Chicago DUI lawyer comments on the shortened process for DUI blood draws

This Chicago DUI lawyer has posted here, here, and here about blood testing for those suspected of DUI. Now comes news that law enforcement wants to speed up the process of forcibly taking your blood.

December 27, NYC, NY

Quicker Procedures Planned for Sobriety Tests on Drivers

The New York Police Department and the city’s five district attorneys announced on Sunday new procedures to speed the process of taking blood from drivers suspected of drunken driving who have refused to take sobriety tests.

The announcement came in response to a committee formed by the police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, after it took the police more than seven hours to take the blood of an officer who had fatally struck a woman and refused breath tests. No alcohol was detectable in the officer’s system when his blood was eventually taken.

Under the current guidelines, prosecutors cannot apply for a warrant to take the blood of someone suspected of drunken driving until the suspect has refused on two occasions to take a breath test after being arrested. The concern was that the process took too long, potentially allowing drunken drivers to sober up and escape prosecution.

Under the new guidelines, officers will be able to start the process of getting a warrant after the first time a driver refuses to take a breath test.

“These changes streamline the process to better assure that a culpable drunken driver does not escape justice through delay,” Mr. Kelly said in a written statement.

So what about those suspects that aren't culpable? For whatever reason it seems we never seem to get much traditional media coverage of people who are suspected and then released or acquitted because they weren't under the influence of anything. They just mistakenly believed they had a Constitution that protected their rights.