Being accused of driving under the influence of alcohol is a serious matter. Fortunately, the rights of persons who are accused of driving under the influence of alcohol are protected, just like the rights of anyone else who has been accused of a crime. Perhaps the most important thing that all people should remember, in the event that they are accused of driving under the influence or any other crime, is that they can invoke the protections afforded to them by the United States Constitution.
The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects the citizens of the United States from unreasonable searches and seizures. In the context of a DUI, this means that persons who are accused of drunk driving may refuse a blood test which could reveal the presence of alcohol in their system. In August of 2012, a driver who refused a blood test while at the scene of an accident later had blood drawn at a hospital. The blood was tested, and revealed that there was alcohol in his bloodstream, in an amount more than twice the legal limit.
The state claims that the blood test was lawful, because of a Kansas implied consent statute, which they believe enables law enforcement to obtain a blood sample without consent in cases where there is an accident or injury. The defendant maintains that the blood test was unlawful because he did not consent to it.
Last month, a judge in Douglas County ruled that the results of the blood test would be suppressed, because the state’s implied consent statute does not clearly authorize a warrantless blood draw in a situation where there has been an accident or an injury. Further, the judge stated that law enforcement’s compliance with the state statute does not guarantee that their actions satisfied the requirements of the Fourth Amendment. In conclusion, the judge said that a search warrant should have been obtained before the blood sample was drawn.
Interestingly enough, the United States Supreme Court weighed in on the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures earlier this year. The Supreme Court ruled that warrantless blood draws in routine DUI investigations are not constitutional. Their decision does, however, leave the door open for warrantless blood draws to be upheld in situations where there are “exigent circumstances”. The decision appears to leave it up to the states to define “exigent circumstances”, or, at the very least to permit law enforcement to argue that such circumstances existed in any given case where the legality of a warrantless blood draw is called into question. Twenty five states currently prohibit warrantless blood draws in routine DUI cases, but many do permit them in cases where there has been an accident or injury, such as the aforementioned case in Douglas County.
If you are accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, the best thing that you can do is to avoid saying or doing anything that could incriminate you. Inform the law enforcement officer that you wish to speak with an attorney before discussing the incident further, and call an experienced Kansas DUI defense attorney. Your Kansas DUI defense attorney can work with you to provide the best possible defense against any charges that you are facing. Call our Wichita office today at (316) 264-1548.