A judge in Eaton County rejected the proposed expert testimony from the head of the Michigan State Police breath alcohol unit on the science of breath testing. "This was an important ruling and important hearing," said OWI-DUI-OUIL expert Mike Nichols of Lansing. "The critical point in winning this ruling was during qualifications questions of the sergeant, known as 'voir dire,'" added Nichols, a DUI attorney and adjunct law professor at Thomas M. Cooley law school. "Sgt. Perry Curtis very honestly testified that he was not qualified to testify about the underlying scientific principles of breath testing. Despite that, the prosecutor continued to try to put him in the position of having to testify in the science. He even said he was not comfortable testifyng about this area."
The witness also introduced a so-called scientific paper that demonstrates the reliability of breath testing. The paper is actually a "technical note" that appears in the Journal of Forensic Science. "Sgt. Curtis very honestly testified that his only role was to help get the test subjects intoxicated and give them snacks," Nichols said. "He did not crunch the numbers or analyze the data. Therefore, the witness could not lay a reliable foundation for how the conclusions were drawn. However, the judge allowed the paper to be admitted in front of the jury. On the one hand, it created an appellate issue. On the other hand, it opened the door for me to ask the witness many questions that exposed the conclusions that were drawn in the paper compared to what the data actually showed," said Nichols.
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