The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has ruled that some 27,000 people who plead guilty or were convicted of driving under the influence can withdraw their guilty plea or ask for a new trial. The ruling comes after an investigation that began in 2019 revealed that breathalyzers involved in these cases weren’t calibrated properly.
The entire finding surrounds the Alcotest 9510, a breathalyzer made by Draeger Safety Diagnostics, Inc. In 2019, a court found that it produced “scientifically reliable BAC results” but also that “the annual calibration and certification methodology employed by OAT (Massachusetts State Police Office of Alcohol Testing) from June 2011 to September 14, 2014 did not produce scientifically reliable BAC results.”
Subsequently, a woman who had pleaded guilty to the offense back in 2013 sought to withdraw her plea over those findings. As a result of the two cases and how they affect one another, some 27,000 defendants are free to request a new trial or to withdraw their own guilty plea. That figure includes all who were tested with the Alcotest 9510 between June 1, 2011 and April 18, 2019.
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The court found that OAT had “a history of intentional withholding of exculpatory evidence… blatant disregard of court orders, and other misconduct.” That misconduct included violating discovery orders by not producing repair records or other exculpatory evidence.
Directly, the court said that “the extensive nature of OAT’s misconduct, and the inability of the defendants in the consolidated cases challenging there [sic] liability of the Alcotest 9510 device have resulted in the violation of the right to due process for approximately 27,000 defendants.”
Agency spokesman Dave Procopio said that “The Office of Alcohol Testing in recent years has implemented significant operational improvements to ensure that breathalyzer certification, case management, discovery processes, and employee training are in accordance with all applicable laws and established forensic best practices… It is important to note that the OAT operating procedures described in today’s decision predate those numerous and substantial reforms.”
Massachusetts State Police told CBSNews that it is “reviewing today’s decision and its impact.” It’s worth noting too that any pending or future case involving a breath test using the Alcotest 9510 from the aforementioned period of time must also be excluded from prosecution.
