Court Opinion

ID: 9565584
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:23:59.802523+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:46.031658
License: Public Domain

COATS, Judge,
dissenting.
I believe that the Fairbanks panel of judges applied the correct negligence standard in their decision. My understanding of their finding was that the state started using the perchlorate tube method of preservation of breath samples before any attempt was made to determine whether this method would work in the field in actual practice. At the time that the perchlorate tube method was introduced, the state was successfully meeting the requirements of Serrano by allowing defendants in driving while intoxicated cases to take blood tests. Predictably, the new perchlorate tube method did not work well in the field at first and did not yield adequate results. The Fairbanks panel concluded that the state was negligent in not testing the perchlorate tube method in the field to make sure that it would yield adequate results before putting it into operation. I believe that the record supports this finding and that the panel applied the correct standard. I would affirm the decision.