Court Opinion

ID: 9577847
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:38:40.771026+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:21:21.193859
License: Public Domain

MESCHKE, Justice
dissenting.
The message of the majority opinion and the concurrence by Justice VandeWalle is that any sloppiness in administering breathalyzer blood alcohol tests will be viewed as affecting their competency and reliability for admissibility. As a general proposition, I concur in that message. It is in keeping with the Court’s traditional responsibility to determine foundation and admissibility of evidence; Rule 104(a), N.D. R.Ev.
However, the “little bit” of variance here is hairsplitting, as can be seen from the attached Exhibit from page 26 of the Appendix. The office of the State Toxicologist states in its certification on the “Standard Solution Analytical Report,” Form 112, that the “ethyl alcohol in the required concentration [is] to simulate the equivalent of 0.11% blood alcohol,” and further that a “proper result for the standard test *656using this solution should be in the range of 0.100% to 0.119%,” (emphasis supplied) which approximates a permissible nine percent tolerance, plus or minus. Therefore, I do not agree that this hairline variance in marking the standard test start such a “little bit” to the left of the zero line goes to the competency or reliability of the test.
We should not use the sledge-hammer of Supreme Court decision to split an eviden-tiary hair this finely. A decision like this does not sufficiently respect the clear legislative policy to facilitate the use of chemical tests, without the necessity of using expensive expert testimony, to keep drunk drivers off the road. State v. Vetsch, 368 N.W.2d 547 (N.D.1985). A scientific result that is generally over ninety percent accurate is certainly sufficiently reliable and trustworthy for consideration as evidence. Particular variances then should generally be a matter of weight, unless they are so significant as to seriously indicate a lack of trustworthiness.
In my view, this “hairline” variance affects the weight of the test result, not its admissibility. Since the test result was 0.19%, or well over the minimum statutory concentration, I have no difficulty in concluding that the evidence was sufficient to warrant the conclusion reached by the hearing officer on this issue.
Therefore, I dissent from the holding that the test was not fairly administered and was not admissible.
ERICKSTAD, C.J., concurs.
*657APPENDIX