Source Code Requests Force Breathalyzer Maker to Sober Up

The Intoxilyzer 5000EN, a breathalyzer machine used by Minnesota law enforcement, runs on a pair of Z80 processors and uses 50,000 lines of assembly code. The accuracy of that code base is now under nationwide scrutiny as defense attorneys around the country now frequently claim that the source code must be made available to them during DUI cases. Numerous courts have agreed, but vendor CMI of Owensboro, Ky, puts up Herculean resistance to every such request, leading to hundreds of cases being tossed by the courts.

It’s gotten so bad in Minnesota that the state has gone to federal court this year, charging CMI with a host of contractual failures and asking for more than $75,000 in compensation. With police departments now losing confidence that an Intoxilyzer reading will lead to a conviction, many have switched to blood and urine testing. Such testing puts a “heightened burden” on the state’s laboratory budget.

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