Tuesday, December 3, 2024
The Latest DUI News and Information From DUI Defense Attorneys Across the Country

MISCONDUCT AT MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE LAB RESPONSIBLE FOR BREATH TEST MACHINES

Mounting problems at the Executive Office of Alcohol Testing (“OAT”), the Massachusetts State Police crime lab responsible for the use of the Dräger Alcotest 9510 breath test machines, have triggered the firing of Melissa O’Meara, head of the OAT.

A report disclosed Monday found that “OAT leadership made serious errors of judgment in its responses to court-ordered discovery, errors which were enabled by a longstanding and insular institutional culture that was reflexively guarded . . . and which was inattentive to the legal obligations borne by those whose work facilitates criminal prosecutions.”

That report is part of an ongoing investigation into what appears to be the OAT’s intentional withholding of evidence that many breath test machines failed during calibration procedures, possibly affecting thousands of alleged drunk driving cases since 2011.

A hearing regarding the status of the investigation and the possible implications of the withheld evidence is scheduled for November 15.

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Joseph Waldbaum

Joseph Waldbaum has been licensed as an attorney in Massachusetts for the last nineteen years. He has also been a member of the National College of DUI Defense for fifteen years, routinely attending their national seminars. You may learn more about Mr. Waldbaum through his websites at ma-oui.com, waldbaumlaw.com or ouilawyermassachusetts.com. You may also reach him by phone at 978.921.4100 or at joseph@waldbaumlaw.com.

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