Supreme Court won't hear dispute over DUI blood tests

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from Colorado officials who want to make it easier for authorities to take blood samples from suspected drunk drivers without their permission or a warrant.

The justices on Monday let stand a state supreme court ruling that excluded evidence of a Colorado man's blood test that showed his blood-alcohol level at the time of a traffic accident was nearly three times the legal limit.

Colorado had argued that police should be allowed to order blood samples when there is not enough time to get a warrant before blood alcohol levels decrease.

In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that authorities must consider several factors and be able to justify why they did not obtain a warrant before drawing blood.


Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/dbce0db4e7cd4aedb1a9119831c5b68d/supreme-court-wont-hear-dispute-over-dui-blood-tests

[Nye Bevan]

1. I don't like the idea of it being possible to forcibly stick a needle in someone with no warrant.

A better solution would be to pass a law allowing the blood level at the time of driving to be projected back from the blood level at the time of the draw.

[dsc]

3. that would be virtually impossible to do with any scientific precision

the rate at which alcohol levels decrease is a very personal thing and would vary depending upon many factors even in the same person.

[JonLP24]

5. That seems like a bad idea if convictions are based on projections

I don't understand how BAC works but I know food slows it from getting in(higher) as well as getting out (lowers). Also factors like gender, weight, fat, etc. I wouldn't trust a projection system that would reliably give accurate info based on a lot of unknowns like how stressed was he when we stopped him at the time of driving? Stress "stress can cause your body to divert blood from your stomach and small intestines to your muscles, and slow down the rate of absorption of alcohol into your bloodstream."

I remember one morning and this after breakfast so I talked to him earlier. After break, this was the military, I entered the room - I was chewing gum so this may have had something to do with it but my 1SG could smell liquor clearly as soon as I was in the door. He wanted to do a breathlyzer for drunk on duty which was .03, I drank the night before but I didn't feel slightly drunk so I wasn't worried. It came back .015 (or similar) and the 1SG was shocked & outraged at the same time, saying it was twice the legal limit and I just drove too (to breakfast). I tried to explain but he didn't get it, talks to the urine test unit rep to take me to ASAP (to make Drunk on Duty violation official) and he didn't get why since it was clearly low so he figured he just wanted to confirm the result. The whole time I'm laughing inside .015 is lower than .03, right.

Anyways at ASAP which was a 20-30 minute drive from there give or take, they ran the test and it went up. I can't remember by how much but it was more than .001 or 2, they guy at ASAP said there should be no reason for that unless I was drinking that morning which I literally didn't or one or the other wasn't calibrated properly and he said theirs is done every morning or something like that, saying his is calibrated correctly. I have no idea, maybe it was something I had for breakfast. All I know is I didn't drink for roughly several hours. So whatever is the actual explanation, what if in the projection scenario, what if the BAC was lower "at time of drive" but shot up?

[hedda_foil]

8. I'm pretty sure that .15 is 5 times higher than .03. nt.

[JonLP24]

9. .015 is lower than point .03

You just made the same mistake he did. For whatever reason, the device I blown into recorded 3 spots to the right of the decimal point. That number was put down, (DUI signs all over Fort Lewis say .05 so I understand his mistake) saw two numbers that appeared higher but actually wasn't. .030 is higher than .015. .150 is higher than point .015.

In any case, I wasn't charged with Drunk on Duty I clearly understood and they clearly indicated I wasn't over the limit even though the BAC was higher, it was still below .03 but the part that got me was I'd be barely alive at .15 but here I'm functioning, he reported him when I first got there no one thought my functioning was off, he smelled my breath and the numbers he thought I'd be DoD so when it came back (he met 2 times over the driving limit he expressed shock and outrage over the number) but I'm visibly not intoxicated, much less in extreme DUI range.

(.05 is the DUI limit for Fort Lewis -- I pointed the signs out because there was a constant reminded of a single digit number 5 and see 2 numbers 15 in something that relates to DUI but overlook the decimal point and the zeros or don't understand numbers lower than 0 I can easily understand the mistake)

[Burf-_-]

2. really???

It seems to me they ask for more and more rights to take away our rights. They want blood now ? Isn't that something only a qualified medical technician/EMT, nurse, or doctor can do ? I suppose the full on cavity/strip search in public will be requested next. I am not inclined to thank SCOTUS though.... their recent track record is despicable. Thomas and Scalia should be impeached.

[jmowreader]

10. Idaho invented this "blood draw by cops" shit years ago

The law here is, before a cop can draw blood they have to do the full phlebotomy certification including the stint in a hospital lab that every other phlebotomist must do.

So yes, only a qualified medical technician can do the draw, but they send cops off to become qualified technicians so it's about as okay as this Orwellian shit can be.

[elleng]

4. Hence the lower court decision stands:

'state supreme court ruling that excluded evidence of a Colorado man's blood test'

[Scalded Nun]

6. Texas is nasty

Here your 'No' reply results in an immediate needle.

[RandiFan1290]

11. It gets worse

Texas is famous for shoving fingers inside people on the side of the road.

[former9thward]

7. Where I live they have judges on call 24/7.

The cops just call up the judge, no matter what time it is, and get a phone warrant. Then they can take the blood. So the issue in the OP never comes up.