Inaccurate Preliminary Breath Tests Lead to Improper Arrests
A police officer will typically ask a driver to submit to a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT), a small hand-held breath testing device. Regardless of how a motorist performs on field sobriety tests, police officers rely upon the analysis of a machine because its objective. Problematically, however, PBT devices are known to be highly inaccurate, and the devices will occasionally produce very high readings that do not reflect a person's actual blood alcohol level. Police officers are legally allowed to rely on the PBT results to determine whether "probable cause" exists to make an arrest, but police frequently fail to follow proper testing procedures. The failure to properly administer the PBT ensures inaccurate and unreliable results.

Field sobriety tests and the PBT are employed by the police to determine whether a person should be arrested. While a motorist should politely refuse both the field sobriety tests and the PBT, they rarely realize this until after they have been arrested. Nevertheless, the officer's decision to arrest is subject to several attacks whenever the procedures deviate from established practice, protocols and procedures. Unfortunately, most attorneys are not knowledgeable enough in these areas to accurately assess the field sobriety tests and preliminary breath test results. The officer's decision to arrest is a critical stage of the case that must be properly analyzed.

Continue for more information