No warrant for DWI blood for DWI tickets
issued before 2013. State v, Jones __ NJ
Super. __ (App. Div. 2014) A-0793-13TI
The court granted the State leave to appeal
from an order that suppressed the results of a blood sample taken without a
warrant prior to Missouri v. McNeely 133 S. Ct. 1552, (2013), and now
reverse. Defendant caused a multiple vehicle accident, resulting in personal
injuries that required hospitalization. Emergency personnel took approximately
thirty minutes to extricate the unconscious defendant from her vehicle and the
police investigation took several hours.
It is undisputed that the blood sample was
obtained consistent with New Jersey law that existed at the time. The court
need not decide whether McNeely should be applied retroactively because the
facts support a warrantless blood sample even if McNeely applies. Although
McNeely rejected a per se exigency rule, it adhered to the totality of the Circumstances
analysis set forth in Schmerber v. California 86 S. Ct. 1826, 1836,
(1966), stating the metabolization of alcohol was an "essential"
factor in the analysis.
Further, the Court noted that the facts in
Schmerber which like here, included an accident, injuries requiring
hospitalization, and an hours-long police investigation, were sufficient to
justify a warrantless blood sample.
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