In Missouri v. McNeely, the United States Supreme Court rejected the government’s argument that the possible dissipation of alcohol in a DUI suspect’s blood will always create an exigent circumstance justifying a warrantless blood draw. In an 8-1 decision, the Court held that the 1966 decision Schmerber v. California did not establish a per se exception to the requirement of a search warrant to forcibly extract blood from an unwilling DUI subject. The Court ruled that while the dissipation of ... Read More »
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California Gets Tough on Nurse DUI Laws
Nurse DUI Laws in California It used to be the case that nurses would not run into a problem with the California Board of Registered Nursing for a first offense DUI conviction. At most, the nurse might be asked to submit a copy of the police report and explain what he or she is doing to avoid any future problems with the law. Although this remains generally the case, formal disciplinary action may be instituted by the Attorney General where ... Read More »
California DMV Study – How To Obtain More DUI Conviction
The California Department of Motor Vehicles recently published the resultsof its six year study on DUI conviction rates throughout the State of Californiaentitled: AN EVALUATION OF FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH VARIATION IN DUI CONVICTION RATES AMONG CALIFORNIA COUNTIES, December 2011. The study’s recommendations focus on ways to achieve more convictions; reduce the rate of negotiated reduction of charges; obtain faster convictions; and prosecute more prescription medication cases. The study concluded with the following recommendations: 1. Reduce the number of delays and ... Read More »