AUSTIN – At least 2,600 Houston-area DWI arrests are now in question, after a Department of Public Safety contractor allegedly failed to inspect breath test equipment and faked records to show that she had.
"It's unbelievable, it's like Christmas came early," said Tyler Flood, a Houston criminal defense lawyer who works predominantly in DWIs. "We will try to reopen any cases that resulted in convictions from a breath test."
Breath test instruments must be checked and calibrated once a month to ensure their readings are accurate. DPS officials said they believe the contractor, whom they haven't named, may have been falsifying inspection records for up to a year at eight Houston-area police departments.
The woman, who was altering reports to indicate that she had recently inspected equipment, was not working in any other parts of the state.
"Once DPS found reason to believe that these records had been altered, we suspended the supervisor's certification and opened up a criminal investigation," said Col. Stan Clark, interim director of DPS. "These are serious allegations, and we will not tolerate any activities that call into question the integrity of the breath test system."
DPS officials say anyone who believes they were wrongly charged or convicted should talk to their attorney. The affected departments are the Galveston, League City, Friendswood, Clute, Pearland, Webster and Seabrook police departments, as well as the South Houston Police Department.
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