The D.C. Attorney General’s Office says it plans to revive dozens of drunken-driving cases dropped in recent weeks because of the city’s broken alcohol breath-test program, even as questions are being raised by defense attorneys about two officers who were involved in numerous dismissed cases. The Washington Examiner reported on Wednesday that D.C. police have completely abandoned alcohol breath tests and are relying entirely on urine analysis of suspected drunk drivers going forward. It has been a year since accuracy problems with the breath analyzers were made public and the city’s breath-test program remains uncertified by the medical examiner’s office, making the results they produce worthless as courtroom evidence. Now, Attorney General Irvin Nathan “is re-evaluating all our [driving under the influence] prosecutions,” Nathan’s senior counsel, Ariel Waldman, told The Examiner. “If cases have been dismissed, it is because we have either concluded that they are not worthy of going forward or we are missing evidence and will rebring the case at a later date, which we plan to do in many cases.”
He could not comment on a timeline for refiling the cases.
