BCA says it’s suspending statewide use of alcohol breath machines in suspected DWIs

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has ordered statewide law enforcement to stop using DataMaster breath tests until agencies can ensure that data on the instruments has been entered correctly.

Several counties, including Aitkin, Winona and Chippewa, recently learned that the validity of the tests might have been compromised because of operator error. Late Friday, the BCA added Olmsted and Hennepin counties to that list.

The BCA said that because of the potential for human error, it would immediately take over maintenance of instruments across the state.

In some cases, data from a dry gas cylinder used as a control had been loaded incorrectly; in others, the wrong type of cylinder had been used with the instrument.

In a news release issued late Friday, BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said that the bureau’s forensics lab was committed to the highest quality level.

“We appreciate our law enforcement partners’ prompt attention to this inspection process,” he said.

Earlier Friday, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office refuted claims made by Twin Cities attorney Chuck Ramsay that it had used faulty data from in-house breath tests to charge people with DWIs. There was no problem with Hennepin County’s machines, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Megan Larson said.

Olmsted County Attorney Michael Walters said tests conducted between July 7 and Sept. 5 are affected, he learned Friday. “We’re going to look into it immediately,” he said.

In August, Ramsay noted that breath tests for two of his clients charged with drunken driving in Aitkin County had incorrect serial numbers on a control cylinder in a DataMaster instrument used to check blood alcohol concentration.

The Aitkin County Attorney’s Office dismissed charges for at least one of the drivers because the accuracy of the test was compromised, according to court documents.

“Our office continues to work diligently on addressing this matter,” a spokesperson for the Aitkin County Attorney’s Office said in an email Friday. “We have sent out the required notices on all of the impacted cases and are reviewing each of those cases.”

Ramsay shared a filing from the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office on Friday rescinding a client’s license revocation, citing the data entry error on the control cylinder in Aitkin County.