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25 September
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Supreme Court Cases About Taking Blood Samples

Posted by Clint
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Supreme Court Cases About Taking Blood Samples

Blood samples taken from suspected drunk drivers have been the topic of several high-profile Supreme Court cases. Defendants have challenged whether compelled blood samples violate the Fifth Amendment and whether evidence of refusal to take a blood test violates the Fifth Amendment. In both cases, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government. In the case of Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757 (1966), a drunk driving suspect was arrested while in the hospital receiving treatment for injuries. At the hospital, a police officer ordered a doctor to take the driver’s blood sample. The sample was used as evidence, and...

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22 September
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Do I Have the Right to Assistance at Trial by an Expert Witness?

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Do I Have the Right to Assistance at Trial by an Expert Witness?

Criminal defendants who cannot afford to pay for an expert witness but need one to mount a defense may wonder if the Constitution grants them the right to expert witness assistance at trial. The Supreme Court has determined – twice – that at a minimum, there is a right to assistance of a mental health expert to evaluate the defendant in death penalty cases. Whether there is a right to expert witness assistance in non-death penalty cases, or whether there is a right to assistance by other types of experts, are open questions. In Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68 (1985),...

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20 September
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Exclusion of Identification Evidence at Trial

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Exclusion of Identification Evidence at Trial

Exclusion of identification evidence at trial can be a turning point for a criminal case. Getting the judge to agree that alleged eyewitnesses should not testify that they saw the defendant at the scene of the crime requires an evaluation of all the circumstances of the identification. In a 1977 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States explained the test for excluding identification evidence. The decision, Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98 (1977), confirmed earlier case law in explaining why a police officer viewing a single photograph and then making an in-court identification did not violate the Due Process Clause...

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18 September
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Warrant or No Warrant? Your Rights

Posted by Clint
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Warrant or No Warrant: Your Rights

Three key Supreme Court cases discuss the need for a warrant when police require a suspect to submit to blood and breath tests. The first addresses the amount of force used to compel a test, and the second two discuss whether a warrant is required for blood versus breath testing in DUI cases. Use of Force and Warrants In the case of Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165 (1952), the Supreme Court considered whether police may force a suspect to turn over evidence without a warrant. The facts are harrowing: sheriffs entered a man’s home without a warrant and saw capsules on...

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15 September
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Presumption of Innocence in DUI Cases

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Presumption of Innocence in DUI Cases

The presumption of innocence is the founding premise of the American criminal justice system. It states that you are presumed to be innocent of a crime unless and until you are found guilty in a court of law. In DUI cases, the presumption of innocence is important because drivers have many available defenses to DUI charges that may not be obvious at first, such as failure to follow proper breath test procedures. If drivers were presumed guilty of a DUI without the chance to establish defenses, their cases might turn out very differently. The case of Morissette v. United States, 342...

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13 September
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What Kinds of Roadside Questions Require a Miranda Warning?

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What Kinds of Roadside Questions Require a Miranda Warning?

Roadside questions from law enforcement – are they legal if you have not been given a Miranda warning? What kinds of questions can the police ask? Two key Supreme Court opinions in the cases of Berkemer v. McCarty and Pennsylvania v. Muniz address and (mostly) answer these common queries in the context of DUI cases. In Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420 (1984), a police officer pulled over a driver whose car was swerving in and out of its traffic lane. After the officer pulled over the driver and noticed his difficulty standing and slurred speech, the officer asked the driver...

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11 September
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Double Jeopardy and Drunk Driving Offenses

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Double Jeopardy and Drunk Driving Offenses

The Double Jeopardy clause in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents defendants from being tried twice for the same crime on the same facts after a conviction or acquittal. The Supreme Court has never addressed whether charging DUI defendants with multiple criminal and civil offenses for the same incident violates the Double Jeopardy clause of the Constitution. Multiple Supreme Court decisions regarding other crimes indicate that making this argument has at least some merit. In Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784 (1969), a defendant was tried for burglary and larceny. After he was convicted of burglary but acquitted...

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08 September
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Is It Legal for the Police to Destroy My Breath Sample?

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Is It Legal for the Police to Destroy My Breath Sample?

Charges of driving under the influence implicate legal issues from proper handling of evidence to confessions to warrants. In California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479 (1984), the United States Supreme Court considered whether releasing the air from breath samples after analysis violates the accused’s right to examine any potentially exonerating evidence. Trombetta involved several defendants arrested for driving under the influence, taken to a police station, and given breath tests. After they took the breath tests and the police analyzed and recorded the results, the police opened the breathalyzer chamber and purged out the air inside. The same is done for...

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06 September
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Is It Legal to Arrest Me for DUI When I Was Sitting in a Parked Car?

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Is It Legal to Arrest Me for DUI When I Was Sitting in a Parked Car?

In Oklahoma, you do not have to be driving a car to be arrested and convicted for DUI. Even “sleeping it off” while parked in a parking lot or driveway is enough. Oklahoma law is very specific about when you are in control of a vehicle, as you may be a danger to yourself or others if you make the decision to drive drunk. Specifically, the law states that you are guilty of DUI if you are under the influence and you “drive, operate, or [are] in actual physical control of a motor vehicle within [Oklahoma], whether upon public roads, highways,...

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04 September
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Sobriety Checkpoints in Oklahoma

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Sobriety Checkpoints in Oklahoma

Oklahoma law enforcement uses sobriety checkpoints to help locate intoxicated or impaired drivers. These checkpoints, also called roadblocks or mobile checkpoints, slow down and inconvenience sober drivers, but Oklahoma law enforcement point to checkpoints’ efficacy in prevention and deterrence for the general public. Sobriety checkpoints usually occur temporarily and in random locations, although law enforcement does publicize the locations of checkpoints ahead of time. At checkpoints, police or highway patrol stop drivers and briefly detain them to check driver’s licenses and sometimes ask a few questions such as “where are you driving from tonight?” The police are looking for signs of...

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