Police departments across Texas are instituting "No Refusal" policies more and more to forcefully extract blood samples from citizens accused of driving while intoxicated. As a result, many potential clients ask me, "Should I just plead guilty since the police officer took my blood?" The answer is NO!
The police and local District Attorneys began pushing for more mandatory blood draws in DWI cases because they mistakenly believed it would force more people to plead "guilty" after being arrested fro DWI. This has not been the case, especially with our law office. We have trials in "blood test" cases routinely and guess what? We win them quite often!
Each case is different, but mandatory blood draw cases typically cause more problems for prosecutors that other DWI cases. There a many reasons this is true. But, typically speaking it is harder for the prosecutors to win these blood draw cases for the following reasons:
1) Just because the officer obtained a blood sample doesn't mean that the results will ever be seen by a judge or a jury. There are many legal motions that may prevent the blood result from ever coming into evidence;
2) The prosecutors must subpoena the nurse who drew the blood and the lad technician who analyzed the blood to court, if they don't show then the results are not admissible in court;
3) In addition to showing up for court, the nurse and the lab technician must prove that the followed the proper procedure when extracting and analyzing the blood. This is not always the case and if procedures where not followed properly, the blood is not admissible;
4) The prosecutors must prove the blood result is relevant. A forced blood test usually takes hours before it can be completed. The reason is that the officer must get a warrant signed from a judge. This could take hours. A blood result taken 2 or 3 hours after a person is stopped may not have any relevancy regarding intoxication.
5) The prosecutors must prove the blood sample was not tainted in any way. Think about this, if a doctor told you that he/she tested blood from you and you needed surgery based on the results, BUT, you then learned that the blood sat around a lab (unrefrigerated) for 20 to 30 days from the time it was taken from your body until the time the doctor did testing, would you have surgery or get a second opinion? You would probably get a second opinion. This is exactly what happens to most peoples blood that are arrested fro DWI. The officer mails it to a lab, via regular mail and not refrigerated in any way. Then the blood could sit at the lab for over 20 days before being tested!
6) Lastly, citizens do not like the fact that police officers can strap a person down to a chair and stick a needle in his or her arm against the person's will. As a result, most jurors will look for any reason to legally find you not guilty.
So, ultimately the answer is "No." Don't simply plead "guilty" because an officer forcefully took your blood. Consult an experienced DWI lawyer asap!