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2017 SESSION

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HB 2327 Driving under influence of alcohol; implied consent, refusal of blood or breath tests.

Introduced by: Christopher E. Collins | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED:

DUI; implied consent; refusal of blood or breath tests. Eliminates the criminal penalties for refusing to submit to a blood test to determine the alcohol or drug content of a defendant's blood upon arrest for a DUI-related offense under the law on implied consent. The bill also increases to a Class 1 misdemeanor the criminal penalty for refusing to submit to a breath test under the law on implied consent for an offense committed within 10 years of a prior offense of refusal or of another DUI-related offense. The bill also extends to blood tests performed by the Department of Forensic Science pursuant to a search warrant the rebuttable presumption that a person is intoxicated based on the person's blood alcohol level demonstrated by such tests. The bill also provides that an application for a search warrant to perform a blood test on a person suspected of committing a DUI-related offense shall be given priority over other matters pending before the judge or magistrate. Finally, the bill establishes a rebuttable presumption applicable in a civil case for punitive damages for injuries caused by an intoxicated driver that a person who has consumed alcohol knew or should have known that his ability to drive was or would be impaired by such consumption. This bill is in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Birchfield v. North Dakota, 136 S. Ct. 2160 (2016). The bill contains an emergency clause.

SUMMARY AS PASSED HOUSE:

DUI; implied consent; refusal of blood or breath tests. Eliminates the criminal penalties for refusing to submit to a blood test to determine the alcohol or drug content of a defendant's blood upon arrest for a DUI-related offense under the law on implied consent. The bill also increases to a Class 1 misdemeanor the criminal penalty for refusing to submit to a breath test under the law on implied consent for an offense committed within 10 years of a prior offense of refusal or of another DUI-related offense. The bill also extends to blood tests performed by the Department of Forensic Science pursuant to a search warrant the rebuttable presumption that a person is intoxicated based on the person's blood alcohol level demonstrated by such tests. The bill also provides that an application for a search warrant to perform a blood test on a person suspected of committing a DUI-related offense shall be given priority over any other matters pending before the judge or magistrate. Finally, the bill authorizes the Attorney General to participate in appeals of civil offenses for unreasonably refusing to submit to testing under the implied consent law. This bill is in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Birchfield v. North Dakota, 136 S. Ct. 2160 (2016).

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

DUI; implied consent; refusal of blood or breath tests. Amends the law on implied consent, which currently provides that a person who operates a motor vehicle upon a highway in the Commonwealth or a watercraft on the waters of the Commonwealth is deemed to have consented to having samples of his blood or breath taken to determine the alcohol or drug content of his blood upon arrest for a DUI-related offense. The bill removes breath tests from the implied consent law and provides that such tests constitute a search incident to arrest; blood tests remain subject to the implied consent law. Under current law, the unreasonable refusal of a person to submit to blood or breath tests is punished (i) for a first offense, as a civil offense with a one-year driver's license suspension; (ii) for an offense committed within 10 years of a prior offense of refusal or of other DUI-related offenses, as a Class 2 misdemeanor with a three-year driver's license suspension; and (iii) for an offense committed within 10 years of two prior offenses of refusal or of other DUI-related offenses, as a Class 1 misdemeanor with a three-year driver's license suspension. The bill eliminates the criminal penalties for refusing to submit to a blood test, making any refusal of a blood test a civil offense. The bill increases the period of license suspension for refusing to submit to a blood test within 10 years of two prior offenses to an indefinite suspension. The bill also increases the criminal penalties for refusing to submit to a breath test to a Class 1 misdemeanor for refusing to submit to a blood test within 10 years of a prior offense and increases the period of license suspension for refusing to submit to a blood test within 10 years of two prior offenses to an indefinite suspension. The bill also removes the current requirement that the person's refusal to submit to testing be unreasonable before it is subject to any penalty. The bill also extends to blood tests performed by the Department of Forensic Science pursuant to a search warrant the rebuttable presumption that a person is intoxicated based on the person's blood alcohol level demonstrated by such tests. Further, the bill allows the failure of a person to submit to a blood or breath test to be commented on by the prosecution in any trial of the person for a DUI-related offense. Currently, such failure could only be introduced as rebuttal evidence for the purpose of explaining at trial the absence of any test results. The bill also provides that an application for a search warrant to perform a blood test on a person suspected of committing a DUI-related offense shall be given priority over any other matters pending before the judge or magistrate. Finally, the bill authorizes the Attorney General to participate in appeals of civil offenses for unreasonably refusing to submit to testing under the implied consent law. This bill is in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Birchfield v. North Dakota, 136 S. Ct. 2160 (2016).