CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – The state’s highest court has ruled that nearly 30,000 people who pled guilty or were convicted of drunk driving charges are eligible for a new trial.

Wednesday’s Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling follows an investigation into the State Police office of alcohol testing. Investigators found test results from the breathalyzers were flawed because the machines were not calibrated correctly.

“7 years of litigation exposed a lot of problems with the calibrations lab that we as citizens paid millions of dollars for,” said Attorney, Joe Bernard. “The prosecutors can no longer consider the breath test for the prosecution. The litigant, the citizen, has to file a motion, a motion to vacate, that has to be brought to the judge and prosecutors, the prosecutor would have to examine it.”

If you were convicted of drunk driving in Massachusetts, you may be eligible for a new trial.

Hampden District Attorney, Anthony D. Gulluni voluntarily suspended the use of breathalyzer results in OUI prosecutions in 2019 after it was discovered that the Massachusetts Office of Alcohol Testing (OAT) had been withholding information from defense attorneys in OUI cases.

Boston District Court Judge Robert Brennan ruled in January of this year that results from the Draeger Alcotest 9510 breathalyzers can be used as evidence in OUI cases again.

The SJC said defendants who pled guilty or were convicted between June 1, 2011, through April 18, 2019, can have their pleas withdrawn or ask for a new trial.

This ruling follows an investigation into the State Police Office of alcohol testing. Investigators found test results from the breathalyzers were flawed because the machines were not calibrated correctly. “The prosecutors can no longer consider the breath test for the prosecution,” adds Bernard.

Bernard has been heavily involved in this effort, he explains what’s next for those defendants. “The litigant, the citizen, has to file a motion, a motion to vacate, that has to be brought to the judge and prosecutors, the prosecutor would have to examine it,” he said.

Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni voluntarily suspended the use of breathalyzer results in OUI prosecutions in 2019, after it was discovered that the Massachusetts Office of Alcohol Testing had been withholding information from defense attorneys in OUI cases. A Boston District Court Judge ruled in January of this year, that results from the Draeger Alcotest 95-10 breathalyzers can be used as evidence in OUI cases again. Which applies only to defendants between June 1, 2011, through April 18, 2019.