Southern Maine Criminal Lawyer Blog

In DUI cases police routinely order people to take breath tests. For years no one gave much thought to whether such orders are legal. The 2013 case of Missouri v. McNeely may be changing that situation.

In McNeely the Supreme Court held that a warrant was required before a blood test could be taken against a person’s will. The argument went that sticking a needle into someone’s arm and taking their blood to analyze it invades a person’s privacy. Protecting personal privacy from government intrusion is the purpose of the Fourth Amendment. That amendment says that individuals are protected from government intrusion “in their persons, houses, papers and effects” from unreasonable searches.

As a general rule a search is unreasonable unless the police first obtain a warrant for that search.  The warrant must be based upon probable cause to believe the search will turn up evidence of criminal activity. A warrant is in order from a judge or magistrate that says there is enough evidence to believe a search will produce evidence of a crime, and therefore a search is allowed. When police search without a warrant it is presumed to be an unreasonable search unless it fits into a recognized exception to the warrant requirement.

A little more than a year ago the United States Supreme Court decided a case that is having a significant effect on DUI cases around the country. In April, 2013, the Court decided the case of Missouri v. McNeely, 133 S.Ct. 1552, 185 L.Ed.2d 696 (2013). This post, and several posts to come, will look at McNeely and discuss its effect on DUI cases. This post will provide a background to that discussion.

Police in the state of Missouri stopped Mr. McNeely because he was driving erratically. After field sobriety tests he was arrested for DUI. The officer took him to the station for a breath test. Mr. McNeely refused that test. The officer then took him to the hospital where he was given a blood test, despite his refusals. The officer did not obtain a warrant for the blood test. Mr. McNeely’s blood test result was over the legal limit.

Mr. McNeely’s lawyer filed a motion to suppress the blood test result. He argued in that motion that the police were required to get a warrant to draw Mr. McNeely’s blood, before they drew his blood. Because they did not obtain a warrant that blood draw violated the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Mr. McNeely’s lawyer asked the court to exclude the test because of that constitutional violation.

Much to my surprise the Maine Legislature voted overwhelmingly to reject extending the lookback for OUI’s from ten years to fifteen.  In my last post I agreed with the prosecutors that a better idea was to make it a felony for anyone who gets an OUI, and who previously had an OUI conviction.  Extending the lookback would not affect many problem drinkers.  Treating prior DUI felons as felons for the next DUI limits the extended lookback to people who have demonstrated themselves to be a danger to others.

I suspect our representatives also looked at the added cost of jailing people and decided it was a bad bargain.  The state budget is a mess and there is little money for jailing more people.

The State of Maine is debating whether to increase the look back time for DUI convictions. The look back is the amount of time that must pass after a DUI before the next one is considered a first offense. The present look back in Maine is 10 years. That means if you get a DUI today, and you had one within the last 10 years, this one counts as a second offense.

The legislature is considering whether to extend the look back to 15 years. The justification offered by the legislator who submitted the bill is that people who have DUI’s should be treated very harshly if there is ever a subsequent offense. He did not offer any information to suggest that there was a problem by limiting the look back to 10 years. It seems he pulled the number out of a hat.

Another approach, one urged by the District Attorneys, is that the normal look back for misdemeanor DUI’s should remain in 10 years. But anyone convicted of a felony DUI (DUI with serious bodily injury or death, or a third or subsequent offense DUI) should have every subsequent DUI treated as a felony.