WELD COUNTY - A technician's calibration issue with a new breathalyzer machine could lead to the reopening of criminal cases in Weld County, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
So far, the department has looked through 12,000 cases and determined they can "no longer endorse 33 test results" between August 2013 and January 2014 in Weld County.
Executive Director and Chief Medical Officer for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Dr. Larry Wolk said the problem dealt with how one particular CDPHE employee calibrated one particular machine. He said the office has changed some of its protocols in an effort to make sure the problem doesn't arise again.
An employee with CDPHE has been disciplined, but the department is not saying how.
"This is human error, not machine error, so it shouldn't be seen as a negative on the machine itself," Dr. Wolk told 9Wants To Know Reporter Chris Vanderveen. "I'm taking responsibility. The good news is, it's a relatively small amount."
READ the letter prosecutors received in relation to the breathalyzer issues: http://bit.ly/1nmrI5t.
Attorneys in Weld County will be notified of the error. It's unclear at this time what this error means for these 33 cases.
Colorado purchased 165 new Intoxilyzer 9000s in 2013. At the time, Colorado was the first state to start using that particular model.
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