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DUI Blood Test

If you were asked to submit to a blood test after a DUI arrest or investigation, then contact the experienced criminal defense attorneys at Meltzer & Bell. We represent clients after a DUI arrest by officers with the Broward County Sheriff’s office and other local law enforcement agencies including the Metro Broward DUI Task Force, Florida Highway Patrol, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, and other area police departments from Hallandale, Lauderhill, Coral Springs, Sunrise, Plantation, Davie and Wilton Manors.

Blood testing in DUI investigations can arise for several reasons:

  1. the suspect goes to the hospital after a vehicle crash making a breath test or urine test impractical;
  2. the officer suspects the driver caused or contributed to a death or serious bodily injury of another person; or
  3. the suspect submits to the officers request for a breath or blood test but then demands an independent blood test.

During a DUI investigation, officers must follow very strict rules when it comes to requesting and administering a blood test. Any mistake might lead to the suppression or exclusion of this evidence. In some cases, the failure to comply with the proper testing procedures can lead on a result that is not accurate or reliable. In those cases, your criminal defense attorney can file and litigate motions to suppress or exclude the blood test results.

Talk with your criminal defense attorney about the benefits of retesting the blood sample. Learn more about other defenses that can be used in a blood test, especially in a case that involved a crash causing property damage, personal injury, or serious bodily injury. Contesting a blood test requires an experienced criminal defense attorney. Call (954) 765-6585 today to discuss your case. Let us put our experience to work for you.


DUI Blood Testing by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department

The standard operating procedures published by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department describe practices and procedures to be used in performing DUI investigations, arrests, necessary forms, and the use of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Breath Alcohol Testing (B.A.T.) Unit or DUI Task Force Deputies. The procedures were last revised in October of 2013.

For a DUI investigation in Fort Lauderdale involving only property damage or minor injury, the officer with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department will perform the DUI investigation or call for a deputy on the Broward County Sheriff’s Office DUI Task Force. If the case involves serious bodily injury, the officer with Fort Lauderdale Police Department will not call out an officer with the Broward Sheriff’s Office DUI Task Force.

If the suspect is transported to a hospital for any treatment, then the officer with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department is trained to obtain two blood sample kits with the accompanying DUI Blood Test Packet and follow the suspect to the hospital.

Upon making contact with the suspect at the hospital, the officer will attempt to obtain consent from the suspect to obtain two samples of the suspect’s blood for testing. The officer is trained to document the consent on the Department-approved consent form and audio recorded, when possible. The obtaining of consent to draw blood is NOT pursuant to the “Implied Consent” Statute and therefore the officer is trained that “Implied Consent” should not be read to the suspect at that time.

If the suspect fails to give consent, then the officer is trained to read the “Implied Consent” (Form Z-511B) to the suspect. The officer is trained NOT to advise the suspect that they are under arrest. If the suspect refuses the test, the officer will fill out the Refusal Form HSMV 72054 to be filed with the not in custody case.

If after “Implied Consent” is read, the suspect agrees to submit to the drawing of their blood, then the procedures described in the DUI Blood Kit Collection Procedure Checklist should be followed. In all cases involving blood testing the subject is not arrested but instead a “Not in Custody” case is prepared once the test results are known. The officer will obtain the name, address and telephone number, of any person who actually examines or treats the suspect including paramedics, triage nurses, physicians and anyone else who may draw blood for testing, for their report.

If samples are collected, the officer is trained to follow instructions on collecting the samples and securing the blood kits from form BA2:INS.2 that is included in each kit. The officer is suppose to fill out a Fort Lauderdale Toxicology Property Receipt (Form Z-624) and place the samples in the refrigerator in the evidence locker room. The samples are to be logged in on the appropriate log. The evidence section is normally responsible for arranging transportation of the samples to the Toxicologist Lab.

Once the results are received the officer will prepare all appropriate citations as well as a “Not In Custody” Probable Cause Affidavit, and place it in the DUI basket in the write-up room.


 DUI Cases Involving Death or Serious Bodily Injury in Fort Lauderdale, FL

In crashes involving death or serious bodily injury, as defined in F.S. Section 316.1933, where the officer has reason to believe that a vehicle driven by a person under the influence of alcohol or drugs has caused or contributed to the cause of death or serious bodily injury of a human being, an officer has the right to seek consent to draw blood samples.

If the subject refuses to give consent and the officer has probable cause to believe that a vehicle driven by a person under the influence of alcohol or drugs has caused or contributed to the cause of the death or serious bodily injury of a human being, then the officer shall obtain the blood samples via a search warrant.

Probable cause can be established by contact with the suspect at the scene or hospital or by interviewing witnesses at the scene. All reasonable efforts should be made to collect blood samples in an expeditious manner, as soon after the crash as possible. 

If the investigation is started by officers with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, then the Broward Sheriff’s Office DUI Task Force shall not be used to investigate DUI crashes with death or serious bodily injury.


Finding an Attorney for a DUI Blood Test in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

We represent clients after an arrest by officers with the Broward County Sheriff’s office and other local law enforcement agencies including the Metro Broward DUI Task Force, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Alcohol Beverage and Tobacco and police departments from Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale, Lauderhill, Coral Springs, Sunrise, Plantation, Davie and Wilton Manors.

If your DUI case involves a breath test sample and result then contact experienced criminal defense attorneys at Meltzer & Bell in Fort Lauderdale. We are familiar with the tactics used for blood testing by local agencies. We can put our experience to work for you. Call (954) 765-6585 today to discuss the case.

This article was last updated on Monday, January 4, 2016.

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