Sheriff's sargeant testifies on accuracy of breath tests in Wendt trial

The case against Ronald J. Wendt II continued today in Genesee County Court with testimony from Deputy Tim Westcott and then Sgt. Brian Frieday.

Deputy Westcott was asked questions by the District Attorney Lawrence Friedman regarding the condition of Wendt at the time of the arrest. When asked if Wendt showed any indications of injury at the time of the accident, he replied with "no."

Wescott stated he was not aware of Wendt's purported forearm injury until after the arrest. When asked about whether he was aware of a pre-existing knee injury, saw any signs of allergies or knew of any allergies that Wendt had, Deputy Westcott responded with "no."

Friedman then asked Deputy Westcott if he had any doubts in his mind about the accuracy of the details in the arrest report and again the response was "no."

It was stated in the report that the last drink that Wendt consumed was at 10:50 p.m. and the accident occured at 11:08 p.m.

Westcott added testimony that when he asked Wendt, after he was under arrest, to submit to a chemical test, Wendt replied with "I don't know" and later consented after he was informed of the consequences if he did not.

Deputy Westcott also testified that, in his opinion, the flashing lights from the emergency vehicles would not have had any effect on Wendt's eyes while performing field sobriety tests, since the officer was facing the lights, not Wendt.

Frieday was called to the stand next. He supervises the midnight shift for the Genesee County Sheriff's Department and is the department's breath analyst advisor. He maintains the records of DataMaster breath tests, including the one given to Wendt the night of the accident.

Frieday testified that the DataMaster is sent to Albany once a year to be re-calibrated and tested to maintain its accuracy. Plus, every six months tests are performed on the machine over a phone line. He added that the supervisor also gives weekly simulated tests.

Assistant District Attorney Kevin Finnell then asked him how a BAC is reported on the DataMaster. Frieday said it is recorded in the machine up to three decimal places, but is only displayed on the machine in two. Thus, if a BAC was recorded in the DataMaster at 0.099 it would only be seen on the display and recorded as a 0.09 BAC.

Finnell then provided Frieday with documentation showing that the machine was calibrated accurately and Frieday testified that it was and that the DataMaster also operated properly the night of the crash.

During cross-examination, Defense Attorney Thomas Burns questioned Frieday about the accuracy of the results. Frieday stated that the DataMaster takes breath samples and uses mathematic equations to calculate the BAC, since actual blood samples are not tested.

Burns argued that the equation, which is based on the average person, is not the same for each person, therefore it could not be 100-percent accurate. Frieday subsequently testified that the fixed ratio is higher than the average person, therefore the BAC reading would actually tend to show lower than it really was.

Frieday said that the time that it takes to absorb alcohol into the blood stream depends on different variables including the amount of food in a person's stomach and how much they have eaten.

He testified that after 15 minutes it "would not be absorbed into the blood stream fully."

When asked by Burns if it could take upwards of two to three hours to fully absorb alcohol in the body, Frieday stated that it was possible and would be on the upward side of the absorption.

When asked if it could still be absorbing into the blood stream even after four hours, Frieday responded by saying "I have heard that number, I recall that number, yes."

The judge then dismissed the case until 2 p.m.