Hi there, I am criminal defense attorney Troy Slaten. Today I am going to be talking about preliminary alcohol screening devices or PAS devices. These are breathalyzers used out in the field by the police departments. Primarily in California, these are used by the California Highway Patrol. These are not the implied consent tests, meaning these are not the tests you would have to submit to if you were arrested for DUI rather these are used out in the field to help the police officers decide whether or not they want to arrest you. It is your right to not submit to this if you are over 21 and you are not on probation for DUI, then you have an absolute right to refuse this test and it would be a good idea to refuse the test, because the manufacturer of this device Intoximeters INC out of St. Louis Missouri claims in their documents and the police officers come into court regularly and testify under oath that these devices are specific to ethyl alcohol. Ethyl alcohol is the type of alcohol that is found in wine, beer, and distilled spirits that you would find in mixed drinks.
I am going to show you how this works. The police are supposed to take a fresh mouth piece, open it up at the perforation, not push it out so that way a little piece of plastic gets stuck inside, they are supposed to tear it off and then they are supposed to stick it into the machine and then it will automatically start. This one is giving an error code, so police are supposed to take it out, wait a couple seconds stick it back in and it starts going through its internal calibration. It gives the date, it gives the time and it is supposed to measure the temperature and it also says which test number it is so that way it can be printed out and identified to a specific person. I am going to take a test before we do anything just to show everyone that I am alcohol free right now. Right now it is showing that its blank, it is showing .000 and in a moment it is going to ask me to test.
It is flashing test, I am going to blow into it and show you that I am alcohol free. It is running through its internal analyzation and it is showing a test of .00. I am going to remove the mouth piece, take a fresh mouth piece and stick it in, and while its running through its internal calibration, I am going to take a bite of regular, everyday wonder bread that our moms made us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches going to school growing up—at least my mom did. Even though I am trying to stay off carbs right now I am going to bite and chew a piece of wonder bread. It is showing .000, sorry my mom also taught me to not talk with my mouth full, but for demonstration purposes, scientific purposes, I think it's okay. Pardon me. It gets pretty gummy. Mouth is clear. I am not going to blow into the preliminary alcohol screening device that is supposed to be alcohol specific. Let's see what happens, this device that police officers swear to god to tell the truth that this only tests for ethyl alcohol – .013.
If you have been arrested for DUI, if the police try to use one of these devices or you have used one of these devices during your DUI arrest, it is important that you call an experienced qualified attorney who can help protect your rights, who can help beat these ridiculous tests. Call us at 1-877-MR-CA-DUI or find us at drunkdriverlaw.com. I am Troy Slaten. See you next time.