Why Do Police Destroy DUI Evidence?
[...] What is the single most important piece of evidence in most drunk driving cases? The Breathalyzer test. In fact, it’s the ONLY evidence of the crime of driving with over .08% blood alcohol. And it’s pretty important for the “driving under the influence” charge, too: the law presumes the defendant is under the influence if the test result is .08% or higher. Evidence just doesn’t get more important than that.So, of course, the police are careful to preserve the breath sample, right? I mean, there may be some question later of whether the machine was working correctly; it would be a simple matter to save the sample so it could be tested again on another machine. And, hard to believe, but the defense may not want to just take the officer’s word that he administered the test correctly and that the test results were from the defendant.
Unfortunately, the breath sample is routinely destroyed moments after it is tested.
But how can this be? [...]