. In the study, a total of 23 breath-alcohol profiles were collected from subjects blowing into the machine every 5 minutes for 2 hours immediately following drinking. The INVALID SAMPLE indicator of mouth alcohol was only actuated in 5 of the 23 cases. And in those 5 cases the INVALID SAMPLE indicator only appeared during the first sample.
Table II shows the Intoxilyzer 8000 failed to actuate the INVALID SAMPLE response to mouth alcohol even when test result was elevated by as much as 0.127 g/210 L over the subsequent breath test result.
Authors (James Watterson and Kayla Ellefsen from the Forensic Toxicology Research Laboratory in Canada) also collected blood samples from these subjects.
Within a limited breath volume range of 2 to 3 liters, the author found the precision of the test results to be insensitive to breath sample volume. Considering that the minimum acceptable volume for the Intoxilyzer 8000 is 1.1 liters and many subjects, when told by officers to "keep blowing, keep blowing, ...”, can blow in excess of 4 or 5 liters, the small range of 2 to 3 liters and the limited number of samples was apparently designed not to detect differences due to breath volume that others have already demonstrated.
Authors concluded that (1) the Intoxilyzer 8000 generally underestimates the venous BAC and (2) "it is clear a mandatory delay before breath testing commences should be enforced to minimize the likelihood of falsely elevated BAC measurements." According to Staubus, however, they avoided concluding anything in regard to possible mouth alcohol contamination from Gastric Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD).
In my opinion, CMI, the Intoxilyzer manufacturer, could not get it right in the Intoxilyzer 5000 and they still cannot get it right in the 8000. This machine does not produce accurate, reliable or valid results.
Anoka County became the latest county in the state of Minnesota to consolidate its breath test cases involving the battle over its source code.The hearing for civil cases is set for May 5, 2010.Criminal cases will be heard May 26, 2010.
AnokaCounty is in the Tenth Judicial District, which is comprised of Anoka, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Pine, Sherburne, Washington, and WrightCounties.
The other counties that have consolidated cases are HennepinCounty, and the entire First Judicial District (comprised of Carver, Dakota, Goodhue, LeSueur, McLeod, Scott and Sibley counties).
Chief Judge of Ramsey County, Judge Gearing, sent a letter last month to Chief Justice Eric Magnuson requesting that the state consolidate all the Intoxilyzer cases within the state.Chief Justice Magnuson’s decision, if any, has been made public as of this writing.
As was previously reported in a previous blog (Source Code Review Process - See who's getting involved!) - As of October 16th, 98 Private Attorneys have each donated $1,000 to MSCJ’s source code review process.All of this is in addition to the tens of thousands the MSCJ membership has already expended leading the defense bar on this issue and the tens of thousands more it intends to commit as well.
Below is an updated listing of the coalition members. If your attorney is not on this list, he or she probably is not acting in your best interests. Urge them to contact the MSCJ today to become part of the coalition to review the source code.
New Jersey Attorney, Evan Levow, reported that today a judge threw out the 0.14 breath test result in New Jersey v. Chun.Chun was the name of the lead defendant in New Jersey’s state-wide battle over its new breath test machine.Mr. Levow has represented Ms. Chun throughout the process.
Although the first four and 1/2 years of pre-trial litigation focused on whether the Draeger Alcotest was scientifically reliable – which included analysis of the machine’s source code – the judged suppressed the test based on the officer's failure to follow proper procedures for changing the mouth piece. (Both the manufacturer and the head of the Alcotest program testified in the state wide hearings that the mouthpiece must be changed after each breath sample, which wasn't done.)
Tomorrow they try the impaired charge. We wish Mr. Levow and Ms. Chun the best of luck.Certainly no one can question the lengths to which Mr. Levow will go to give his clients the best possible representation.See Mr. Levow’s website for more information about the case.See my blog and website for more information about the fight over Minnesota’s breath test machine and source code battle.
Last weekend members of the Minnesota Source Code Coalition met with our experts to plan our examination of the software in Kentucky at CMI Headquarters. We were to begin by reviewing the hard-bound written copy of the source code which CMI was to provide under the Federal Source Code Settlement.
Upon opening the book, we were shocked to discover that CMI had blacked out 99 pages of the printed version of the software!
Although the federal settlement permitted CMI to redact passwords, our experts tell us CMI blacked out entire pages of the software. The redacted code includes critical information necessary to analyze the software.
Judge Frank ordered CMI “to make printed, hardbound copies of the complete Source Code (subject to the redaction of security and passcode features described herein) available in Minnesota.” (Click for Judge Frank’s entire order).
It is clear CMI is playing games. The company has made it tough enough by requiring our experts to travel to Kentucky to review the actual source code at their headquarters during regular business hours. Given the other limitations, we expect a review to take up to three months.
What other hurdles will CMI place in our path?
I suspect Minnesota judges will not tolerate this type of conduct and correctly determine that the state has not provided the source code to drivers under the Minnesota Supreme Court ruling of State v. Brunner.
As a result, thousands of DWI cases may be dismissed because of CMI’s chicanery.
Over the weekend the Minnesota Society for Criminal Justice (MSCJ) – the organization leading the defense bar’s source code coalition – has retained an additional expert to assist in examining the Intoxilyzer 5000 software.This is in addition to the five experts that were announced in a previous blog entry.The coalition may retainer additional experts in the future.
Harley R. Myler, PH.D., P.E.graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1975 with a double major in Chemistry and Electrical Engineering. Following military service as a missile systems officer in the US Army Air Defense Artillery, he attended the New MexicoStateUniversity in Las Cruces, New Mexico and received the M.S.E.E. degree in 1981 and the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1985. From 1986 to 2001 he was a professor in the faculty of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Central Florida in Orlando where he was named researcher of the year four times. In 2001 he accepted the Mitchell Endowed Chair at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas as well as the chairmanship of the Drayer Department of Electrical Engineering. Dr. Myler has published four books, over thirty refereed papers and over fifty conference articles and holds two US patents. His research and teaching interests are in digital video, HDTV and broadcast technologies.
Minnesota Knows of Critical Software Flaw; Refuses to Install Patch
A recent Court Transcript provides new information into the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s (BCA) concealment of critical flaws in the software that runs the Intoxilyzer 5000, the state’s breath testing machine. The transcript was produced as a result of testimony taken in the cases of State v. MH, and MH v. Commissioner of Public Safety in Crow Wing County. This is the first of a five-part series to publish the new revelations.
The August 26, 2009 transcript includes new revelations of the source code/software problem which erroneously accuses drivers of refusing to take an alcohol test. Refusal is a crime under Minnesota’s DWI laws, which I’ve addressed previously in my blog and on my website.
The transcript of the testimony of a BCA forensic scientist reveals:
The BCA is aware of the “potential” problem with the Intoxilyzer rejecting what should be an acceptable sample;
CMI, the Intoxilyzer 5000’s manufacturer, provided the BCA with a software patch to correct the problem;
The BCA did not test or install the corrected version of the software;
The state chose not to test or install the software was to avoid enflaming the “source code” issue;
The BCA employee speculates that cost may have also been a factor in the decision to not test or upgrade the flawed software.
Here is an Excerpt of the transcript:
Q: So we are aware of a problem with the current version of software that would reject what might be otherwise valid breath sample, right?
A: Potentially, not definitely.
Q: And the CMI provided BCA with a fix that purportedly corrected that problem, right?
A: Purportedly.
Q: And instead of testing it, the BCA shelved it, correct?
A: We did not test it, correct.
Q: And one of the reasons was because the BCA did not want to inflame the Source Code issue; is that right?
A: … [T]hat was at least part of the decision, but I don't know that that was the exclusive decision. I mean, there's also the incredible cost and time involved, and doing a software change, and ultimately we've been asking for money for three years for new instruments when we were hoping we would get that.
Q: What would be the cost of fixing this problem with the software?
A: The actual cost is in time and travel.
Q: How much would that be?
A: Several thousand, but I don't know.
Q: Several thousand dollars?
A: Several thousand, yes.
Q: How do you think that balances against people being erroneously deemed a refusal to test?
A: That would be my opinion. My opinion is I don't believe that I can tell you what the value of the State's money is. I don't think I can answer that question.
I previously predicted Minnesota Judges to push to combine all of Minnesota's Intoxilyzer Source Code cases into a single case. Yesterday I received confirmation of that.
Personally, I believe consolidation is premature. Until our experts have reviewed the source code, we are unable to confirm the precise nature of the software errors. Consolidation would make sense if the experts find a fatal error in the program that renders the Intoxilyzer scientifically invalid in every case. This would be the case if CMI, the breath test manufacturer, has short-circuited software routines that perform scientific safeguards which are necessary to ensure that every breath test is valid, reliable and accurate. As I tweeted earlier this week, I predict we may find this sort of error in the program.
Short of global, fatal flaws effecting every test, however, the problems we are likely to find will be unique to each person. Such issues may include refusal by conduct, breath volume issues, interferents, GERD, diabetes, lung disease, etc. Consolidation would not be appropriate in the event we find source code errors affecting the test population differently.
I'll report on this blog the details of any consolidation as they emerge.
The Second Judicial District includes all of Ramsey County, with St. Paul as its county seat.
The First Judicial District has already consolidated cases involving the Intoxilyzer software.
Chief Judge Kathleen R. Gearin:
Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Judge Eric Magnuson:
The Minnesota Society for Criminal Justice (MSCJ) – the organization leading the defense bar’s source code coalition – has announced five experts it has retained to assist in examining the Intoxilyzer 5000 software. The coalition may retain additional experts.
Mark Lanterman, Chief Technology Officer, Computer Forensic Services, Inc., Minnesota;
Matt Heinsch, Senior Forensic Analyst, Computer Forensic Services, Inc., Minnesota;
Glenn G. Hardin, Forensic Toxicologist, The Tox Group, Inc., Minnesota.
Mr. Wisniewski has extensive experience in analyzing source code. Mr. Wisniewski issued the Base One report in the Chun case out of New Jersey, where he analyzed the source code for the Alcotest® -- a breath testing device manufactured and marketed by Draeger Safety Diagnostics, Inc.
Mr. Hardin was the supervisor of Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s (BCA) toxicology section until July, 2008. The BCA is the agency responsible for Minnesota’s breath testing program.
The Minnesota Attorney General took the case over from the Dakota County Attorney. On Tuesday, May 5, 2009, the AG's office filed a motion for rehearing. The Solicitor General, who is leading the state’s fight (or fall) in federal court, signed the pleading.
There are two bases for the state’s motion for rehearing: 1) Do you live under a rock? The federal settlement was nixed!; and, 2) Do you know what effect your ruling will have on the state? I’ve attached the motion.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Supreme Court’s Brunner decision has put the viability of Minnesota’s breath test program in the hands of Magistrate Boylan and Judge Frank. Yesterday the three sides –State of Minnesota; Intoxilyzer manufacturer, CMI; and Plaintiffs-Interveners (four drivers accused by the machine) met for a previously scheduled settlement conference.
The media is beginning to recognize the significance of Minnesota's broken Intoxilyzers -- innocent people are losing their licenses, their way of life and their freedom.
CBS affiliate, WCCO, broadcast a story of one of our firm's clients. The Minnesota breath test machine erroneously reported "CW" had refused to submit to a breath test. As a result, under Minnesota law, she lost her license for one year and now faces criminal charges that impose four times the amount of jail than if she had failed the test (over .08).
The reason for the erroneous test results: the machine's software contains bugs. State officials and CMI, the manufacturer, are fighting to keep us from examining the source code.
See WCCO's story below, and the the blog entries about the source code battle and proof of some of the fatally flawed software.
The only way to ensure justice for Minnesotans is to immediately stop all breath testing in Minnesota until the problem is corrected.
Contact Chuck Ramsay immediately if the state is attempting to use the Minnesota Intoxilyzer to take your license or send you to jail.
Charles A. Ramsay has been very active in exposing flaws in the DWI/DUI breathalyzer machines in Minnesot, according to his press release issued today.
How can you argue with his passion for righting this wrong, when innocent people are getting charged with a crime that is far more sever than DWI, itself? If the Intoxilyzer 5000 cannot analyze a driver's breath, the state charges that person with the crime of DWI/DUI refusal!
The state has been aware of the problem for more than two years. Despite having a corrected version of the software, one of Governor Pawlenty's appointed officials has prevented the state lab from fixing the broken source code.
Untrustworthy crime labs are becoming commonplace. This year, government crime labs in Detroit and the State of Washington have closed or under investigation because of corruption, tampering, and negligence.
Is Minnesota's BCA next?
How can you trust the people and machines that were made and trained to prove your innocence? Imagine ... your life is now in shambles, because a faulty computer says so.
Charles Ramsay is the lawyer that you need on your side. No other Criminal Defense lawyer knows as much about this vicious machine as he does. Chuck is your smart choice -- he gets results for you.
Chuck Ramsay argued State of Minnesota v. Netland on September 10, 2008. The Minnesota Supreme Court must decide the constitutionality of the state's DWI-DUI statute which criminalizes refusal to submit to an alcohol test.
The issue is particularly difficult because Ms. Netland did not refuse to submit to a test. The breath test machine -- Intoxilyzer 5000 -- would not accept her breath sample. The police officer believed she was "playing" with the machine. Ms. Netland was persistent and demanded a blood test. The officer refused to give her either a blood or urine test.
Not willing to give up, Ms. Netland called an independent testing company while still in jail. The company collected her alcohol sample and had it analyzed. The result: .03 -- well under the legal limit of .08!
We now know that the source code was to blame. See the sections about Inferno and Smoking Gun. Unfortunately, state officials continue to use the same broken software. Innocent people continue to be hurt.
Minnesota is convicting innocent drivers of DWI as part of a conspiracy to conceal fatal flaws in the software that controls breath-testing machines used in drunk driving investigations, attorney Chuck Ramsay says.
The current version of Intoxilyzer 5000 software - in use since 2004 - inflates accused DWI drivers' blood alcohol content readings, Ramsay said. In addition, the machine now requires a much larger breath sample than most drivers are physically able to provide. Those who can't provide a sufficient sample are charged with chemical test refusal, a more serious offense in Minnesota than DWI. Many plead guilty to the less severe DWI crime, waiving their right to challenge the breath test result.
Chuck Ramsay's Breath Test Machine: Intoxilyzer 5000, Manufactured by CMI, Inc.
The machine's manufacturer, CMI of Owensboro, Kentucky, attempted to correct the problem in April 2007 by providing the state with updated software. Minnesota officials, however, have refused to install the updated software in its Intoxilyzer machines, leaving the critically flawed software in use, Ramsay said.
"Thousands of people may have been harmed by the defective software. As long as they refuse to fix the problem, many more innocent citizens will be affected," he said.
For more information about Minnesota's refusal to address critical flaws in its breath-testing technology, please contact DWI attorney Chuck Ramsay at 651.604.0000. Ramsay has posted government documents on his website supporting his claim.
Citizens Lose License, Vehicles & Freedom Despite Available Software Fix
Since at least 2004 Minnesota's breath test machine has erroneously found innocent drivers of violating the state's impaired driving laws. A programming error in the Intoxilyzer 5000 software falsely reports drivers of blowing an insufficient amount of air into the machine for analysis. Under state law, a person loses their license for at least one year and even first time offenders are put in jeopardy of serving time in jail, paying huge fines and forced supervised probation. Other penalties may include loss of license plates and vehicle forfeiture. Innocent drivers also face collateral consequences such as loss of job, and can destroy an entire family's way of life.
"Smoking Gun"
Earlier this year I discovered evidence of the problem. The Minnesota BCA alerted CMI, the breath test machine's manufacturer, that software installed in 1994 made it more difficult or even impossible for some people to give a sufficient sample.
In response, BCA scientists issued sworn affidavits dismissing the email, claiming the manufacturer had satisfactorily addressed the problem. Implying that innocent people would not be affected, the documents conclude no material changes were made and the test results continue to be sound science.
See Affidavits of BCA Scientists David Edin and Karin Kierzak
"Raging Inferno"
Newly discovered documents seem to refute the BCA's claim. Emails show that in April, 2007, CMI acknowledge the machine's erroneous rejection of otherwise valid samples and provided a corrected version of the software. With full knowledge of critical flaws in the machine's software, the BCA has refused to install the corrected software.
BCA Sources: Commissioner Prevents BCA from Correcting Software
Two credible sources have confirmed this, including the former supervisor of the BCA's toxicology section. One source explained the Commissioner of Public Safety ordered the lab to make no changes to the software to avoid attracting unwanted attention to the breath test machine.
The Source-Code Issue
In 2006 defense attorneys began demanding access to the Intoxilyzer source code, the human readable software which is compiled into a machine readable language. The commissioner believed the lawyers' so-called "source code" challenge would quickly blow over. Any software changes would prolong the litigation and add expense and aggravation.
The "source code" issue didn't blow over. It blew up.
Sources: AG's Office Involved in Cover-Up Conspiracy
According to the sources, the Office of the Attorney General was also involved. The AG office, which provides legal counsel and representation to the Commissioner, either acquiesced or approved of the plan to keep the software as it to avoid exacerbating the source code issue.
CMI has refused to produce the software for independent analysis. In March, under pressure from state judges who had dismissed hundreds of DWI cases, the AG filed suit against CMI in federal court. Publicly the state claimed it wanted to obtain the source code from CMI. Many attorneys, including this author, believed the federal suit was a rouse only to stem the tide of DWI dismissals in state court. A few believed the AG intended to use the suit for other purposes such as to delay any source code ruling until after the state acquired new breath test devices, or to keep defense lawyers from seeing the source code completely.
Motion to Intervene Denied
The "smoking gun" email triggered action. Believing the AG did not intend to act in the best interests of citizens, this author filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit in early June, 2008. The federal court issued its ruling this week denying the motion.
Last Friday the AG and the CMI announced it had reached a settlement. The AG reported it was victorious, having secured access to the source code and did so without cost to drivers or their experts. A thorough analysis reveals of the agreement does nothing for Minnesota citizens.
Breath Testing Should Cease Immediately Until Fixed
In June after the discovery of the Smoking Gun, this author called for an immediate moratorium of Minnesota's DWI breath test program. In response, the government issued sworn affidavits which are contradicted by newly discovered documents and by very credible BCA sources. Nothing changed. Innocent people continue to be hurt.
Recent Case Example of Innocent Driver
A good example is displayed here. This person was arrested after a cell phone caller claimed a group of drunk people were about to get into a car and drive. Police stopped my client and eventually brought her to the police station for breath testing.
Under penalty of incarceration, Minnesota DWI statutes require drivers to blow two sufficient breath samples into the machine for analysis. If the machine reports the samples to be deficient, drivers are charged with criminal test refusal - a crime more severe than blowing over .08. Consequences range from one year loss of license to jail. People lose their jobs and it can negatively change their entire way of life.
This woman had only a 0.061% alcohol concentration - well under the 0.08 limit. For her first sample she blew 1.8 liters of air, well over the minimum 1.1 liters. The machine did not accept her second sample, despite apparently providing at least as much air. Although the machine determine her second sample to be 0.064%, it reported her sample "deficient." The state revoked her license, and charged her with Gross Misdemeanor Test Refusal under Minnesota's DWI statutes.
This is a real life example of the ramifications of the state's willful and deliberate disregard for the rights of innocent people. She was well under the legal limit and provided one sufficient sample of air. The machine using defective software deemed her second sample deficient for no apparent cause.
Help!
If the state's top prosecutor or her office is involved in this conspiracy to cover up the critically flawed breath test machine, who will put a stop to this?
You can help. Call your state and federal representatives. Tell them to put a stop to this NOW! While we can and should do what we can to stop the carnage on the highways caused by drunken driving, we should not do carnage to the constitution in the process.
First, a little bit of background.I represent a client that got picked up for suspicion of DWI.The police gave him a breathalyzer test at 12:40 a.m. that returned a result of .110 (Minnesota's legal limit is .08).They gave him a second test four minutes later that returned a Blood-Alcohol level of .115.Seemingly, his proverbial ship is sunk, right?
Think again.After being released by the police, my client went and got a Blood-Alcohol test done on his own.At 3:04 a.m., 2 hours and 24 minutes after the first intoxalyzer test, his Blood-Alcohol level was as .046.Comparing the test results, this means his BAC dropped .064 since the 12:40 test, and .069 since the 12:44 test.These figures correspond to a drop rate of .0267/hour and .0296/hour respectively.
Now, lets look at the science behind blood-alcohol levels.Studies have shown that the average dissipation rate for BAC is .015/hour.The average range, dependent upon a number of factors (age, weight, sex, how quickly the drinks were consumed, etc), is .01 to .02/hour.Clearly, my client's dissipation rates fell well outside this average range.Even at the very edges of the realm of possibility, alcohol will leave your body at a rate of .009 to .03 per hour.This dissipation rates shown above barely fall within that range.
What does this mean?To put it simply, it's another piece of evidence that breathalyzer results are not infallible.So where do we go from here?Now that there is evidence of doubt about the reliability of the tests, lets work backward and see where that gets us.As I said, at 3:04 a.m., a Blood Alcohol Analysis returned a result of a .046 BAC.If we take that test result and work backward to the legal limit, we'll find where his BAC may have actually been when the police arrested him.Minnesota's legal limit is .08 BAC, .034 higher then his 3:04 a.m. test.Taking that difference and dividing it over the 2 hours 24 minutes between the first and third test, you get a dissipation rate of .0142/hour.While this is within the normal range (it's almost the average rate exactly), it means there is almost a 45% chance that at 12:40, when the police arrested him, his BAC was below the legal limit.45 percent is clearly reasonable doubt.
Charles A. Ramsay Attorney at Law Charles@RamsayResults.com
CHARLES A. RAMSAY & ASSOCIATES, PLLC 450 Rosedale Towers 1700 West Highway 36 Roseville, MN 55113 o: 651.604.0000 f: 651.604.0027 c: 651.336.6603
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Judge Abrams explicitly found that the Intoxilyzer cannot properly determine a deficient sample - and therefore does not support a charge of test refusal. In the order, it appears that the door has been left open for the government to bolster this faulty test result with “other evidence” that the test subject “refused” to provide a valid sample. However, the actual state of the law in Minnesota says the opposite - under Minnesota law, only a breath test machine that determines a deficient sample, not the officer..jpg)
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Once the groundwork had been laid, we pulled together a truly impressive coalition of defense attorneys to help foot the enormous costs that go into a detailed review of an embedded system like the Intoxiliyzer. And now, finally, after years of preparation and litigation, the evidence we’ve been demanding for years has been presented in open court, and we’ve reached the calm before the storm. .jpg)
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Chuck Ramsay's Breath Test Machine: Intoxilyzer 5000, Manufactured by CMI, Inc.
