DUI Blood Tests
The
U.S. Supreme Court decided last week that making it a crime to refuse a DUI Blood Test is unconstitutional. Does that they can't give you a DUI blood test? No. They can, but they have to get a warrant. And the states can't make it a crime to refuse a blood test. Breath test refusals are still criminalized. In Florida, a refusal to take the breath test in a DUI investigation is a
first degree misdemeanor. If you refuse the breath test you could spend a year in jail and you WILL lose your driver's license for a year. Unless you hire a
great DUI attorney and he or she gets you out of it. All states have enacted something called "implied consent" laws. Look at the bottom of your Florida Driver's License. On the very bottom, under your picture it says:
"Operation of a motor vehicle constitutes consent to any sobriety test required by law."
That means - just by having a driver's license in Florida, you've consented to a
breath or blood test by accepting the "privilege" of driving on state roads.
DUI, breath test, refusal , blood test
To further combat drunk driving, laws have been passed which punish you criminally if you refuse to take a breath or blood test. The logic being, if you know you may go to jail for refusing, you will either submit to the test or not drive drunk. The Fourth Amendment protects you from "
unreasonable searches and seizures". Stopping your car and making you do
roadside tests to see if you are drunk is a seizure. It has to be reasonable. It does not require a warrant for reasons too lengthy to explain here. Then, if you are actually arrested for DUI, you may be searched "incident to your arrest" without a warrant. But it has to be reasonable. Blood and breath tests are searches under the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court has decided that a breath test is less intrusive and reasonable, therefore refusal to take it can be made a crime. But the Court reasons that blood tests are more intrusive. A DUI blood test involves pricking of the skin and gives the government a sample of your DNA forever to use against you. In the case of a DUI, the Court calls that unreasonable. It's too invasive. And the Court also notes that with today's technology it should be easy for the cops to get a warrant. If you have refused a DUI blood test, and have been charge with a crime, call our experienced
Clearwater Florida DUI defense attorney's today.
