Former Michigan State Police breathalyzer technician sentenced for falsifying records

Kara Berg, Lansing State Journal
·2 min read
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CHARLOTTE — A former Michigan State Police technician has been sentenced to three years of probation, with the first nine months to be served in jail, for falsifying records that showed whether police breathalyzers were giving accurate readings on blood alcohol content.

Andrew Clark, of Oxford, was convicted of two counts each of forgery of a public document, uttering and publishing and using a computer to commit a crime.

He was one of two technicians charged in 2020 with falsifying service records for diagnostics testing on DataMaster DMT instruments, also known as breathalyzers. Their company, Missouri-based Intoximeters, was contracted by Michigan State Police to test the machines to make sure they gave accurate readings.

He was convicted by a jury May 12.

When police arrest someone for driving under the influence of alcohol, they use this breathalyzer to record their blood alcohol content levels. The DataMaster is kept just outside the doors to the city's lockup.
When police arrest someone for driving under the influence of alcohol, they use this breathalyzer to record their blood alcohol content levels. The DataMaster is kept just outside the doors to the city's lockup.

Charges against Clark were initially dismissed in December 2020 by Eaton County District Court Judge Julie O'Neill, who said there was not enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial. But visiting Eaton County Circuit Court Judge David Jordon reversed O'Neill's ruling and reinstated the charges. 

Police aware of issues: MSP knew of issues with breathalyzer calibrations months before fraud investigation began

Michigan State Police said they found problems with machine maintenance as early as 2019. Errors or the possibility of errors led to the dismissal of some intoxicated driving cases, including six cases in Wayne County because of unreliable evidence after Clark did not notice a Datamaster failed testing and left the machine in service for three days, according to Michigan State Police records.

“Our public integrity team continues to demonstrate the great importance of pursuing bad actors who subvert the criminal justice system and threaten the integrity of our judicial process,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. “We must show that those who undermine the public trust risk jail time in doing so.”

The other technician, David John, pleaded guilty to all nine charges he faced and was sentenced to 36 months’ probation, with the first nine months served in the Kalamazoo County Jail.

Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Former state police breathalyzer tech sentenced for falsifying records