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TX: Failure to inquire into defendant?s medical history before a BAC blood draw did not make the blood draw unreasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Failure to inquire into defendant’s medical history before a BAC blood draw did not make the blood draw unreasonable under Schmerber. State v. Johnston, 2011 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 388 (March 16, 2011), revg State v. Johnston, 305 S.W.3d 746 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2009): Implicit within Schmerber is that each suspect bears the burden of showing that a venipuncture blood draw is not a reasonable means to obtain a blood alcohol level assessment as to him or her, individually. And in the absence of any record evidence showing that a venipuncture blood draw would not be reasonable in a particular case due to a verifiable medical condition, we will presume that the choice to administer such a test is reasonable. A DWI suspect, naturally familiar with his or her own medical history, is in the best position to identify and disclose any peculiar medical condition that could result in risk, trauma, or more than de minimus pain if a blood draw were to be performed...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 19, 2011 (boomark / email).