Middlesex County DA Suspends Use of Breathalyzer Test Results in OUI Cases

By LIZ TAURASI (Patch Staff)

The Middlesex County District Attorney’s office is suspending the use of breathalyzer test results in operating under the influence cases until further notice.

Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement Thursday night that her office was notified in mid-March by the Office of Alcohol Testing that there was an issue with breath tests given to several identified defendants in Middlesex County.

“We have notified defense attorneys in those active cases and we are in the process of contacting attorneys in identified disposed cases,” she said in the statement.

Last Wednesday, April 15, Ryan said they met with State Police representatives who informed her office the problem may go beyond those isolated cases.

“As a result of this additional information, conscious always of our obligation to ensure that the integrity of our evidence be above reproach and in an abundance of caution, I have instructed Assistant District Attorneys in my office to suspend the use of breath test results in operating under the influence cases until further notice,” she said.