Noboy wants a drunk on the road. The problem is the definition of "is"...
Posted on 07/02/2008 7:00:52 PM PDT by buccaneer81
Holiday DUI suspects risk forced blood test Court's OK likely if breath exam is refused Wednesday, July 2, 2008 9:35 PM By Kathy Lynn Gray THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Suspected drunken drivers won't be able to "just say no" to blood-alcohol tests in Columbus over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Police have set up a "no-refusal weekend," meaning that anyone who refuses to take a breath-analysis test will face a blood test instead, courtesy of two local judges on call to sign warrants.
Officers will take suspects to a local hospital to await the warrant and the blood draw.
Ohio law requires blood to be drawn within three hours of the alleged violation. Without some kind of blood-alcohol reading, the court has only the officer's word that the driver was drunk.
"The ability to refuse being tested is a serious problem in enforcement," said Lt. Edward DeVennish, head of the traffic bureau.
"The objective of the weekend is to get awareness of the problems of drunk driving out there and maybe influence someone who would otherwise drive drunk. We lose too many people to drunk drivers."
The summer holiday weekends of July Fourth, Memorial Day and Labor Day are among the worst for drunken-driving crashes. Last year in Ohio, 10 people died over the Fourth of July holiday, said Sgt. Anne Ralston of the State Highway Patrol. Six of the deaths were alcohol-related.
Sgt. Jeff Sowards, who's in charge of Columbus' push this weekend, said extra officers will be on patrol. Franklin County Municipal Judges Carrie Glaeden and Ted Barrows have volunteered to sign the warrants.
Both signed warrants over Memorial Day weekend, the first time Columbus tried a no-refusal effort. Three warrants forcing people to submit to blood tests were signed that weekend, Sowards said.
Police departments in other cities in Ohio and across the nation have conducted no-refusal weekends.
Carl Booth, coordinator of the Franklin County DUI Task Force, said Columbus' efforts are part of a countywide push to reduce alcohol-related crashes. He said 24 agencies will increase patrols and put in about 600 overtime hours this weekend.
Patrols will start earlier in the day because drunken drivers appear earlier on the Fourth. Normally, 80 percent of drunken-driving arrests are made after midnight and 17 percent between 4 p.m. and midnight. But last year on the Fourth, 45percent of arrests were in the earlier period and 50 percent after midnight, Booth said
The task force will have a sobriety checkpoint from 9 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday at Norton Road and W. Broad Street in Prairie Township, west of I-270.
Columbus police are encouraging people to call 614-645-4545 if they see a driver who appears to be drunk, or to call 911 if they see a driver seriously endangering others, such as driving the wrong way on a freeway.
I guess they really are trying to sap and impurify our precious bodily fluids.
But if it saves the life of one child, it's worth it. /sarc
Where is General Ripper when we need him?
If they take my blood, I want some of theirs in return.
How many cases are these lames losing at trial ? If it is like most jurisdictions , test or no test a very small percent . This is a political stunt .
Will unaccompanied women under 45 still have the option of recieving a semen sample in lieu of giving the blood sample. With the new AG things may have changed.
Noboy wants a drunk on the road. The problem is the definition of "is"...
It won't be long. . .
And when no alcohol is found in the blood sample, you can appeal the issuance of the warrant and have it overturned. Then sue for illegal search.
“The ability to refuse being tested is a serious problem in enforcement,” said Lt. Edward DeVennish, head of the traffic bureau.”
Translation: Free people are such a pain. Why can’t you just do what your betters tell you to do?
Marc Dann is out. The new AG is a chick.
Good luck with that. After all, the government meant well. It was to protect the children.../sarc.
Pre-determined warrants eh? This is some scary thinking on the part of the Justice Department.
If it is like the HPD crime lab, expect errors along the way.
Where is the warrant to search businesses for harboring illegal aliens this Fourth of July weekend?
I knew someone in Texas who was in a stopped car (had pulled off the road in a deserted area for boyfriend to use the restroom - not smart, shoulda gone to 7-11). She refused a breath test....had had 2 beers to drink 2 hours earlier...they whipped out a warrant....had to have the blood test at a hospital....had to spend the night in jail. An attorney got the DUI charge dismissed, but she still had her driver’s license revoked for 6 months because she had refused the breath test. This is Texas law. Kinda sucks! Oh, the blood test was contaminated or lost by the hospital lab or something (um huh) according to the Department of Public Safety.
Cop is way cool in glasses and black, wonder if he has pimples too?
Same thing will happen in California, only they don’t need a warrant.
Great analogy. Doesn’t exist apparently. I’ll bet they go after people setting off fireworks this weekend for celebration of our FReedom though. (Cop shops need gas too)
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