A driver is pulled over for driving erratically. Police suspect that he is intoxicated, but he has refused to submit to a breathalyzer test. So how can the arresting officer prove that the driver is intoxicated without violating the suspect’s constitutional rights?
This is the dilemma that Tyler G. McNeely created for officers when he was pulled over for speeding. Arresting officers decided to handle the situation by transporting McNeely to a local hospital, where they performed a blood test, without a warrant, and determined that he did, in fact, have a blood alcohol content that was two times the legal limit.
In the lawsuit that followed, Missouri v. McNeely, the State Supreme Court declared that the blood test was in violation of McNeely’s 4th amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure. They determined that blood alcohol content dissipation alone is not reason enough to warrant a warrant-less search. The ruling was based on the fact that, with advancements in technology, officers are able to easily obtain search warrants within 15-20 minutes via phone or the internet.
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