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The Prejudicial Effect of the Result of the Portable Breath Test (PBT) Outweighed Its Probative Value—New Trial Ordered

The Second Department determined defendant’s DWI conviction must be reversed because evidence of the result of the portable breath test (PBT), which is generally inadmissible as unreliable, was allowed in evidence. The defendant had subsequently agreed to the chemical breath test, which can be admissible evidence at trial, but his breaths were so shallow during repeated attempts to administer the test that no results were obtained. The result of the PBT (which showed the presence of alcohol) was deemed admissible, not as proof of intoxication, but as evidence of defendant’s state of mind when the chemical breath test was administered (the People’s position was that defendant deliberately sabotaged the chemical test with shallow breaths).  Although the PBT was ostensibly not admitted as proof of intoxication, the Second Department determined the jury would have taken it as such and, therefore, the probative value of the test result was outweighed by its prejudicial effect:

On appeal, the defendant contends that he was deprived of his right to a fair trial based on the County Court’s admission of the PBT results into evidence. We agree. Under the circumstances of this case, the probative value of the PBT evidence was outweighed by its prejudicial effect and, accordingly, should have been excluded … .

Generally, the result of a PBT “is not admissible to establish intoxication, as its reliability for this purpose is not generally accepted in the scientific community” … . Here, although the PBT evidence was not introduced for the purpose of proving intoxication, since the jurors were permitted to hear that the PBT detected the presence of alcohol, the County Court created an unacceptable risk that the jurors would improperly consider the PBT evidence for this impermissible purpose. This risk was enhanced both by the County Court’s determination to take judicial notice that the PBT was on the Commissioner’s conforming list and the State Trooper’s trial testimony that he was trained in the operation of the PBT device. The trooper’s testimony in this regard, which was directed towards the issue of whether the PBT was reliable for its intended purpose—the assessment of the defendant’s level of intoxication—was irrelevant to the defendant’s state of mind at the time he submitted to the chemical breath test at the State Police barracks. Thus, this testimony increased the risk that the jury would be unable to avoid considering the PBT evidence as proof of the defendant’s intoxication. People v Palencia, 2015 NY Slip Op 06373, 2nd Dept 7-29-15

 

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