Massachusetts May Vacate 27,000 Drunken Driving Convictions

BOSTON, MA — More than 27,000 people found guilty of drunken driving in Massachusetts between June 2011 and last April may be able to have those convictions vacated because of faulty breath test machines and efforts by former state officials to cover up the extent of the problem.

Joseph Bernard, a Springfield attorney, led a group of defense attorneys in Massachusetts to challenge the use of the devices after a calibration problem was disclosed. The group eventually struck a deal with district attorneys to throw out the convictions, which includes people who plead guilty or were found guilty based on evidence from the breath tests.

Bernard told the Salem News anyone who had a breath test that led to a guilty finding can expect a notice in the mail in the next two to three outlining their rights.led a group of defense attorneys in Massachusetts to challenge the use of the devices after a calibration problem was disclosed. The newspaper was the first to report the manufacturer had not calibrated by the machines to meet the more stringent standard for margin of error used by Massachusetts.

The breath test machine in question is the Draeger 9510 Alcotest, which every Massachusetts police department purchased in 2011. Some district attorneys suspended the use of the machines beginning in 2015, when the calibration problems were first disclosed.

The problems were investigated by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. That probe found that the Office of Alcohol Testing had purposely withheld documents showing 432 times the machines failed.