Persons should also be aware that there are no Hardship Licenses available for Breathalyzer Test Refusals. In addition, the passing of "Melanie's Law" by the Massachusetts State Legislature in mandated that the operator's car will be impounded for up to 12 hours upon a Breathalyzer Test Refusal. Massachusetts law now further mandates that, for driver's over the age of 21 , your Driver's License will be suspended if you refuse the Breathalyzer Test for:.
There are over thousands of DUI cases across the state that are potentially affected by possible unreliable breathalyzer results. If your case involved a breath test, you need to be apprised of the current status of this litigation before taking your case to trial. In February , a Massachusetts judge ruled that the Alcotest machine was presumptive unreliable because the the methodology used by OAT for annually certifying the devices from June through September 14, , did not produce scientifically reliable results.
Since August , the district attorney's offices statewide were not introducing breath test results in their OUI prosecutions with very limited exceptions.
Since the start of the litigation challenging the breathalyzer machines, the Massachusetts Office of Alcohol Testing annually calibrates and certifies the Draeger Alcotest devices that are used by police across the Commonwealth. In November , it was revealed that the Office of Alcohol Testing failed to produce hundreds of discovery documents that illustrated calibration issues with over Draeger devices that were in use all of the state. As part of its ruling, the court set conditions for OAT to meet, including accreditation and a showing that OAT had addressed the issues that resulted in the lab's failure to produce key discovery documents.
In June , the Office of Alcohol Testing obtained national accreditation from ANAB as a forensic calibration laboratory, a major step towards resuming its use of admitting breath test results in drunk driving prosecutions. ANAB is the largest accrediting organization and certifies forensic and calibration laboratories' compliance with international crime lab standards. However, by refusing to blow you subject yourself to a mandatory license suspension. If you refuse to blow into a breathalyzer on a first-time DUI charge, your license will be suspended for one year.
If you refuse to blow for a second or third charge, your license will be suspended for 18 months, and you could face jail time. In most situations, it is not helpful to refuse to take a breathalyzer test. If you are convicted of a first-time DUI in Florida, you face fines, possible jail time, and could be required to have an ignition interlock device IID installed.
In many instances, you would qualify for a Florida diversion program, which will result in a lighter sentence than what you would receive for a refusal to blow. Refusing to take the breathalyzer test makes you ineligible for the diversion program.
You may be required to pay fines and the costs associated with the programs, but at the end, the DUI charge would be dropped and you could have your record expunged. This means that if the results of the breath test are admitted into evidence, a jury can presume that your normal faculties were impaired. Of course, the arresting officer can still testify as to your bloodshot eyes, your stinking of alcohol, your erratic driving and behavior and your unsteadiness on your feet to prove that you were, in fact, intoxicated while driving.
In addition, the breathalyzer test is not infallible and can often be challenged successfully in court. That being said, providing less evidence to prosecutors is a good rule of thumb.
But in a case where you are borderline above the legal BAC limit of. If you are really, really drunk, however, it may make sense to not take the test.
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