The same information act used to seek breath testing equipment in Humboldt County DUIs is now being used to seek Bin Laden pictures. In cases involving allegations of driving under the influence we have successfully challenged the results of certain breath and blood testing equipment by requesting all documents concerning testing of those machines for accuracy. We have been able to obtain important testing documents through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. It was recently discovered that both the Eureka Police Department and Department of Justice breath testing devices were consistently showing a higher than expected result when tested with a known quantity of alcohol. We used the testing results in one recent case to convince the Department of Motor Vehicles to set aside an action against a Humboldt County resident’s license. The same test results also served as a basis for the Humboldt County District Attorney’s office to dismiss the allegations of driving under the influence.
