I have blogged before about the fight going on in some states led by DUI defense attorneys who have asked courts to force the maker of the Intoxilyzer 8000, CMI, Inc. of Owensboro, Kentucky, to reveal the source code of the machine so that defense attorneys can see how it is that the machine calculates and reports the breath test results of people who have been arrested. The Intoxilyzer 8000 is the same machine that is used in all Kansas DUI breath test cases. The corporation that makes the machine is spending millions and millions of dollars to prevent the source code from being revealed. They claim the source code would reveal “trade secrets”. Defense attorneys say revealing the source code would reveal what a joke the “science” in these machines is.
Why would the maker of the Intoxilyzer spend so many millions of dollars fighting to keep how its magic machine works a secret? Because breath testing is HUGE business. A recent article on St. Louis Company, Intoximeters, reports that that manufacturer of breath testing machines expects to “blow by” sales of $30 Million dollars this year. The money is real. From the St. Louis Business Journal:
“The worldwide market for breath analyzers has tripled from about $75 million in annual sales in 2007 to $247.5 million this year and is projected to reach $376.4 million by 2013, according to Susan Eustis, president and CEO of WinterGreen Research Inc. of Lexington, Mass.”
Tripled since 2007! The breath testing business has exploded, while the rest of the economy has been in the tank. There are only a handful of breath test machine makers in the world. CMI, Inc. is definitely in the top 3, with Intoximeters and German manufacturer, Drager. So, this multi-million dollar multinational corporation is fighting to protect the goose that laid the golden egg. The wizard definitely does not want the curtain pulled back on the Intoxilyzer 8000 when so much money is on the line. This machine will continue to put people in jail as the standard for breath testing in Kansas DUI cases, even though no one will be allowed to know how the secret box works. At least the profits will continue to soar.