Lawyers win access to DUI-test software: Defense wants to check if Intoxilyzer is accurate.

(From McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - The Arizona Daily Star - Tucson, Arizona)

Byline: Kim Smith

Defense attorneys scored a major victory Friday when a Pima County Superior Court judge ruled they should be given access to the software that powers a breath-testing machine used on suspected drunken drivers.

For the past several months, defense attorneys throughout the county have been arguing that they should be given the "source code," or software, used in the Intoxilyzer 8000.

The attorneys say the source code is needed to determine whether breath tests administered by the Tucson Police Department and the University of Arizona Police Department are accurate and reliable. (The Pima County Sheriff's Department and the Arizona Department of Public Safety take blood samples.)

The defense attorneys maintain the issue is a constitutional one; defendants have the right to cross-examine and confront their …