2/8/16 Arizona Court of Appeals rules that blood sample was lawfully taken from an arrested DUI suspect when taken for medical purposes, even though the police had time to obtain a search warrant.
Arizona law provides that blood samples from a DUI suspect may only be obtained by the suspect’s consent, with a search warrant or with an exception to the search warrant requirement. One exception allows the police to obtain a sample of a DUI suspect’s blood without the person’s consent when a medical facility draws blood for their own medical purposes, if the police have probable cause to belief the person is driving under the influence and “exigent circumstances” exist so the police do not have time to get a search warrant for the blood. In the Reyes case the Court of Appeals said the fact the defendant’s alcohol level could be changing by itself constituted exigent circumstances even though the police said they had time to get a warrant. Unfortunately the court failed to consider how long it would take to get a search warrant and the fact that scientists routinely use what is known as retrograde analysis to determine what a person’s alcohol level could have been hours before it is drawn. For example if a suspect stops driving at 1 a.m. and takes a blood sample obtained at 7 a.m., a scientist can use retrograde analysis to say what the suspect’s alcohol level was at 3 a.m., which is within 2 hours of driving as is required by law. By failing to consider such evidence the appellate court is effectively abolishing the warrant requirement in these situations.
http://www.apltwo.ct.state.az.us/Decisions/CR20140238OPN.pdf
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