Many drivers in Nebraska may be aware that if they are charged with a drunk driving offense, the exact measurement of their blood alcohol content may likely become a critical piece of evidence used by prosecutors in the case against them. For this reason, it is important that the BAC data collected actually be accurate. In Lancaster County, a problem has been noted with the collection of breath samples due to a lying employee.
As reported by the Lincoln Journal Star, the woman who was tasked with the responsibility of calibrating at least 200 breath test units lied about having done so properly. To some, that may put the validity of the results obtained by these devices in question. One man today is facing felony charges for aggravated driving under the influence and the breath sample collected during his arrest was captured by one of the units not properly calibrated.
As such, the defense in the case was hoping to ban the breath test results from being used in a trial should the case proceed all the way to a jury trial. That will not be the case as a judge has recently ruled that the BAC data showing the driver's BAC to be at 0.25 percent may be introduced in a trial. However, there is a twist to the judge's decision in that the jury will be granted the option of identifying how much weight they wish to put on these results.
If convicted, the man may be sentenced to as many as 36 months in prison.