A ruling in the Minnesota Supreme Court has made a serious headache for prosecutors across the state. The headache stems from DWI breath tests done with Intoxilyzer equipment. The Supreme Court agreed that prosecutors should turn over the source code to this equipment if the defendant requests it. The problem with that is, the prosecution doesn’t have the source code.
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The source code is a sort of computer language used in the Intoxilyzer equipment. These machines are manufactured by a Kentucky company that insists the source code is a trade secret and won’t divulge the information. Because of this, many cases hinging on breath test evidence could be jeopardized for the prosecution.
Minnesota isn’t the first state to have issue with obtaining source code. Many states across the country utilize the Intoxilyzers and many have run into the same predicament. read more