Blood Draws at Jail by Non-Physician Found Reasonable
In the California case of People v. Cuevas Cal.App.4th (2013) (California First District Court of Appeal, Div. 1-Docket No.A138062, the Court reviewed a number of DUI cases involving blood tests taken with consent at a jail facility. In each case the blood tests were performed by a trained phlebotomist or a blood technician as opposed to a physician or nurse. There was no evidence of any force used or pain or discomfort caused to the suspect.
The Defense argument was that the blood draws failed to meet constitutional standards of reasonableness because police officers lacked the necessary training and medical experience to testify whether the blood draws were conducted in a medically approved manner and the blood draws were done in a jail facility as opposed to a hospital or clinic.
The Court rejected this argument but did note that mere consent to a blood draw does not make the manner of drawing blood reasonable per se. It is one factor to be considered in conjunction with the totality of the circumstances.
If you have been arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles and you have concerns about how the police obtained a blood sample from you, please contact Los Angeles DUI Lawyers Gold and Witham for a free case evaluation at 800-716-6791.