A SAFIR LAWYER SERIES
Forensic science, taken apart piece by piece: breath, blood, DNA, drug testing, and the crime lab.
← All blog articles · The Safir Wire · Called Safir · Fail-Safir · Safir Harbor · Better Safir Than Sorry · Ask Safir
The State’s case usually rests on a number from a machine. This series opens the machine: how breath and blood testing actually work, where the assumptions hide, and how the science gets challenged by somebody trained to read it.
Every entry in the series
SafircrackingCan the Crime Lab Be Wrong? A DNA Analyst Just Got Ten Years for Deleting ResultsA state crime lab DNA analyst deleted results for years and an intern caught it. Why the analyst has to come to court, and the records to ask for by name.RORY SAFIR | September 2026SafircrackingHow Many Drinks Is Over the Legal Limit in Florida?Somebody at every party claims to know the answer: two beers and you are fine, three and you are over. The honest answer is that nobody…RORY SAFIR | August 2026SafircrackingA Lazy Eye, and the Check a Florida DUI Officer Is Supposed to Run FirstA police officer is on the witness stand. He has spent forty minutes telling a jury that the way a woman’s eyes moved on the side…RORY SAFIR | July 2026SafircrackingCannabis DUI Dropped: What a Positive Urine Test Actually ProvesThe State offered diversion. Our client turned it down, we sent the prosecutor a forensic packet instead of filing a motion, and the charge was dropped…RORY SAFIR | July 2026SafircrackingRFI Detect: How an Officer’s Radio Undid a 0.179 Breath TestEveryone who walks into a Florida breath testing room is carrying a transmitter. The operator has a portable radio. The arresting officer has a phone, a…RORY SAFIR | July 2026SafircrackingA Blood Result Is a Claim, Not a Fact: Three Things From My New GuideIf a nurse drew your blood after a crash, or an officer said “warrant” and “blood” in the same sentence, you know the feeling. Somewhere in…RORY SAFIR | July 2026SafircrackingTwo Words That Can Take Apart a Drug DUIIf you were arrested for driving under the influence of a drug and never touched a drop of alcohol, you are not imagining how strange this…RORY SAFIR | January 2026SafircrackingThe Grading Started Before You Stepped Out of the CarIf an officer recently asked you to walk a line, stand on one leg, or follow a pen with your eyes, you’re probably replaying every wobble…RORY SAFIR | January 2026SafircrackingHow a Florida Breath Test Can Be Wrong: Inside the Intoxilyzer 8000A breath testing machine is built to look like the last word.RORY SAFIR | January 2026SafircrackingNot Guilty: The Eye Test Was the Whole CaseThe State’s case rested on an involuntary eye movement. The jury did not accept it as proof of impairment beyond a reasonable doubt.RORY SAFIR | January 2026SafircrackingWhat the Machine Assumed About Your Body That NightIf you blew into a machine and a number came up, I know what that number is doing to you. It sits in your head like…RORY SAFIR | January 2026SafircrackingHow Impairment Is Proven When a Drunk Driver Hurts YouWhen a drunk driver injures someone, many folks assume the impairment will simply speak for itself. In a civil case it does not.RORY SAFIR | October 2025
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More from the firm: The Safir Wire, Called Safir, Fail-Safir, Safir Harbor, Better Safir Than Sorry, and Ask Safir.
