A judge denied legal action Monday that would have forced the manufacturer of the state’s breathalyzer tests to publish the machines’ computer code for the defense of a man accused of driving drunk and killing a man last August.

Had Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith granted the motion filed on behalf of Acie Terry Moore, 52, of Buckingham Road, Burlington, it could have stalled nearly every DWI case in the state, a prosecutor argued. Defense attorney Jim Joyner said an affirmative decision only would have stalled selective cases.

Moore is charged with the second-degree murder of 44-year-old Anthony Satterfield in an Aug. 14 crash on N.C. 87 North. Moore allegedly registered .16 on the Intoxilyzer ECIR almost two hours after he was taken into custody by the highway patrol that night.

Joyner argued that he needs access to the machine’s computer coding to be able to examine it and determine whether it takes into account alcohol in the mouth and bodily emissions due to diabetes.

Moore wears dentures and has chronic acid reflux, either of which could have caused a high reading due to alcohol held or released into the mouth, Joyner said. The body’s reaction to diabetes releases an enzyme into the breath that was misread as alcohol in previous breath-test machines. Moore hadn’t taken his insulin that morning, Joyner said.

Joyner cited a case in Minnesota that granted attorneys the legal authority to travel to a breath-test machine manufacturing headquarters to inspect the source codes, even though a judge ruled that the machines most likely gave accurate readings.

Alamance County Assistant District Attorney Paul Soderberg argued that the state shouldn’t have to provide information it doesn’t have access to. Paul Glover, who oversees the state’s Intoxilyzer use and testing through the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, was called to testify for the state.

Glover said the current machines are programmed and designed to account for diabetes and alcohol held in the mouth during breath tests. A complex system uses infrared light and an electro-chemical fuel cell to determine whether traces of alcohol entering the machine are being passed from the lungs. Readings that include alcohol held inside the mouth are automatically detected and thrown out, he said.

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