Thousands of impaired driving convictions could be called into question after a judge ruled that results from a breathalyzer test were inadmissible as evidence.

The case against a man charged with drunk driving was thrown out in a Brampton courtroom after the judge accepted testimony from an expert that breathalyzer tests are not always accurate.

Though the man blew just under double the legal blood alcohol limit, the exact level cannot be certifiably determined , his lawyer Richard Posner successfully argued.

Posner said the machine’s margin of error is relatively unknown which poses a legal problem when trying to determine a certain level of inebriation.

Posner enlisted the help of a former official with the Centre of Forensic Sciences who examined the breathalyzer and found inconsistencies.

“There were a large number of unusual or abhorrent results. Unusually low calibration tests, failed diagnostic test, in the instrument's history,” Posner said.

Legal analyst Edward Prutschi told CTV Toronto it is unlikely past cases will be reopened if the 30-day appeal period has passed but defence lawyers everywhere will keep close watch to see if the decision from the lower court will be upheld at a higher court.

“If this snowball continues to roll and other judges buy into this, or an appeal court says yes that’s the way it ought to have been, the judge got it right, they're going to have to do something,” he said.

Toronto’s Police Chief Mark Saunders said he will wait to see the research before commenting on the ruling.

“We'll see what the research dictates on that,” he said. “I’m not sure what the judge's background is in science, and we'll see what science says with respect to those comments.”

 

Until a decision is made, officers on the road will continue to deploy a breath test when they suspect a driver has been drinking.

The Crown has indicated it will appeal the lower court's decision though it will likely be at least six months before the appeal is heard in court.