Tennessee Implements "No Refusal" Law

September 15, 2012

The holiday season will be much different for law enforcement agencies across the state as a new law will enable police to force alleged DUI offenders to submit to chemical testing. Tennessee is the latest state to allow "no refusal" procedures after a driver is arrested for DUI. "No refusal" refers to procedures that prevent drivers from avoiding chemical tests that would show evidence of a crime.

Drivers arrested for DUI are allowed to take a blood test, as opposed to providing a urine sample or submitting to a breath test to determine whether their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is over the legal limit. With the time that it takes to summon medical personnel to take a sample, the drivers' (BAC) may be lower than when he or she was first arrested, and they may not be "legally" drunk.

Some drivers may refuse to take any of the tests offered, despite the penalties they would be subject to under Tennessee's implied consent law. (Essentially, a suspect's driver's license can be suspended for refusing a chemical test). While the administrative penalty may affect the license, a driver could avoid criminal charges, potential jail time and harsher penalties in the future.

Under the "no refusal" law, a judge can quickly review (and approve) search warrants so that on-site medical staff can take blood samples and measure a driver's BAC; thus preventing suspected drunk drivers from concealing DUI evidence.

Proponents of the new law believe that "no refusal" will keep drunk drivers off the road and ultimately save lives. However, a number of civil liberties groups believe that law enforcement will disregard important constitutional rights regarding searches. To have grounds for a search warrant, an officer must provide reasonable, articulable facts that lead him or her to believe that a crime has been committed, and that important evidence will be lost without permission to collect a blood sample. They are concerned about that bias may cloud officers' judgments and lead to improper warrants being issued.

Another concern was that suspects would unwittingly provide their DNA to criminal databases for potential use in future (yet unrelated) investigations. Tennessee law enforcement agencies commonly submit DNA samples to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a national forensic database that allows federal and state crime laboratories to share information.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Public Safety released statements saying that samples acquired through search warrants are only tested for blood alcohol content; but civil liberties groups maintain that undocumented uses of blood samples by law enforcement are concerning.

If you have been charged with drunk driving based on a "no refusal" warrant, and have questions about your defenses, an experienced attorney can advise you.

Article provided by Law Office of Kenneth W. Brashier
Visit us at www.brashierlaw.com