I got pulled over for DUI. Can a police officer draw my blood without a warrant?

Short answer, maybe. A police officer might be able to draw your blood without a warrant, but will likely obtain a warrant before drawing your blood.

In April of 2013, in the case of Missouri v. McNeely, the United States Supreme Court held that a police officer is required to obtain a warrant before drawing your blood because your body’s natural metabolism of alcohol doesn’t create the immediate necessity required to permit a warrantless blood draw.

However, while police are generally required to obtain a warrant before drawing your blood, there are two situations where a police officer can probably draw your blood without a warrant.

First, a police officer can probably draw your blood without a warrant based on the “implied consent” you gave by driving on Idaho’s roads. In other words, by driving on Idaho’s roads you are consenting to a blood alcohol content (BAC) test because of the benefits you receive from using those roads. While there are strong arguments against this theory, some Idaho courts still use it to uphold warrantless blood draws.

Second, a police officer is allowed draw your blood without a warrant when exigent circumstances exist. Exigent circumstances are those situations that demand immediate police action. The exigency of every situation is judged on a case-by-case basis with special attention paid to the circumstances that lead up to the situation.  

So, for instance, a few situations where a warrantless blood draw would be allowed include where you were involved in a car crash or where a child is present in your vehicle.

Even if exigent circumstances don’t exist, it’s easy for a police officer to get a warrant to draw your blood. As long as a police officer can show that there is probable cause to suggest you under the influence of alcohol, a warrant can be obtained.

Once probable cause is shown, a warrant is only a phone call or two away. Either the arresting police officer or a local prosecutor will call the judge, explain the facts of the situation supporting probable cause, and the judge will normally issue a warrant to draw your blood.

However, if a judge does not issue a warrant and the police draw your blood anyway, your Fourth Amendment rights might have been violated and it’s possible that your BAC results from your blood draw cannot be used as evidence against you.

BOISE (AP) — Members of Occupy Boise are asking a federal judge to order the state to pay more than $175,000 in attorney costs and legal fees after the group won a lawsuit over rules designed to curb protests and rallies around the Capitol.

Under federal law, the winner of a lawsuit can generally seek to recover attorney's fees and costs from the losing side. The fees and costs must be approved by a judge and they can be appealed, just like the verdict itself.

Occupy Boise and the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho asked U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill to order the state of Idaho to pay them nearly $176,000 to cover the cost of the attorneys on the case and another $2,400 for transcripts, audio recordings and other court costs. The payment is justified, Occupy Boise contends, because they won the case and because the lawsuit will protect the rights of those planning future protests at or near the Idaho Statehouse.

The state attorney general's office has not yet filed a response to Occupy Boise's motion. Kris Bivens-Cloyd, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, said the office did not have any comment on the case.

The lawsuit stems from the state's response when protesters who took part in the Occupy Boise movement set up a tent city on Idaho's Capitol Mall near the Statehouse in November 2011. The tent city was part of a national movement of protests expressing discontent with the government's failure to protect U.S. citizens from the housing bubble's collapse while bailing out Wall Street.

The tent city and protest were still underway in 2012, when Idaho Republicans began arguing that the prolonged event wasn't appropriate and that the encampment's occupants were creating a mess. GOP lawmakers tried to evict the protesters by passing a law allowing them to be forcibly removed, but the protesters immediately sued in federal court. Winmill eventually ruled that the Legislature's law violated free speech rights.

In 2013, the Idaho Legislature once again sought new laws targeting the Occupy Boise movement by putting time limits on overnight protests, and Winmill once again found the laws unconstitutional. The judge also ordered the state to comply with his decision forever, siding firmly with the protesters' free speech rights.

In their motion requesting attorneys' fees and court costs, the ACLU attorneys noted that Occupy Boise prevailed "again and again" and the court ruling would benefit others in the future by protecting demonstrations and deterring the state from interfering with free speech rights.

Juvenile’s Rights and Frequently Asked Questions

If your son or daughter has been charged with an offense, he or she has the right to:

·         Know what the charges are.

·         Remain silent.  No one can make him or her talk about the case.

·         Have legal representation.

·         Admit the charges

·         Deny the charges and have an Evidentiary Hearing before a Judge.  There is no right to a jury trial for juvenile charges.

·         Face and cross examine witnesses.

·         Present evidence in his or her own defense.

·         Testify if he or she wishes; however he or she does not have to testify.

·         Appeal the Judge’s decision. 

 How will this charge affect my child’s ability to go to college?

        Most young people seeking to attend college rely on Federal Student Aid to assist in paying for tuition. In some circumstances a conviction for drug possession or drug distribution may prevent your child from receiving Federal Student Aid. Fortunately, convictions that have been dismissed, and that occurred before a young person reaches age 18 or before he or she started receiving Federal Student Aid, do not prevent your child from receiving Federal Student Aid. www.fafsa.ed.gov. However, these cases must be dismissed to prevent any difficulties with federal financial aid. Please call for a free consultation to discuss dismissal and of your child’s case with me.



How will this charge affect my child’s ability to get into the military?

        The answer to this question varies depending on which branch of the Armed Forces your child seeks to enlist in. Generally, felony convictions make a person ineligible for military service. Also, persons who have any “significant” criminal history are ineligible for military service. The military does have a waiver process for applicants with criminal histories, but a waiver of ineligibility based on criminal history is not automatic. You should work closely with your recruiter and hire a good criminal attorney if your son or daughter is in this position.

 

Will a charge in Juvenile Court stay on my child’s record?

Not necessarily. There are ways that your child can keep a juvenile conviction off his or her record. First, if convicted, your attorney can negotiate an Informal Adjustment in your child’s case. Ultimately, this allows the judge to dismiss your child’s case upon the successful completion of his or her sentencing terms. If granted an informal adjustment dismissal, your child’s record will merely reflect that the crime has been dismissed.

by Stephanie Zepelin

Bio | Email | Follow: @ktvbstephanie KTVB.COM

Posted on April 1, 2014 at 9:25 PM

Updated Tuesday, Apr 1 at 10:31 PM



BOISE -- In a legislative session filled with controversy and tension, one bill made it through the legislature without one dissenting vote.

Senate Bill 1240a, written by Republican Senator Jim Rice, Democrat Senator Elliot Werk, and Republican Representative Lynn Luker, aims to protect Idahoans' privacy by limiting when law enforcement can collect DNA samples.

Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling that would allow law enforcement to get a DNA sample upon arrest. This case originated in another state, but Idaho lawmakers wanted to make sure it doesn't happen here.

"Once we start down the road of simply collecting DNA upon arrest, that's a pretty slippery slope," said Werk. "In Idaho law it is very, perfectly clear now that it's only upon conviction, a criminal conviction, or with a court order."

If you are convicted of a felony, your DNA is collected and put into a national database. Prosecutors also wanted to make sure the bill allowed them to get DNA of certain suspects.

"Let's say that somebody was a suspect in a rape case," said Werk, "A prosecutor could go to a court, with probably cause, request a warrant to be allowed to collect a DNA sample from an individual, and then they could collect that DNA sample."

Senator Werk said the law is important in ensuring certain rights of Idahoans and making sure that arrest alone is not enough reason to collect someone's DNA.

"The idea that DNA is useful in criminal investigations, everybody acknowledges that, but that doesn't mean we should willy nilly go and start collecting DNA samples from the population in the state of Idaho," Werk said. "DNA is your blueprint of you as a human being."

Werk said that unlike a fingerprint, DNA reveals information that some people should not have to share.

"It's a search and seizure of a person, taking an actual sample of your DNA," Werk said. "We need to protect the rights and the liberties of our citizens and restrict the ability to be able to collect DNA."

Governor Otter signed the bill on March 26. The law goes in effect on July first.

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After hearing several questions about whether Idaho’s “rider” program, which incarcerates offenders in a special treatment program for a short time, then releases them on probation if they succeed or sends them to prison for their full terms if they fail, skews state’s incarceration rate as presented in the justice reinvestment analysis by the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center and the Pew Trusts, I quizzed Mark Pelka, the Justice Center’s director. His answer: Riders were only counted as incarcerated when they were actually behind bars, not when they were out on probation. The project’s figures showed that in Idaho, non-violent offenders spend twice as long behind bars as they do in the rest of the nation.

I also asked about sentencing reform, and its role in this project. The answer: The project didn’t even study Idaho’s sentencing laws, as far as the initial sentence that’s issued by a judge. “We have had calls from judges and many others to look more at sentencing,” Pelka said, but, “We did not shine a flashlight on that.” That was in part because Idaho’s sentencing laws don’t differentiate much within categories of offenses, leaving discretion to judges and making Idaho’s sentencing system more difficult to analyze. “Eighty-four percent of sentences are to probation or rider,” Pelka said. Then, 85 percent of riders get released on probation.

 But the project is recommending one major change to how sentencing works in Idaho: It’s calling for non-violent offenders to serve just 100 to 150 percent of their fixed terms behind bars. Currently, drug offenders in Idaho are serving 219 percent of their fixed terms; property crime offenders, 200 percent; and DUI offenders, 231 percent. The idea is to focus more on supervision of those offenders when they’re initially released from prison, to keep them from going back. “The big challenge for Idaho is the return-to-prison rate,” Pelka said. “Fifty-three percent come back in.”

In the project’s recommendations, policy option 2(D) calls for Idaho to “reserve prison space for individuals convicted of violent offenses, by regulating the percent of time above the minimum sentence that people convicted of non-violent offenses may serve.” To accomplish that: “Require that people sentenced to prison for non-violent offenses be paroled at a point between 100 and 150 percent of the fixed term and then be placed under parole supervision.”

That would be a big change. Even without making any changes in Idaho’s overall sentencing laws – under which judges now set both a fixed and an indeterminate term, such as two to six years, with the Parole Commission deciding how much of the indeterminate part the inmate serves – the project is predicting $255 million in savings for Idaho over five years.

KTVB.COM

Posted on November 17, 2013 at 4:11 PM

Updated Sunday, Nov 17 at 4:11 PM



BOISE -- Law enforcement agencies around Idaho launched expanded DUI patrols Sunday.

The extra enforcement, in conjunction with education campaigns, is set to run through the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Idaho Transportation Department's Office of Highway Safety made funds available to local police agencies to pay for the expanded patrols.

"ITD's goal is not one death, because every life counts," said Kevin Bechen, with ITD. "We're committed to doing everything we can to help keep families safe and whole."

According to ITD, last year, impaired driving contributed to 1,454 crashes on Idaho's highways and caused 73 fatalities statewide.

Bechen offered the following tips to make this Thanksgiving holiday safer:

• If you plan on consuming alcohol, designate a sober driver before leaving and give that person your keys.
• Call a taxi, sober friend or family member to get you home safely if you are impaired.
• Promptly report drunk drivers to law enforcement.
• Wear your seat belt while in your car or use a helmet and protective gear when on a motorcycle. These are the best defenses against an impaired driver.
• If you know someone who is about to drive while impaired, take his or her keys and help make other safe travel arrangements.
• Questions? Visit ITD online here and check travel conditions here or dial 5-1-1.

MERIDIAN -- Idaho State Police say they're seeing a lot more marijuana trafficked through the state than they used to.

"Over the last five years, we've tripled the amount of drug seizures in regards to marijuana," said Lt. Brad Doty.

In the last fiscal year, ISP seized 806 pounds of pot on Interstate 84, Interstate 86 and other Idaho highways. Doty says they are already on pace to soundly beat that number again. Just last weekend, state police in American Falls seized more than 100 pounds of marijuana in three separate busts.

Why the increase? Doty says it has nothing to do with anything that's changed in Idaho, rather within the nearby states. "As those states that surround us lessen their marijuana laws our drug seizures have increased."

Oregon, California, and Nevada have all decriminalized marijuana and legalized medical marijuana. Washington and Colorado have legalized medical and recreational use.

"So basically, the large grows in Idaho will get you a lot of jail time," said Doty. "Large grows in those states where it's not a crime to possess marijuana, won't."

Doty says traffickers often take marijuana from those legal grow sites in those other states and bring it into and through Idaho to the Midwest to sell it. Since it's illegal here there's higher demand and bigger profits, which is why Doty also believes this trafficking trend will only continue. "The seizures are getting larger and larger, some of the largest I've ever seen in my career."

But, Doty says traffickers often aren't just trafficking drugs, they're committing other crimes too. "It can trickle into other aspects of law enforcement. So, whether that's thefts or burglaries or other crimes that are all contributed to or surround drug interdiction or drug enforcement. So, the more marijuana that we can seize off the road, obviously leads to more convictions with other crimes, as well."

Fourteen weapons were seized during drug trafficking busts last year.

Doty also stressed that not all users are traffickers, but reminded everyone that Idaho doesn't issue or recognize medical marijuana cards.

In order to help battle this trafficking, ISP is adding three drug detection dogs next year.

KTVB.COM
Posted on November 13, 2013 at 5:52 PM
Updated Wednesday, Nov 13 at 6:17 PM

Man arrested in hit-and-run crash has extensive criminal record
Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/09/28/2787021/man-arrested-in-hit-and-run-crash.html#storylink=cpy