Blood-Draw and
Traffic Offense Decisions
Stacey M. Soule, Assistant State Prosecuting Attorney
[email protected]
Blood Draw
1) News Reports of Mandatory Blood Draw Statute
2) Overview of Texas Court System
3) Texas Penal Code Section 724.011; Mandatory Blood Draw Statute
a) Accident Due to Intoxication and officer reasonably believes
i) Death or will die
ii) Serious Bodily Injury
iii) Medical Care for bodily injury
b) At time of arrest officer reasonably believes
i) DWI with child, intoxication assault, or intoxication manslaughter
ii) Two or more convictions for DWI, FWI, BWI, assembling or operating park
ride while intoxicated
4) Breithaupt v. Abram, 352 U.S. 432 (1957); Due Process
5) Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757 (1966); Fourth Amendment
a) Justified?
b) Reasonable means and manner?
6) Fifth Amendment; Schmerber; Turpin v. State, 606 S.W.2d 907 (Tex. Crim. App. 1980)
7) Aliff v. State, 627 S.W.2d 166 (Tex. Crim. App. 1982); non-intrusive, exigency, PC for
arrest
8) State v. Hardy, 963 S.W.2d 516 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997); medical records obtained via
subpoena
9) Beeman v. State, 86 S.W.3d 613 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001); warrant and statutory bases
10) State v. Neesly, 239 S.W.3d 780 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007); specimen means “usable”
one
11) State v. Johnston, 336 S.W.3d 649 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011); reasonableness of
officer/medic drawn blood at stationhouse under Schmerber’s means and manner
factors
12) Texas Transportation Code Sections 724.012 and 724.017; qualified technician
required
a) Krause v. State, 405 S.W.3d 82 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013); EMT phlebotomist
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Stacey M. Soule, Assistant State Prosecuting Attorney
13) Missouri v. McNeely, 133 S. Ct. 1551 (2013); dissipation not per se exigency
14) McNeely’s aftermath
a) Mandatory Draw Statute
b) Aliff and Beeman
15) State v. Villarreal, PD-0306-14; mandatory draw under repeat offender without a
warrant violates the Fourth Amendment
a) State filed petition for cert. in U.S. S. Ct.
16) Pending cases
a) Cole: exigency and methamphetamine
b) Ruiz: implied consent for unconscious person
c) Huse: Does HIPPA create a privacy right in medical records?
17) Best Practice; get a warrant
Traffic Offenses
1) Texas Transportation Code Section 544.004: left for passing
a. Abney v. State, 394 S.W.3d 542 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013)
b. Jaganathan v. State, PD-1189-14
c. Applicable defense?
2) Texas Transportation Code Section 545.363; impeding traffic
a) Delafuente v. State, 414 S.W.3d 173 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013)
3) Texas Transportation Code Section 545.062; tailgating
a) Ford v. State, 158 S.W.3d 488 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005)
4) Texas Transportation Code Section 502.404; license plate display
a) Spence v. State, 325 S.W.3d 646 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010)
5) Texas Transportation Code Sections 545.104 and 545.103; turning and changing
lanes
a) Mahaffey v. State, 316 S.W.3d 633 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010); turning
b) Mahaffey v. State, 364 S.W.3d 908 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012); changing lanes
6) Texas Transportation Code Section545.058; driving on improved shoulder
a) Lothrop v. State, 372 S.W.3d 187 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012)
7) Vehicle as a Deadly Weapon; Texas Penal Code Section 1.07(a)(17)(B)
a) Sierra v. State, 280 S.W.3d 250 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009)
8) Criminally Negligent Homicide; Texas Penal Code Section 19.05
a) Montgomery v. State, 369 S.W.3d 188 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012)
9) Pending Case: Leming, PD-0072-15; maintaining a single lane
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Stacey M. Soule, Assistant State Prosecuting Attorney