ST. PAUL, Minn. (KFGO-CBS) — The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says DWI breath tests administered with equipment that had data errors were accurate.
At least 447 cases across the state were put into question after the BCA discovered errors in September while installing gas cylinders in DataMaster instruments, which are breath testing machines.
“Since we first identified this issue, our BCA lab forensic scientists have now mathematically verified that all identified DWI evidentiary breath samples that were involved in these DMTs have been deemed to be accurate and reliable,” Minnesota BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said in a news conference late Friday afternoon. “Our scientists are prepared to testify to that.”
When a machine is first set up, law enforcement officers enter information from the cylinder into the system, according to the BCA. That information is then used for all breath tests until the cylinder is replaced, at which point information from the new cylinder must be entered.
According to the agency, scientists conducted a “mathematical recalculation” of all impacted tests using the correct alcohol concentration of the installed cylinder and determined they were “successful and within established margins despite the data error.”
The BCA said its personnel will handle cylinder replacements moving forward in an effort to prevent future errors. The agency is working to restrict access to cylinder parts on all DMT instruments across the state and verify proper installation.
As of Friday, over half of all DMT instruments in the state have been “verified and secured,” according to the BCA.
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