Breath Test Lands Michigan Man In Jail But No Alcohol Involved

It is not everyday that a breathalyzer test winds up getting a man put into jail who wasn't even drinking.

As we all know, for many years now in the state of Michigan, police in all branches do breathalyzer tests to determine an alleged drunk drivers alcohol level. Currently the blood alcohol level (BAC) is at .08. Which means anything higher and you get a d.u.i. Here is a link to the fines and punishment attached to this sort of offense according to the Michigan State Police.

According to WOOD, one of two people charged with forgery and other crimes in an investigation of Michigan's desktop alcohol breath devices has been sentenced to nine months in jail. This wasn't for drinking and driving a vehicle.

Michigan State Police use a device that is installed in police departments and county jails to test suspected drunk drivers of the their BAC. The state police use a company called DataMaster to supply them with the breathalyzers and keep the machines calibrated for accuracy. Accuracy is important because the last thing the state wants to have happen is for someone to get wrongly charged or for someone who is over the legal to get off the hook because of an uncalibrated machine.

The state police had taken 203 of the machines out of service until each machine could be properly calibrated from a verified tech from Intoximeters.

59-year-old David John was sentenced to nine months in the Kalamazoo County Jail after he was found to have created false documents to show tests and repairs were completed on breathalyzer machines from two different police agencies.

Andrew Clark was the other tech that was allegedly involved in the false documents but his case was dismissed by a judge that cited a lack of intent to commit fraud. Maybe Clark had a better lawyer than John or a different judge for the case.

John did plead guilty but also attempted to get no jail time since we are in a pandemic but the judge said no deal and have him a nine month sentence.