Commonwealth v. Zeininger

The principal issue in this case is whether an annual certification, and accompanying diagnostic records, attesting to the proper functioning of the breathalyzer machine used to test a defendant’s blood alcohol content were admissible in a criminal prosecution for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, G. L. c. 90, § 24 (1) (a) (1), without the live testimony of the technician who had performed the certification test on the machine. The certification and supporting records were created as part of a regulatory program providing standardized mechanisms for…