Last update - 00:00 04/07/2007
Evidence from 'Owl' breathalyzer for drunk drivers ruled inadmissible
By Haaretz Service
A Petah Tikva court ruled Tuesday that evidence gathered by police using an 'Owl' breathalyzer to test drivers' alcohol levels is inadmissible, as the justice and health ministers have never approved its use.
The court ruling came in a decision to annull the indictment of a driver whom police had found to be driving while intoxicated through the use of the Owl test.
Israel suffers from a high level of road accident fatalities, totaling 446 in 2006, according to the police traffic department.
The driver was caught some eight months ago. The state argued he was driving under the influence, and cited the results of an Owl test which found him to have a concentration of 315 mg of alcohol per liter. This is more than six times over the limit.
The defendent's lawyers claimed, however, these facts do not constitute a crime as the test was never approved by law as is necessary.
Traffic law authorizes police to demand a breath sample "through means of equipment approved by the transportation minister, with the agreement of the health minister."
Defense Attorney Shani Dvash argued the Owl device has never been approved by the transportation minister. In addition, she said the alcohol concentration level has also not been set by "the justice minister in consultation with the health minister and the Knesset Economics Committee," as is also required by law.
Judge Shlomo Nachshon Ettinger wrote: "After the court examined this claim, the sorry conclusion is that it is correct."
Ettinger emphasized that three months ago another judge ruled the Owl is not legally approved, and decided to allow for this problem to be fixed within six months.
The judge wrote enforcement for an important goal, such as the war on drunk driving, "must be strictly executed according to the letter of the law."
Ettinger passed his ruling onto Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, and Health Minister Yacov Ben-Yizri, as well as to the police's traffic department.