Following an evidentiary hearing that lasted months in the State of Michigan, the trial court ruled that the BAC Datamaster failed to satisfy criteria under Daubert. As a result, the judge suppressed the test. The Michigan Court of Appeals reversed that decision in People v. Timothy Bain, 2007 Mich. App. LEXIS 1647 (2007), citing Vega as if it were black letter law. The Michigan Court of Appeals further held that, “the Legislature, through the authority granted to the Department of State Police to promulgate administrative rules governing the selection of breath-alcohol testing instruments and their use, has made a legislative determination that testing under the DataMaster is generally reliable and admissible.”

Well, the state police didn’t actually determine that the Datamaster was generally reliable or admissible. Actually, the state police adopted every approved breath test instrument under the “Model Specifications for Evidential Breath Testing Devices.” None of Michigan’s statutes or administrative rules ever mention the word, “Datamaster.” So, whether it was the state police or the Legislature, Michigan adopted virtually every breath instrument ever on the market dating back to the early 1960s. And they’re all great little gizmos that I supposed we’ve determined are “generally reliable and admissible.”

– William Maze

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/08/AR2008120803371.html

Why I passed this along is that his first BA test showed 0.13 while his second, three hours later, showed 0.17. Huh? (long-time lurker, first-time commenter)