Spring Break
Woman & lawyer challenge alcohol monitoring device
The Associated Press
Issue date: 9/4/07 Section: News
FORT COLLINS - The latest use of wireless gear to monitor alcohol abuse is being challenged on grounds that it convicts defendants before their trials.
Authorities are using the device on people released on bond on charges that may be alcohol related, The Coloradoan reported Sunday.
It is called the Secure Continuous Alcohol Monitoring Device, or SCRAM, and is an ankle bracelet that monitors sweat for alcohol. If it is detected, a message is sent to the person's case manager.
Cathryn Windham, 28, arrested on suspicion of assault and domestic violence following a late June argument with her boyfriend, admitted having had a few drinks that night. She was initially ordered to undergo periodic sobriety monitoring and told that if she missed a test or failed one she would have to wear the bracelet.
She says she never failed a test but was ordered to wear the bracelet, and pay $11 daily for its use.
"I wasn't going to drink anyway," she said. "I came here to stop drinking."
Windham said she took it off because she suffering from severe bruising, blistering and pain related to the device. She now takes random breath tests.
Sharon Winfree, who heads pretrial services, said she could not comment on specific cases but said that unless a client has a positive or missed breath test or requests being put into the device, it is not used. She said sobriety monitoring of one kind or another has long been a condition of bail.
Magistrate Matt Zehe said he will require sobriety monitoring if alcohol or drugs are believed to have contributed to the crime for the safety of the public.
Erik Fischer, Windham's lawyer, said forced use of the device effectively convicts a person before their trial.
"The victim in this case is not the public," he said. "Who are we protecting by putting her through the huge expense of SCRAM?"
Authorities are using the device on people released on bond on charges that may be alcohol related, The Coloradoan reported Sunday.
It is called the Secure Continuous Alcohol Monitoring Device, or SCRAM, and is an ankle bracelet that monitors sweat for alcohol. If it is detected, a message is sent to the person's case manager.
Cathryn Windham, 28, arrested on suspicion of assault and domestic violence following a late June argument with her boyfriend, admitted having had a few drinks that night. She was initially ordered to undergo periodic sobriety monitoring and told that if she missed a test or failed one she would have to wear the bracelet.
She says she never failed a test but was ordered to wear the bracelet, and pay $11 daily for its use.
"I wasn't going to drink anyway," she said. "I came here to stop drinking."
Windham said she took it off because she suffering from severe bruising, blistering and pain related to the device. She now takes random breath tests.
Sharon Winfree, who heads pretrial services, said she could not comment on specific cases but said that unless a client has a positive or missed breath test or requests being put into the device, it is not used. She said sobriety monitoring of one kind or another has long been a condition of bail.
Magistrate Matt Zehe said he will require sobriety monitoring if alcohol or drugs are believed to have contributed to the crime for the safety of the public.
Erik Fischer, Windham's lawyer, said forced use of the device effectively convicts a person before their trial.
"The victim in this case is not the public," he said. "Who are we protecting by putting her through the huge expense of SCRAM?"
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