Accusations that the UA Police Department has falsified records concerning the calibration of its breath analysis device could mean DUI cases now pending in court will be dismissed.

The dismissal of a case involving University of Arizona student Glenn P. Revere, 25, April 4, sparked what could be the dismissal of numerous DUI cases involving paperwork "fraudulently prepared" by UAPD, according to Revere's attorney, Michael J. Bloom.

"Every charge against Revere was dismissed," Bloom said. "The judge was convinced the paperwork regarding the maintenance of the machine was invalid."

When UAPD's Intoxilyzer 5000 is tested by a certified police officer, the officer must sign a certificate of authenticity to verify the instrument produces results within acceptable limits, and no problems have been reported since the last test.

However, Pima County Justice Court records show that UAPD's certificates had been notarized and signed before the actual tests had been done. The UAPD notarized the documents in June 1995, even though the calibration checks were done in July and August 1995.

"Many people had their licenses suspended due to the sworn affidavits that were submitted to DMV," Bloom said. "If this case went to court, hundreds of other cases might be questioned."

Pima County Attorney Michael E. Gatto said, "No fraud or falsification of records was found by the court."

But UAPD Cpl. Gene M. Taitano said, "It was a misrepresentation of the truth. I've seen this coming."

Taitano is one of the UAPD officers qualified by the Arizona Department of Health Services to inspect the Intoxilyzer and sign the certificates of authenticity.

"We abide by all rules and regulations," Taitano said. "People don't understand the lengths we go to for fair and impartial testing."

UAPD Sgt. Robert J. Sommerfeld, who also signed the certificates in Revere's case, denied any wrongdoing, testifying that the only reason UAPD notarized the certificates in advance was because the department has no notary public on staff.

Gatto said the only job the notary has is to verify signatures of individuals, and no notary was available when Sommerfeld worked.

The Intoxilyzer 5000, manufactured by CMI Inc., is the instrument used by UAPD to test DUI suspects for blood alcohol content. It is tested every 30 days, and is similar to the machine used by the Tucson Police Department, Officer Edwin G. Goodwin of TPD said.

Testing consists of a series of strict tests that assure the authenticity of the instrument as directed by the Arizona Department of Health Services, Taitano said.

The tests include testing an alcohol-free subject, checking proper sample recognition functions of the machine and testing a calibration standard of 0.10 alcohol content prepared by the Arizona Department of Public Safety Laboratory.

A test of the 0.10 standard by the Intoxilyzer must fall between the accepted accuracy limits, from 0.090 to 0.110, according to Arizona Department of Health Services quality assurance documents.

"We go beyond what health services considers reliable for testing standards," he said.

Although there has been no requirement for UAPD to change its policies regarding the notarization of documents, Taitano said a few changes have been made.

"We were not required to, but we don't pre-stamp them (the certificates) anymore," he said.

Taitano said he knows of no other cases that are being affected by the allegations.

Citing legal reasons, the judge hearing the case, Justice of the Peace Jose Luis Castillo, would not comment. However, Bloom said Castillo called the records in the case "unbelievable."

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Wildcat Web Links: The University of Arizona Police Department made 162 DUI arrests in 1995, according to the department's annual crime statistics available on the World Wide Web

http://w3.arizona.edu/~uapd/statistics.html

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