Breathalyzer snafu prompts changes

District Attorney Seth Williams’ office announced changes on Thursday following problems with Breathalyzer machines that were not correctly calibrated.

The office will review all DUI cases between Sept. 2009 and Nov. 2010 to identify where the questionable Breathalyzers were used and retrain prosecutors handling DUI cases. A supervisor in the office will also check the calibrations.

Authorities said four of the department’s eight Breathalyzer machines were incorrectly calibrated between Sept. 2009 and Nov. 2010 due to human error.

The District Attorney’s Office must notify attorneys for another 700 defendants on top of the 400-plus cases they discovered problems with last week.