1. Serving the Portland Metropolitan Area ~ By Appointment Only
Article: The DUI Breath Test in Oregon, January 6th, 2016
Ph: 503-575-1244  Ofc: 8625 SW Cascade Avenue, Suite 450  Beaverton, Oregon 97008
The DUI Breath Test in Oregon
In Oregon, the breath test in a DUI case is often a key piece of
evidence the police seek to gather, because of the enormous impact it can
have on a case.
A valid breath test result of “.08% BAC” or higher is considered per
se evidence of intoxication. This means that even if the DUI driver is not
actually intoxicated at that level of intoxication, the law of the State of
Oregon nevertheless says that they are legally intoxicated. (Note: “.08%
BAC” means that there are .08 grams of alcohol per every dL of blood.)
The equipment used by police is known as the “intoxilyzer”. The
police regularly review the accuracy of this equipment, and receive training
on how to properly administer the test. The intoxilyzer goes through a series
of checks and balances each time it is used, to ensure it is operating
correctly. The DUI driver is asked to give two breath samples, and the
intoxilyzer takes the lowest breath sample, and truncates the measurement of
the lowest breath sample to two decimal points—e.g., “.07”, “.09”, “.11”.

2. Serving the Portland Metropolitan Area ~ By Appointment Only
Article: The DUI Breath Test in Oregon, January 6th, 2016
Ph: 503-575-1244  Ofc: 8625 SW Cascade Avenue, Suite 450  Beaverton, Oregon 97008
If a DUI driver provides a breath result of .08% BAC or higher, then
not only will the police and DA seek to use that evidence against the DUI
driver, but the police will send the breath test result to DMV, which will
suspend the DUI driver’s driver’s license for a minimum of 90 days.
If a DUI driver provides a breath test result below .08% BAC, then
there will be no DMV sanction, but the DUI driver may still be prosecuted in
court based on the totality of evidence the police and DA have.
All is not lost if a DUI driver provides a breath test result of .08%
BAC or higher. There are numerous defenses that can be used to
successfully defeat a breath test failure, including: attacking the validity of
the breath test result; challenging the way the police administered the breath
test; and proving a scientifically reasonable timeline that would place the
DUI driver’s BAC below .08% BAC at the time of driving.
DISCLAIMER:The informationcontained in thisarticle is offered for
educationalpurposesonly. Thisinformation isnot offered as legal advice.
A person accused of a crimeshould alwaysconsultwithan attorney before
makingdecisionsthat have legal consequences.