Florida Criminal Attorney Blog
Over the last two years, countless Florida DUI lawyers from Tampa to Brooksville to Gainesville have argued that the makers of the Intoxilyzer 8000 should have to turn over “source codes” under Florida discovery rules. The Intoxilyzer 8000 is the machine Florida law enforcement uses to test Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) which is run by software–called source codes.
Up until this point, most Florida courts were unwilling to require the Intoxilyzer machines’ manufacturer, CMI, to disclose the source code information to Florida citizens facing criminal prosecution for DUI because the source codes were considered trade secrets, which are protected. This past week however, Judge Deborah Bernini of Arizona, ordered that the source codes, despite CMI and Arizona prosecutors’ arguments to the contrary, are not a trade secrets. According to news reports, the judge based her ruling on a finding that the Florida Breath test machine is not patented, nor are the source codes protected by copyright law.
Results from Florida’s breath testing machines are already not allowed in Tennessee courtrooms because of its perceived unreliability. Hopefully, the State of Florida will take this recent development to do the right thing and either use an alternate breath test machine– one that is completely transparent with no “secrets”–or discontinues use of the Intoxilyzer 8000 until the source codes are turned over and experts throughout Florida have time to perform a full examination of the machines for reliability.
If you or a loved one is charged with a DUI in the State of Florida, contact the Law Offices of Whittel & Melton, LLC immediately – Tampa, FL DUI Lawyer and Orlando, FL DUI Attorney 1-866-608-5529 – Brooksville, FL DUI Lawyer Spring Hill, FL DUI Attorney and Dade City, FL DUI Lawyer 352-666-2121; New Port Richey, FL DUI Attorney Clearwater, FL DUI Lawyer Tarpon Springs, FL DUI Lawyer and St. Petersburg, FL DUI Attorney 727-847-2299; Ocala, FL DUI Lawyer Gainesville, FL DUI Attorney Inverness, FL DUI Lawyer Bushnell, FL DUI Attorney and Bronson, FL DUI Lawyer 352-726-0078.