In the state of North Carolina, there are two machines that have been approved as admissible in court after registering a breathalyzer-test sample. The first one is the EC/IR II and the other is the Intoxilyzer 5000. Both are used to take the breath sample of a DWI offender, and they can be used as evidence in a court of law. Further, police use handheld breath testing devices, commonly known as the portable breath test (PBT), the results of which are not used in court. These machines simply create probable cause for the officer to arrest. Submitting to such a test is not required by law, and it generally works to the offender’s favor to refuse the test. The breath sample for the two admissible tests is required by implied consent laws.
The two admissible tests, the EC/IR II and the Intoxilyzer 5000 both measure how much alcohol is in an offender’s system by employing an infrared spectrophotometer. They analyze a person’s breath to measure residual mouth alcohol; and by doing so, it can calculate the amount of alcohol in someone’s blood. However, this may cause trouble for some people due to a condition called GERD, where the residual alcohol on their breath is higher due to a continuous flow of alcoholic gas from the stomach; but, they may have very little alcohol in their blood stream.
Another problem that may occur with the testing process may not stem from the machine, but the person operating the machine. All of the officers who administer the breath test must be currently certified to operate the machine or the testing will be inadmissible in court. Inadmissibility may also occur if the machine has not been properly calibrated or maintained.
