Judge Consolidates Intoxilyzer Cases

Hundreds of people arrested for drunk driving are now teaming up to fight the charges. Some counts have already been dismissed and thousands of drunk driving cases across the state could be in jeopardy as defense attorneys question the accuracy of the Intoxilyzer 5000, a device used by officers across Minnesota.

"It's an attempt to consolidate all these cases for one massive challenge about the accuracy of this machine," said defense attorney Marsh Halberg who is leading a coalition of defense attorneys.

Until now, the company that makes the Intoxilyzer has refused to reveal the source code or secret programming that determines a person's blood alcohol content. Now, a court order will force the company to let defense attorneys examine it.

"We want to question that witness. We want to question that box and ask the machine: how do you come to this conclusion? Do you round up, do you round down?" said Marsh.

On Friday, a judge consolidated all of the 105 cases in Hennepin County. More than 500 in the south metro have already been combined. While prosecutors support the consolidation, they vow to hold drunk drivers accountable.

"It's a mistake for people to assume that if they somehow manage to, quote, get their test results thrown out that their case is going to be dismissed," said Jennifer Inz, Chair of the Suburban Hennepin County Prosecutors Association.

Prosecutors point out they still have other evidence to convict some defendants like a failed field agility test or the sight of a swerving car.

"We want to keep people safe and the best way to do that is to process them using the Intoxilizer," said Inz.

The Minnesota Supreme Court is deciding whether to consolidate all of these types of cases statewide.