The California Bureau of Automotive Repair filed an Accusation against a Bay Area smog test station alleging clean-piping. The Accusation was based on a surveillance video which the BAR claimed would show that the vehicle, which was alleged to have been clean-piped, was not in the smog test bay at the time of the test as established by the BAR’s computer log. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issued a proposed decision finding that the BAR failed to prove its case by clear and convincing evidence. The Department of Consumer Affairs adopted the ALJ’s proposed decision.
There were three key factors to the defense case:
1) Credible testimony by the smog technician owner;
2) Expert testimony that the passing smog test results were not consistent with results from the purported “clean car.”
3) Second-by-second screen shots from the video tape which showed that the surveillance camera was blocked by passing traffic for significant periods of time.