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In State v. Patrick McLeod Nissley, No. CR-15-0393-PR, (2/1/17), the Arizona Supreme Court held that nonconsensual warrantless blood draws as authorized by A.R.S. § 28-1388(E), Arizona’s Medical Blood Draw Exception, require the patient/ defendant either consent to medical treatment or be incapable of consenting to the treatment. The court also said the burden of…
Arizona Senate Bill 1054 seeks to make DUI testing mandatory in all collisions resulting in serious injury or death, where probable cause exists to believe the person caused the accident or where a person is cited for a wide variety of traffic violations. Refusal to submit to DUI testing under those conditions would…
Phoenix Police Department union representatives have described the current state of staffing within the Department as a crisis, citing reduced staffing leading to overtime costs and overwork for its officers. Hiring has essentially been frozen in the wake of the economic crisis of 2008, leading to a 10% reduction in the number of officers…
The Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety reports the number of DUI arrests made by the annual East Valley DUI Task Force fell 25% between 2014-2016, while DUI arrests in Arizona as a whole fell by 14% in that time. However, Underage DUI cases are increasing, as is the median blood alcohol level of…
Arizona law does not provide for expungement of criminal cases and records. A bill introduced in the Arizona State Senate would change that law to allow the court to vacate convictions and order the expungement of records for certain offenses. State Senator Judy Burges has sponsored in the 2017 First Regular Legislative…
In In re $15,379 IN U.S. Currency, No. 2 CA-CV 2015-0166 (12/22/16), the Arizona Court of Appeals held that a trial court erred when it refused to order a County Attorney to return currency which had been seized from an appellant after the civil forfeiture proceeding in which the County Attorney sought to…
In State v. Linares, No. 1 CA-CR 15-0810 (1/01/17), the Arizona Court of Appeals reversed a restitution award because the court held the award was for a cost incurred in the investigation of the crime, and not a cost incurred as a direct result of the defendant’s criminal actions. In an Arizona criminal…
The Arizona Court of Appeals in State v. Francis, No. 1 CA-CR 16-0051 (1/3/17), held that the crime of promoting prison contraband requires proof the defendant knew the item of property was in fact prison contraband. In the case, the defendant was detained at a Jail Annex on unrelated charges. Officers took the defendant’s…
The Real ID Act was passed by Congress in 2005 based on recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. The Act sets standards for state-issued identification accepted for the purposes of air travel or accessing restricted federal buildings, nuclear power plants and military bases/facilities, etc. Effective January 22, 2018, air travelers, etc. who do not…
In State v. Cope, No. 1 CA-CR 14-0596, (12/30/16), the Court of Appeals held that the offense of Shoplifting under 13A.R.S. § 1805.A.1, is a lesser included offense of Organized Retail Theft, 13 A.R.S. § 1819.A.1 and therefore the defendant could not be convicted of and punished for both offenses. The court went on…