{"id":116,"date":"2013-04-05T15:50:55","date_gmt":"2013-04-05T15:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tyralawoffice.com\/blog\/?p=116"},"modified":"2013-04-19T15:54:19","modified_gmt":"2013-04-19T15:54:19","slug":"u-s-supreme-court-considers-whether-to-authorize-warrantless-blood-tests-in-dui-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tyralawoffice.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/05\/u-s-supreme-court-considers-whether-to-authorize-warrantless-blood-tests-in-dui-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Supreme Court Considers Whether to Authorize Warrantless Blood Tests in DUI Cases"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Supreme Court will soon issue a decision in a case heard early this year about the right of law enforcement to forcibly take a blood sample for blood alcohol concentration (BAC) testing of the volume of alcohol in your blood.\u00a0 In the case of Missouri v. McNeely<\/em>, the nation\u2019s highest court is weighing whether the risk of DUI evidence being lost justifies a warrantless infringement of the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure.<\/p>\n

When police pull over drivers in Texas suspected of driving under the influence (DUI), the officer has the option of requesting that the driver submit to BAC testing of blood or breath.\u00a0 While you can refuse both forms of testing, the police officer may seek a warrant to compel production of a blood test sample if the officer has probable cause to believe that you were driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.\u00a0 Although you may be able to challenge the validity of the blood test later if the officer did not have sufficient evidence to constitute probable cause, you can be forced to submit to a blood test to determine BAC if the officer has obtained a search warrant.<\/p>\n

However, the current case pending before the Supreme Court would authorize warrantless blood tests in DUI cases.\u00a0 The McNeely<\/em> case involved a trucker who was pulled over by an officer for exceeding the speed limit.\u00a0 The driver exhibited a lack of coordination, odor of alcohol on his breath, and red eyes.\u00a0 After failing field sobriety tests (FSTs), he refused to submit to chemical BAC testing.\u00a0 The police officer drove McNeely to the hospital and had his blood taken without obtaining a warrant or consent.<\/p>\n

The government is contending that the exigency exception to the warrant requirement should apply because of the risk of the loss of evidence.\u00a0 In the area where the DUI occurred, it takes approximately two hours to obtain a warrant so a driver\u2019s BAC may fall below the legal limit by the time a blood sample is drawn.\u00a0 While it is unclear how the Supreme Court will rule, Justice Roberts characterized the prospect of someone being handcuffed while his or her blood is forcibly extracted as a \u201cpretty scary image.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice Sotomayor expressed concerns that sticking a needle in the arm of a suspect and taking blood seems far more intrusive than a breath test.\u00a0 McNeely also argued that new technology has sped up the process of obtaining warrants in many areas of the country allowing officers to seek warrants either through an electronic or telephonic application.<\/p>\n

A suspect arrested for DUI in Texas should assert his or her right to an attorney and avoid talking to the police.\u00a0 Texas DUI attorney Alex Tyra offers a free consultation during which he can advise you about your legal rights and potential strategies for avoiding a DUI conviction.\u00a0 We invite you to contact us in our Longview office at 903-753-7499 or visit our website and submit a case contact form.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Supreme Court will soon issue a decision in a case heard early this year about the right of law enforcement to forcibly take a blood sample for blood alcohol concentration (BAC) testing of the volume of alcohol in your blood.\u00a0 In the case of Missouri v. McNeely, the nation\u2019s highest court is weighing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-texas-dui","tag-longview-dui-lawyer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyralawoffice.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyralawoffice.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyralawoffice.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyralawoffice.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyralawoffice.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tyralawoffice.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117,"href":"https:\/\/tyralawoffice.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions\/117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyralawoffice.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyralawoffice.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyralawoffice.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}