Source: http://www.voiceforthedefenseonline.com/story/drawing-blood-test-dwi-case
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 14:01:01+00:00

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Was the client under arrest at the time of the draw?
NO. If the client is not under arrest, then anyone can draw the client’s blood. Implied consent laws only apply if the client is under arrest.
For example, if the client goes to the hospital voluntarily after an accident, the hospital staff may draw his blood for medical reasons with his consent. It is up to the client at that point whether he cares or wants to determine if the blood drawer is a phlebotomist, doctor, nurse, etc. A client may also have blood drawn for general health reasons. In either scenario, the client may give consent to whomever to have his blood drawn—and wherever.
Another example may be when the client comes into a hos­pi­tal unconscious and is left to the expertise of the hospital staff in performing the necessary course of care. If the client is not un­der arrest, it doesn’t mean that a charge may not arise later, but it would require a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Grand Jury subpoena for the State to obtain the hospital records. Recently, an intoxication manslaughter client was taken to the hospital before police arrived; however, the police took a DPS blood kit to the hospital and demanded the client’s blood, wondering if the client was intoxicated. The client was unconscious, but not under arrest. Accordingly, the implied consent statute is not triggered until sufficient probable cause exists and a person is placed under arrest for DWI.4 So then, the Court must analyze whether any exigent circumstances existed to circumvent the warrant requirement, which will be discussed later.
YES. If the individual is under arrest, then figure out who is asking to draw the blood.
Was the draw done at the request of the police?
NO. If the client is under arrest, yet a police officer is not requesting the blood be drawn and tested, then anyone can draw the client’s blood, depending on the scenario.
For example, if your client submitted to a breath test, but doesn’t trust the Intoxilyzer result, the client may then make arrangements for his blood to be drawn and analyzed.5 This also assumes the police are cooperative in this request; however, if they are not, then that refusal to allow the client to submit a second sample may be admissible in trial.6 The client can have his blood drawn by “a physician, qualified technician, chemist, or registered professional nurse” within two hours of the arrest.7 This is a rare or unlikely scenario where the client is under arrest but the police are not asking for the blood to be drawn or tested and the client is willing to submit to a blood draw.
YES. If a police officer or other law enforcement official is asking for the blood to be drawn, is it with the client’s consent?
Did the client consent to the blood draw?
(a) Only a physician, qualified technician, chemist, registered pro­fessional nurse, or licensed vocational nurse may take a blood specimen at the request or order of a peace officer under this chapter. The blood specimen must be taken in a sanitary place.
(b) The person who takes the blood specimen under this chapter, or the hospital where the blood specimen is taken, is not liable for damages arising from the request or order of the peace officer to take the blood specimen as provided by this chapter if the blood specimen was taken according to recognized medical procedures. This subsection does not re­lieve a person from liability for negligence in the taking of a blood specimen.
(3) provide the equipment or supplies necessary to take a blood specimen.
Of course, as in any other search, consent, assuming it is truly voluntary, is always going to trump your defense challenges to the blood draw. Remember, though, the State must prove voluntary consent by clear and convincing evidence or the results may be suppressed.15 Voluntariness must be examined before any exigent circumstances to the warrant requirement.
NO. If the client is under arrest, police request a blood sample and the client does not consent, then the blood may only be drawn pursuant to a warrant absent exigent circumstances.
Did the police obtain a blood search warrant?
Section 724.017 dictates who may draw blood under the Transportation Code, but it is not an exclusive list. That being said, a judge could allow anyone to draw the blood; but judges, like police, are constrained by the Fourth Amendment, and the terms of a warrant must be reasonable. A judge could allow an EMT or phlebotomist to draw the blood by specifically including those job titles in the warrant, so long as it is reasonable under the circumstances.
Did the police draw blood without a warrant?
Post-McNeely, the State is now scrambling to prove-up exigency and fight the suppression of involuntary blood draws. Here, any argument made by a prosecutor regarding the inconvenience or impracticability of obtaining a search warrant prior to an involuntary blood draw should be attacked with Clay.24 In Clay, the arresting officer swore to a blood warrant probable-cause affidavit over the telephone and then faxed the signed affidavit to the judge.25 Arguably, it doesn’t get much easier to obtain a blood search warrant. Regardless of technology, however, if the state is arguing that a warrantless blood draw was done pur­suant to the exigency exception to the warrant requirement, you must know your adversary and the resources available to each county prior to litigating the issue.
7. Evidence of how long it would have taken to obtain a warrant based upon how long it typically takes in other cases.
Under McNeeley, if a warrant can be objectively reasonably obtained between the time of arrest and the time of the involuntary blood draw, then no exigency exists.27 If, on the other hand, the State alleges circumstances surrounding the arrest of your client created an exigent need to draw blood without a warrant, you will need to be able to rebut the argument and show why your specific facts do not rise to the level of exigency.
What type of record is the state relying upon?
In every case, whether by State lab or by hospital test, before a prosecutor reveals the results of your client’s test, or seeks to offer a chromatogram or any opinion of the result of the blood test, make sure that the state has complied with Bullcoming, and that the actual analyst who prepared the sample for testing is available for confrontation and cross-examination.30 Never acquiesce or allow a prosecutor to substitute testimony from any­one other than the actual analyst who prepared the client’s sample for testing. The procedures for proper site preparation, execution of the blood draw, preparation for analysis, maintenance of the instrument/machine, analysis of the sample, and interpretation of the results are each complex areas of attack, and are not addressed in this article.
Without even analyzing how the blood was drawn and tested, an informed trial attorney may sometimes attack and sup­press a client’s blood test long before a jury is present. Texas blood tests are ripe for such challenges. The key is in knowing how to systematically navigate through the quickly developing body of law. As you evaluate each case and ask the few simple questions highlighted in this article, remember to maintain your course and keep the judge up to speed and on course as well. Let your prosecutors know that any attempt to redirect your efforts will be met with knowledge of the law and firm insistence on justice, fairness, and the presumption of innocence.
1. Missouri v. McNeely, 569 U.S. ___, 133 S.Ct. 1552, 1555 (2013).
5. Tex. Transp. Code § 724.019.
6. Tex. Transp. Code § 724.062.
7. Tex. Transp. Code § 724.019(a).
8. See Thiessen, M. “Falsely Elevated Ethanol Results Using Hospital Enzymatic Assay Blood Testing,” TCDLA Voice for the Defense, Vol. 41, No. 3 (April 2012).
9. Tex. Transp. Code § 724.017 (West 2011).
10. Cavazos v. State, 969 S.W.2d 454, 456–57 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1998, pet. ref’d); Tex. Transp. Code § 724.017(a); see also Cordero v. State, 2009 WL 3231504 (Tex.App.—El Paso Oct. 7, 2009).
11. State v. Robinson, 334 S.W.3d 776 (Tex.Crim.App. 2011); Tex. Code of Crim. Proc. § 38.23 (West 2011).
12. See Krause v. State, 368 S.W.3d 863 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2012)(EMT); State v. Laird, 38 S.W.3d 707 (Tex.Crim.App. 2000)(paramedic) (emphasis added).
13. Krause v. State, 2013 WL 1890731 (Tex.Crim. App. 2013)(reversing Court of Appeals and allowing EMT to be proven up as qualified technician).
14. House Bill 434 (Effective September 1, 2013) http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/83R/billtext/html/HB00434S.htm.
15. State v. Ibarra, 953 S.W.2d 242, 243 (Tex.Crim.App. 1997). citing Paprskar v. State, 484 S.W.2d 731, 737 (Tex.Crim.App. 1972).
16. Hughes v. State, 843 S.W.2d 591, 593 (Tex.Crim.App. 1992); Keen v. State, 626 S.W.2d 309, 312 (Tex.Crim.App. 1981); Davis v. State, 27 S.W.3d 664, 667 (Tex.App.—Waco 2000, pet. ref’d).
17. Jones v. State, 833 S.W.2d 118, 123 (Tex.Crim.App. 1992); Oubre v. State, 542 S.W.2d 875, 877 (Tex.Crim.App. 1976); Mayfield v. State, 800 S.W.2d 932, 934 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1990, no pet.).
18. Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 156, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978).
19. Harris v. State, 227 S.W.3d 83 (Tex.Crim.App. 2007); Dancy v. State, 728 S.W.2d 772 (Tex.Crim.App. 1987); Cates v. State, 120 S.W.3d 352 (Tex.Crim. App. 2003); Jones v. State, 907 S.W.2d 850 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1995).
20. State v. Johnston, 336 S.W.3d 649 (Tex.Crim.App. 2011), cert. denied, 132 S.Ct. 212 (2011).
21. Hereford v. State, 302 S.W.3d 903 (Tex.App.—Amarillo 2009, aff’d.).
22. Missouri v. McNeely, 569 U.S. ___, 133 S.Ct. at 1555–56 (2013).
24. Clay v. State, 382 S.W.3d 465 (Tex.App.—Waco 2012), review granted (June 27, 2012).
26. Russell v. State, 717 S.W.2d 7, 9 (Tex.Crim.App. 1986)(citing Mattei v. State, 455 S.W.2d 761, 765–66 (Tex.Crim.App. 1970)).
27. McNeely, 133 S.Ct. at 1557–60.
28. State v. Johnston, 336 S.W.3d 649 (Tex.Crim.App. 2011), cert. denied, 132 S.Ct. 212 (2011)(sanitary); Jackson v. State, 2009 WL 1552890 (Tex.App.—El Paso 2009); State v. Laird, 38 S.W.3d 707 (Tex.Crim.App. 2000)(paramedic); Krause v. State, 368 S.W.3d 863 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2012)(EMT); Krause v. State, 2013 WL 1890731 (Tex.Crim.App. 2013); House Bill 434 (Effective September 1, 2013).
29. Kelly v. State, 824 S.W.2d 568 (Tex.Crim.App. 1992).
30. Bullcoming v. New Mexico, __U.S__, 131 S.Ct. 2705, 180 L.Ed.2d 610 (2011); cf Williams v. Illinois, __U.S.__, 132 S.Ct. 2221, 183 L.Ed.2d 89 (2012).

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