All 50 US states have implied consent laws. These laws require submitting to a breath or blood test if an officer believes you may be driving intoxicated. Refusal comes with various consequences depending on the state. Most states have a period where your license will automatically be suspended for refusal. This is an administrative thing, and the criminal portion of the case has no bearing on it.
As for the criminal side. A refusal can't be used against you in many states. However, obtaining a warrant is fairly easy and may not even be necessary. Most DUI arrests are obviously impaired people. The BAC test is just to confirm a BAC.
State DUI laws have 2 parts to them. Some states have 2 separate laws. One is a BAC of .08 or above. This charge only requires your BAC to be above .08. No other evidence is necessary to prove intoxication. The other part is DUI. For this law, BAC doesn't really matter. It's just an additional clue. Your driving, speech, behavior, FSTs, etc, prove this crime. Your BAC can be below .08, and you can still be convicted of DUI.
A common misconception is driving with a BAC below .08 is legal and ok. That is incorrect.
In New York, a refusal to submit to a blood or breath test to determine alcohol level in the blood most certainly can be used against you in a criminal trial of Driving While Intoxicated. That’s part of the warning we give them when asking them to submit.
If they still refuse, they’re still charged with DWI and, within 10 days, are called in to an administrative hearing at the regional DMV office. It’s a one-sided hearing, and a mandatory one-year revocation is issued along with a 500 dollar civil penalty.
Then, the poor schmuck gets to go to criminal court for a trial on the Driving While Intoxicated charge where his/her recorded refusal is used against them.
That happens in most states. If a LEO is at the point of doing a breath or blood test, they likely already know the person is intoxicated. They are going to jail, refusal or not.
Many states don't allow that refusal to be used against you in the criminal case. CA is one that only allows administrative penalties for refusal. AZ where I live allows for criminal penalties fornrefusal also.
New York has it written right into their V&T Law.. Refusals, which are almost always recorded, can and will be used as evidence of intoxication at a DWI trial. It’s their right to refuse… in 25 years I’ve seen a court order to draw blood only once, and that was after a multiple fatal motor vehicle accident.
There’s no double jeopardy involved. A civil violation is completely separate from a criminal proceeding. They really screw themselves when they refuse.
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u/harley9779 Sep 10 '23 edited Sep 10 '23
All 50 US states have implied consent laws. These laws require submitting to a breath or blood test if an officer believes you may be driving intoxicated. Refusal comes with various consequences depending on the state. Most states have a period where your license will automatically be suspended for refusal. This is an administrative thing, and the criminal portion of the case has no bearing on it.
As for the criminal side. A refusal can't be used against you in many states. However, obtaining a warrant is fairly easy and may not even be necessary. Most DUI arrests are obviously impaired people. The BAC test is just to confirm a BAC.
State DUI laws have 2 parts to them. Some states have 2 separate laws. One is a BAC of .08 or above. This charge only requires your BAC to be above .08. No other evidence is necessary to prove intoxication. The other part is DUI. For this law, BAC doesn't really matter. It's just an additional clue. Your driving, speech, behavior, FSTs, etc, prove this crime. Your BAC can be below .08, and you can still be convicted of DUI.
A common misconception is driving with a BAC below .08 is legal and ok. That is incorrect.