Breath tests reliable

The Dec. 28 Trib story by Tommy Witherspoon, “Holiday DWI crackdown to push driver blood tests,” needs to be addressed, especially with regard to comments by Waco lawyer Seth Sutton, who said the breath alcohol test is a joke.

As the retired director of the statewide DPS Crime Laboratory System and the scientific director of the statewide Forensic Breath Alcohol Program, I know about these issues. For 33 years, I participated in and directed much of the research listed below.

Sutton’s statement is typical of the uninformed, and it is absolutely wrong.

If he were referring to the roadside breath test, then it was never intended to be quantitative but merely an indication of the presence of alcohol.

There are medical conditions that resemble intoxication. So if a person appears intoxicated but is suffering from one of those conditions, the breath alcohol test will be negative and an indication to the officer that the person needs medical attention. This could be lifesaving in some instances.

A quantitative breath alcohol test properly conducted by a certified person on a certified breath alcohol instrument, such as the Intoxilyzer used by the DPS and local agencies, is as accurate as a blood test to determine a person’s blood alcohol content. This has been proved by numerous research projects and thousands of tests.

I must assume Sutton was either referring to the roadside test or is totally uninformed on quantitative breath alcohol analyses. I will give him credit for admitting blood tests are hard to defend. Now he needs to recognize the credibility of quantitative breath alcohol analyses.

My advice to a DWI suspect is to take the Intoxilyzer test and skip the hospital trip.

J.D. Chastain

Waco

Oral Roberts ministry

Never having met Oral Roberts or Roger Olson, I dare not assess the intent of their hearts. Only God does that. However, Olson’s Dec. 21 guest column on Roberts’ ministry, “Disintegration of ‘prophet’,” resonated with the terms “charlatan,” “megalomaniac” and “stupid” and was a shameful aspersion in effacement of the Trib’s front-page standard, “In God we trust.”

Scripture issues no academic, journalistic or religious platform to assuage accountability by judging perceived weaknesses in another human being.

How does God choose to remember those of us who have been far from perfect but forgiven and redeemed?

I believe King David’s last words reflect that answer from 2 Samuel 23:5: “He (God) has made an everlasting covenant with me. His agreement is eternal, final and sealed.”

When Roberts presented his receipt of that same covenant, I believe he was rewarded.

Kay King

Eddy

‘Euphoric’ column

Thanks to Trib chairman Clifton Robinson for his New Year’s Day column, “How to feel better in 2010,” which reminds us that good is still with us. We need more such articles that leave us with that euphoric feeling that all is right with the world, and we can be part of bringing it about by our kindness to those in need.

Leta Culp

Waco