Judges put hold on new drunk-driving testing technology

While local police departments purchase the new By Joseph Harkins By Joseph Harkins Byram - A county judge has told local law enforcement authorities to take a collective deep breath before using a new technology to determine blood-alcohol levels as evidence to prosecute drunk-driving defendants. The decision prevents municipal prosecutors from using readings from the latest high-tech machines currently being introduced to replace the traditional Breathalyzers until the new units can be proven to be scientifically reliable. Theodore Bozonelis, the assignment judge for Morris and Sussex counties, ruled with Middlesex County Judge Walter Barisonek to halt the use of data from the new detectors, the Alcotest 7110, for prosecution in the courtroom. The ruling is posing a problem for local police departments. “We’re at the point where the Breathalyzer just isn’t made any more,” said Sparta Police Chief Ernie Reigstad, whose department is getting ready to purchase the soon-to-be, state-mandated equipment. “Alcotest is used in some 40 states, so it’s not like it’s some brand new technology.” When a motorist blows into a plastic tube, Alcotest measures and displays breath test results from both infrared analysis and electrochemical analysis. In comparison, the Breathalyzer relies on photometric technology that requires recalibration each time it is used. “Breathlyzer requires an officer to make mechanical stops along the way,” said Reigstad. “Alcotest allows an officer to press a button and let the machine make the stops - the machine takes the breath sample and analyzes it. It has no operator error. It’s a simpler machine to operate.” The ruling by Bozonelis continues to allow municipal prosecutors to proceed with pleas or trials using an officer’s observations and field sobriety tests. A prosecutor who fails to win a conviction based on an officer’s observations can subsequently try a motorist using Alcotest readings once they become admissible. “The Breathlyzer is a very reliable instrument, but like anything else, you have to move on,” said Byram Police Chief Raymond Rafferty, whose department is scheduled for training on the new technology in February. “The Alcotest is a lot like a computer - it does calibrations on its own. It’s a lot more self-sufficient.” More than 76,500 drunk-driving cases have been brought to court statewide in the past two years, with some 6,000 still pending. According to the New Jersey league of Municipalities’ Web site, each Alcotest machine costs about $13,000.