The Court held that the maintenance records were business records that did not require live testimony for their introduction in evidence.
Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan.NORTHAMPTON – Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan is applauding the Tuesday decision of the Supreme Judicial Court that prosecutors may introduce in criminal trials the maintenance records from breathalyzer machines without the live testimony of the technicians who performed the tests on the machines.
Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Steven Greenbaum argued the case before the Supreme Judicial Court on behalf of the Commonwealth in Commonwealth vs. Zoanne Zeininger, according to a press release from the district attorney’s office.
Zeininger had been convicted in Greenfield District Court in 2007 for operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or greater.
She argued on appeal that the admission at her trial of the breathalyzer records without live testimony violated her constitutional right to confront witnesses against her. The appeal was closely watched by the legal community because potentially hundreds of similar convictions could be affected.
In an opinion written by Associate Justice Robert Cordy, the Court held that the maintenance records were business records that did not require live testimony for their introduction in evidence.