Lawfully Collected Blood Exemplar May Be Tested For Alcohol Concentration Without a Warrant.

Harrison v. Commissioner of Public Safety, Minn.Ct.App., 5/4/2010.  Twice, police arrested Mr. Harrison for DUI; each time he consented to provide a blood exemplar for blood alcohol testing.  Each test produced a result that was over the legal limit; the commissioner revoked his license.  Mr. Harrison challenged the revocation, arguing that the testing of the preserved blood exemplars was done without a warrant.

There’s lots of law out there that says that “exigent circumstances justify the collection of a blood exemplar in the context of alcohol testing for impaired driving.  Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 770, 86 S. Ct. 1826, 1835 (1966); State v. Netland, 762 N.W.2d 202 (Minn. 2009).  Mr. Harrison said, okay, you can collect my blood but you still need a warrant to test it.  The appellate court concludes that Mr. Harrison lost any legitimate expectation of privacy in the alcohol concentration derived from analysis of a lawfully obtained blood exemplar.