The Michigan State Police says it has discontinued the use of 203 breathalyzer machines, and it’s accusing the contractor involved of possible fraud.
The Michigan State Police have opened its own investigation into Intoximeters Inc., who calibrate the state’s DataMaster breathalyzer machines.
It alleged “performance-related issues” that could lead to more issues with the way the devices were serviced.
The issue could go all the way back to the beginning of MSP’s million dollar yearly contract with Intoximeters, which was signed in late 2018.
But several defense attorneys say Michigan State Police should not be in charge of any investigation into the matter, and are accusing MSP of a conflict of interest as they investigate one of their own contractors. The attorneys are calling for an independent investigation into the matter.
Michael Komorn a Farmington Hills-based defense attorney whose main focus is on DUI and drugged driving cases says that an independent investigation would also help with the question of what happens to the countless DUI cases that might be affected by this.
“If we have a full investigation by an independent body, maybe they would make a recommendation,” says Komorn. “That is a better way of going about it where an independent body identifies those who have been harmed, if people have been harmed, and they put forth a remedy of some kind, some redress for people versus some finding that’s in question.”
