Police Must Typically Have A Search Warrant to Draw Blood Without Your Consent In a DUI/DWI Investigation
The U.S. Supreme Court held that in routine DUI/DWI cases the police must obtain a search warrant before taking the suspect’s blood when the suspect refuses to consent to a blood draw. The suspect was stopped by police for speeding and repeatedly crossing the centerline. The suspect performed poorly on field sobriety tests and declined to submit to a portable breath-test device to measure his blood alcohol concentration (BAC). The police officer transported the suspect to a hospital where the officer advised the suspect that under state law he was required to voluntarily submit to a blood test. The suspect was also told that under the state’s implied consent law, if he refused to submit to the blood test his driver’s license would be revoked. The suspect still refused to voluntarily submit to a blood test. The police officer never obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s blood before directing a lab technician to draw blood from the suspect. The lab test result indicated the suspect’s BAC was .154 percent, above the state’s legal limit of .08 percent. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s suppression of the suspect’s blood test result on the basis that the suspect’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated. The Supreme Court wrote the Fourth Amendment requires police during DUI/DWI investigations to obtain a search warrant before blood can be drawn from a suspect without their consent unless there is an urgent reason for drawing the blood without a warrant.