CHARLOTTE — A former Michigan State Police technician was sentenced to three years probation, with the first nine months to be served in jail, for falsifying records showing whether police breathalyzers gave accurate readings of blood alcohol content.
Andrew Clark, of Oxford, was found guilty of two counts of falsifying a public document, speaking and publishing and using a computer to commit a crime.
He was one of two technicians charged in 2020 with falsifying service records for diagnostic tests on DataMaster DMT instruments, also known as breathalyzers. Their company, Missouri-based Intoximeters, was contracted by the Michigan State Police to test the machines to ensure they gave accurate readings.
He was convicted by a jury on May 12.
Accusations against Clark were originally dismissed in December 2020 by Eaton County District Court Judge Julie O’Neill, who said there was not enough evidence for the case to go to trial. But a visit from Eaton County Circuit Court Judge David Jordon overturned O’Neill’s decision and reinstated the charges.
The police aware of the problems: MSP was aware of the breathalyzer calibration issues months before the fraud investigation began
Michigan State Police said they found issues with machine maintenance from 2019. Errors or the possibility of errors led to the dismissal of some drunk driving cases, including six cases in Wayne County due to unreliable evidence after Clark failed to notice that a Datamaster had failed the tests and left the machine in service for three days, according to Michigan State Police. recordings.
“Our public integrity team continues to demonstrate the great importance of prosecuting bad actors who subvert the criminal justice system and threaten the integrity of our judicial process,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. . “We need to show that those who undermine public trust risk jail time for doing so.”
The other technician, David John, pleaded guilty to all nine charges against him and was sentenced to 36 months probation, with the first nine months served in the Kalamazoo County Jail.
Contact journalist Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.
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