DUI Tampa - DUI breath tests ruled back in play

Seminole judges wrong to reject evidence, appeals court decides

Rene Stutzman Sentinel Staff Writer Posted June 29, 2006

SANFORD -- An appeals court on Wednesday handed accused drunk drivers a huge defeat. It ruled that judges who have thrown out virtually every breath-alcohol test in Seminole County in the past 18 months were wrong.The ruling affects more than 100 pending DUI cases currently on appeal in Seminole, said Assistant State Attorney Gino Feliciani, and restores one of the state's most powerful pieces of evidence. It's a piece that Seminole judges stripped from about 1,500 DUI cases. Four of Seminole's five county judges who hear those cases tossed every breath test that came before them when defense attorneys asked for the computer source code at the heart of the state's breath-alcohol test unit.