May 6, 2015
For Immediate Release
Contact: Paul Jarvey
508-368-7241
WORCESTER – The Executive Office of Public Safety has identified 22 drunk driving cases in Worcester County impacted by state-wide errors in breathalyzer testing, according to Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.
Mr. Early also announced that the Office of the District Attorney will immediately resume using the results of appropriately calibrated breath tests in court. Mr. Early suspended the introduction of breathalyzer results two weeks ago in an abundance of caution to insure the integrity of evidence presented in court by the Commonwealth.
The District Attorney’s Office has notified defendants in 15 of these 22 impacted cases. Defendants in the other seven cases are in the process of being notified and the cases will be handled consistent with the best interests of justice, according to Mr. Early.
“Defense attorneys who handled the affected cases will be given an option to proceed with a motion for a new trial. Appropriate decisions will be made on a case by case basis,” Mr. Early said.
Daniel Bennett, Secretary of Public Safety, announced last week that human error in reading the results of breath tests was the cause of the problem and not the functionality or accuracy of the testing device.