2/8/16 Court of Appeals rules giving DUI suspect 20 minutes is long enough to comply with rule allowing suspect to consult with attorney prior to submitting to chemical tests.
Arizona court rules mandate a person arrested for DUI must be permitted to consult with an attorney prior to being required to submit to chemical testing as long as that attempted consultation does not interfere with the ongoing police investigation. If the police interfere with the defendant’s efforts to consult with a lawyer prior to being required to submit to the tests, the remedy is the prosecutor cannot use the test results at trial or, in some cases, dismissal of the case. The arrested person must affirmatively tell the police they wish to consult with an attorney. After the person tells the police they wish to consult with an attorney the usual practice is for the police to give the person a phone and if necessary a phone book with attorney listings in it. The person is then given a period of time to try to contact an attorney. In court the question usually is whether the amount of time the police gave the person to call before saying the person must submit to the tests a reasonable time. In this case the police told the person they had 10 minutes to call and, in fact, gave the person 20 minutes before saying time was up. The person left messages with a law office but the office did not return the calls within the 20 minutes. The Court of Appeals said the time allowed was reasonable and denied the defendant’s motion to prevent the prosecutor from using the test results at trial.
http://www.apltwo.ct.state.az.us/Decisions/CR20150022Opinion.pdf
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