Today in State v. Crane, the Court of Appeals finally put to rest the state’s argument that it does not have possession and control over the source code to the Intoxilyzer 5000 breath testing machine. The court held that the Supreme Court’s rulings in Brunner and Underdahl II are the final word on the subject and any trial court judge who disagrees will be reversed.
The emphasis of the source code battle now shifts to federal court and the State of Minnesota’s lawsuit against the manufacturer of the Intoxilyzer 5000, CMI of Kentucky. Yesterday, it was announced that the two parties have reached a settlement in which the source code would be provided to drivers in some form or another. As in most anything, though, the devil is in the details. Early reports indicate that the code may only be examined in Owensboro, Kentucky and even there only a portion of the code will be provided. Yet again, it seems as though the State is more interested in keeping the source code hidden in the hills of Kentucky than giving drivers a meaningful opportunity to inspect and anylize a machine that is used to put people in prison. It may be a sign of the inadequacy of the settlement that the attorneys representing Minnesota drivers were not present during the settlement negotiations. The agreement must still be approved by Federal District Court Judge Donovan Frank.
