Washington State Gains Breath-Testing Calibration Solution Certification

After hav­ing cases thrown out of court due to improper pro­ce­dures in cer­ti­fy­ing breath test­ing stan­dards, the State of Washington’s crime lab now has cer­ti­fi­ca­tion by the Association of Crime Laboratory Directors.

Breathalyzers are cal­i­brated with a spe­cial solu­tion cre­ated by the state tox­i­col­ogy lab.

Two years ago, when it was dis­cov­ered the lab man­ager was improp­erly cer­ti­fy­ing those solu­tions, DUI attor­neys had a field day.

“In essence, it’s mean­ing­less … the num­ber means noth­ing,” said attor­ney Ted Vosk, who argued the tests couldn’t be trusted, and some courts refused to let them into evidence.

But after a man­age­ment over­haul and new pro­ce­dures at the lab, it just became one of only four in the world to have its breath test pro­gram accred­ited by the American Society of Crime Lab Directors.

“They’re a great bunch of peo­ple and you can rely on their results,” said Charlie Blackman, A deputy pros­e­cu­tor in Snohomish County who han­dles dui appeals. He says accred­i­ta­tion of the lab will help pros­e­cute drunken dri­ving cases.

“It’s one more rea­son, among many other rea­sons, why the jury can trust this evi­dence,” said Blackman.

Read the entire WNCN.com arti­cle here.