Legal Question in DUI Law in Minnesota

Re: blowing in breathalizers

The answer may depend on the observations of the officer and whether he had an articulable reasonable suspicion to believe you were consuming alcohol and that you were under age.

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Re: blowing in breathalizers

My understanding is that you can refuse to take a test on the portable machine; but if you do that is considered grounds to require you to take a test on the big machine down at the police station (Intoxilyzer 5000).

Both breath machines require a breath sample that involves blowing a very deep breath into the machine. If you don't give it enough air for long enough, the machine will give a signal that says the sample is inadequate. Then the cop will ask you to blow again.

That's what it sounds like happened. If the policeman reasonably suspected you had been drinking, they get to request the test.

Re: blowing in breathalizers

Police cannot require you to blow into a portable breath machine unless they have reason to believe you were driving, operating or in control of a motor vehicle. If you were at a friend's house, nowhere near a motor vehicle, the police would likely have no legal authority to require you to blow. However, they can ask you to do so, and if you do, they will claim that you consented freely to proving a breath sample. (Oops.) If you consented, then it's legal evidence.

You can still plead "not guilty," however.