The Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday appealed two separate Yilan District Court rulings handed down late last month in driving under the influence trials, citing that the rulings were in direct contravention with the government’s policy of “zero tolerance for drunk driving.”
A 44-year-old man surnamed Hung (洪) and an 81-year-old man surnamed Ho (何) were asked to submit to Breathalyzer tests late last month and both had a result of 0.26mg per liter (mg/L), which police said exceeded the legal limit of 0.25mg/L.
Both cases were forwarded to the district prosecutors’ office recommending charges of causing a danger to the public, police said, adding that it was the second incident of driving under the influence for Hung and the third for Ho.
The Yilan District Court ruled that neither Ho nor Hung had exceeded the legal limit.
The technical manual for the Breathalyzers used by the Yilan County Police Department states that the acceptable margin of error is plus or minus-0.03mg/L if blood alcohol content is under 0.4mg/L, meaning that any individual who tested 0.26mg/L could actually be between 0.23mg/L and 0.29mg/L.
The police department responded that the ruling was in direct contravention of the government’s “zero tolerance” policy and that the ruling was too lenient.
Lawyer Lin Kuo-chang (林國漳) said that the ruling was in line with the principle of presumption of innocence.
While the Breathalyzer tests exceeded the legal limit, the actual data could have been lower than the legal standard, Lin said.
The courts should convene a meeting and arrive at a consensus regarding the definition of Breathalyzer data to prevent future controversies, Lin said.
The Yilan District Court said that while a resolution on Breathalyzer tests was passed at a seminar convened by the Taiwan High Court in November last year, the resolution was considered a reference and was not legally binding.
The resolution was that if the Breathalyzer has been certified after passing an examination, results of the test should be taken as is with no consideration for the margin of error, the court said.
The district court said that it respected the principle of independent adjudication and would uphold the presiding judge’s ruling.
The police department said that its equipment is subject to regular recalibration after a year or every 1,000 uses, but it would respect the district court’s rulings in the cases.
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