DaytonDUI, Defending a Breath Test Case
“I’ll Huff and I’ll Puff and Blow Your House Down”
Did you know that your breathing pattern can significantly alter the concentration of alcohol on your evidential breath test? According to scientific research, “[t]he subject’s test manner of breathing just prior to providing breath for analysis can significantly alter the concentration of alcohol in the resulting exhalation.” (Jones, 1982, Schoknecht, 1989) as cited in Physiological Aspecs of Breath-Alcohol Measurement, Alcohol Drugs & Driving Vol. 6, No. 2, A.W. Jones.
Hyperventilation “…lowers the breath alcohol concentration by as much as 20% compared with a single moderate inhalation and forced exhalation used as control tests.” Id. (Jones, 1982). Whereas, “holding breath for a short time (20 seconds) before exhalation increases the alcohol concentration in exhaled air by 15%. Id. (Jones, 1982).
With Ohio’s adoption of the Intoxilyzer 8000 breath test machine, attorneys should be on the look out for these types of breathing pattern defenses. Tell your Ohio DUI lawyer if you were asked to hold your breath, blow in an unusual pattern or if the officer abruptly told you to stop blowing. Your attorney needs to know how you blew because an operator may be looking to manipulate your breath pattern to force agreement of a first blow and a second blow.
Charles M. Rowland II, DaytonDUI, is certified on the Intoxilyzer 8000 and has attended training on the machine wherein defenses like the breathing pattern defense and the long-blow breath test defense are explained in scientific detail. He has been a city prosecutor and is Ohio’s only Forensic Sobriety Assessment certified attorney. If you need to fight your DUI, contact attorney Charles M. Rowland II at 937-318-1DUI or 888-ROWLAND. “All I do is DUI Defense.”
Related articles
- The “LONG BLOW” Breath Test Defense (daytondui.com)
- I Did Not Refuse! (daytondui.com)
- Breath-tester’s reliability challenged in hearing (dispatch.com)
- Operator error in Pa. breath testing? (philly.com)
- Fighting for Fairness in DUI Law (daytondui.com)
- Radio Frequency Interference (daytondui.com)
