A New Jersey man was recently involved in a crash that resulted in the death of the driver of the car he hit. After the man under arrest was taken to the hospital, the arresting officer ordered a drug screening blood test, without the consent of the individual.
After a brief period of time, a second officer arrived at the hospital
and heard that the arresting officer had requested a blood draw without
the consent of the suspect. Concerned that the blood draw might be
considered illegal and inadmissible, the second officer got a warrant
and properly executed a second blood draw of the suspect.
Both of the blood draws generated test results that indicated the suspect was indeed under the influence of at least two substances (alcohol and marijuana). He was convicted of vehicular homicide. After his conviction his attorneys filed an appeal, stating that since the first blood draw was obtained without consent, it invalidated all subsequent blood draws. The courts disagreed. They did throw out the results of the first, improperly obtained blood draw, but allowed the second to stand as the procedure was followed correctly.
If you live in Burlington, Essex, Colchester, Winooski, Williston,
Shelburne or anywhere in the state of Vermont, and have been arrested or
charged with DUI or any crime, call Handy Law for aggressive and
experienced legal defense.
Blog
21Jul 2020