Tucson judge: DPS testing of DUI suspects unconstitutional

Original arti­cle posted here.

A judge in Tucson has ruled that the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s prac­tice of draw­ing blood from drunken-driving sus­pects on the side of the high­way is unconstitutional.

Pima County Superior Court Richard S. Fields’ rul­ing came as he tossed out blood-alcohol evi­dence in a Tucson man’s drunken dri­ving case on Wednesday.

DPS offi­cials declined to com­ment until they stud­ied the ruling.

Fields wrote in his rul­ing that blood draws car­ried out in road­side sit­u­a­tions with poor light­ing and in less than san­i­tary con­di­tions sub­ject sus­pects to an unrea­son­able risk of infec­tion and injury.

The state fail­ure to fol­low proper health pro­ce­dures vio­lates the Fourth Amendment right against unrea­son­able search and seizure.

Fields says law enforce­ment agen­cies have alter­na­tives such as using breath testers or hav­ing med­ical providers draw blood.