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Exigent circumstances justified taking defendant's blood without warrant

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Warrantless taking of blood in a DUI with serious bodily injury case was reasonable because time was running, and the officer feared complete dissipation of alcohol in the blood, and the officer had plenty of probable cause to believe defendant was under the influence because he failed field sobriety tests and refused a breath test. The blood was taken at a hospital. This was reasonable under Schmerber and state law. State v. Johnson, 2008 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 18 (February 8, 2008): In all, more than two and a half hours passed between the time of the accident and the time Johnson's blood was drawn. During this time, his blood-alcohol concentration was continually diminishing due to the natural dissipation of alcohol. The traffic officer testified that he believed evidence of Johnson's blood-alcohol concentration would be destroyed if he waited to draw blood until after a search warrant was obtained...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 12, 2008 (boomark / email).