Drink driving

High Court judgement means drink-driving cases will be heard

Michael Duffy

OVER 400 drink-driving cases, some of which have been before the courts in Mayo for nearly four years, are to finally be heard this summer after a High Court ruling made by Justice Paul Gilligan last week.
A case stated involving a Mayo defendant was submitted to the High Court by Judge Mary Devins in March 2006 after Ballinrobe-based solicitor Cathy McDarby had raised doubts over the reliability of the Lion Laboratories Intoxiliser machine.
Ms McDarby had maintained that a source code was needed from the machine each time it was used to confirm the accuracy of the reading, but it is believed that Justice Gilligan has said in his judgement this week that a source code is not needed.
The judgement has not yet being published but State Solicitor, Mr Seamus Hughes, told The Mayo News that he believes the cases currently in limbo can now be heard at District Courts across the county. Cases in the Ballina area are listed to be heard on Tuesday, July 22.
The matter in relation to source codes and intoxiliser machines has already been debated in depth in the US, particularly in Florida and New Jersey.
In Florida, several judges ordered prosecutors to produce the source code, agreeing with defence attorneys’ arguments that they couldn’t effectively evaluate and respond to the evidence against their clients without being able to submit the accuracy of the testing mechanism to expert witnesses.
Extensive legal argument took place before Judge Devins last year and the issues of delay was raised by some defending solicitors. It remains to be seen if some of the defendants who have had their cases hanging over them for the a number of years again raise the issue of delay when the case come before Judge Devins over the summer months.