The Second District Court of Appeals recently denied an appeal on behalf of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles that could have a major impact upon the breath testing protocols utilized in the State of Florida.
Pursuant to Florida’s Implied Consent laws and regulations, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is to properly inspect a breath machine every time it is returned back from the manufacturer or an authorized repair facility. In Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles vs. Laura Wilkinson, the appellate court ruled that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement cannot do their inspection at the repair facility and then ship the Intoxilyzer 8000 instrument back to the county which regularly uses the same.
This ruling will significantly hamper the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s new procedures whereby they are trying to consolidate the Department inspections and maintenance of these instruments all in Tallahassee. In essence, pursuant to this ruling, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be required to send their Department inspectors out to each individual county where the machines are regularly used to be able to perform their required Department inspections.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s budget cutting decisions to replace travel costs of their Department inspectors by having all machines tested in their headquarters in Tallahassee is not one that is supported by their own rules and regulations and, therefore, breath testing throughout the State of Florida will be called into question.