DUI Arrest: How Accurate Is The Blood Or Breath Test?

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro
Orange County DUI Lawyers
DUI Attorney in Orange County

If you’ve been arrested for a DUI or DUI with injury in Orange County, you probably took a breath test or blood test, unless you refused to do any test at all. If you are being prosecuted for an Orange County DUI, the DA’s strongest evidence is probably the result of that blood or breath test.

But just how accurate is this result? That, of course, depends on the accuracy of the machine that gave it. Virtually every expert in the field of forensic toxicology will admit that the accuracy of any machine used to measure alcohol content is dependable only within a RANGE OF ERROR. So, for example, if the range of error, (also called “inherent error”), for a blood-testing spectrometer is .005%, this means that a blood-alcohol reading of .080% means that the actual blood-alcohol content of the blood is somewhere BETWEEN .075% and .085%; the difference between guilt and innocence. So if you are facing a DUI conviction and the blood-alcohol result is CLOSE to the legal limit, it is essential that you consult with an Orange County DUI lawyer.

While the inherent error for blood-testing spectrometers is generally agreed upon as %.005, the inherent error for breath-testing devices is usually much greater. The Hawaiian courts have actually recognized an inherent error of breath-testing devices as .0165%. This means that someone with an actual blood-alcohol of .065% could produce a reading on a breath-testing machine of over .08%. In California, most experts will put the inherent error of breath-testing devices between .05% and .015%. So if the breath evidence against you is anywhere near the limit, it is in your best interest to call a DUI attorney in Orange County with years of experience and excellent case results.

For more information about blood or breath-alcohol testing call the Law Offices of EJ Stopyro at (949) 559-5500 for a free and confidential consultation with an experienced Orange County DUI attorney or go to our website at www.EJEsquire.com.

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro

Orange County DUI Lawyers
DUI Attorney in Orange County