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AZ: DUI on scene blood draw was not unreasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The DUI scene blood draw by an Arizonz State Police phlebotomist was reasonable on these facts, so it did not violate Schmerber. The program as a whole had already been sustained, and the trial court erred in holding that it caused an unreasonable search. State v. Noceo, 08-315 (Ariz. Ct. App. December 15, 2009): ¶8 Here, we are presented with facts nearly identical to those in May, yet the trial court suppressed the evidence based on its findings regarding the phlebotomy program as a whole rather than the circumstances of Noceo’s blood draw in particular. The fundamental question with respect to compelled blood draws and the Fourth Amendment, however, is not whether the blood draw program as a whole is reasonable—a question our state legislature implicitly has answered in A...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on December 17, 2009 (boomark / email).