Jan 19, 2016
Minnesota Court Rules No Particularity Needed In DUI Blood Tests
In another blow to the Fourth Amendment, the Minnesota case State v Fawcett, the particularity requirement of search warrant does not need to be met. What does this mean to the lay person? Well, normally when a search warrant is issued it must be for certain items. In other words if a search warrant is obtained to find cocaine, and none is found, law enforcement cannot then research the premises for, say, marijuana, unless it happens to be on a table in plain view.
What the court decided in this case was that, Fawcett had his blood tested on a warrant looking for alcohol based on suspicion of DUI. The test came back negative. The blood was then tested for drugs, both prescription and illicit. The test came back positive and Fawcett was prosecuted for DUI based on those results.
This is apparently an erosion to basic Fourth Amendment rights. Blood contains DNA among many other highly private data. It will be interesting to see the result of further appeals of this ruling.
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 The Law Office of C Jordan Handy for aggressive and experienced legal defense.