To be fair, the officer did provide a breath test of .02, but I have had clients give all zeros on the breath machine, to only be served with a warrant for their blood. Further, even a representative from the Association admitted that the officer wobbled during the walk and turn test and was stopped because the officer swerved into another lane.

Also, supposedly the officer had a physical impairment with one of his eyes, and that that may have lead to more tests. Well, when my clients have physical ailments that could affect the tests, the arresting officer always claims to “take it into consideration.” Now I am not sure how they do that, because even a young man I represented that only had one leg, still got arrested after the officer assured him he would “take it in to consideration.”

Now, don’t get me wrong, I think this officer, after blowing .02, should have been let go, but for heaven’s sake, let’s make the rule uniform. I find it hypocritical for the Association to complain that an officer had to give blood, but support a “No Refusal” policy. Like my grandma said, “what is good for the goose is good for the gander.”

Travis County’s central booking facility had been the place where APD took their suspected DWI folks for the forced blood draw. APD would rely on the Sheriff’s nurses to do the forced blood draw. (If the person refused, they would literally strap them in a chair so that the person couldn’t move their arms, and then stick them with the needle) The Sheriff’s Department nurses stopped taking blood samples on January 1. The Sheriff’s Department has finally realized that the nurses main function should be to treat inmates, not collect evidence. Further, they are deeply concerned about having to give nurse’s overtime pay to appear in court after having been the one that draws the blood.

Since the Sheriff’s Office stopped doing the blood draws, APD started taking suspects to the hospital for the blood draws. (I can’t verifiy this, but I heard that the hospital was charging APD $400.00 per blood draw.) The Hospital representatives have now told APD they don’t want them to bring suspects to jail for blood draws. The Hospital staff are worried about lawsuits, and are concerned because these types of blood draws are not being done for medical reasons. Further, the Hospitals are worried about who will pay for the nurse’s time when they are called to court to testify about the procedure they used to draw the blood.

Chief Acevedo thinks he has figured out a way around these problems. APD contracted with a private phlebotomist to draw the blood of folks on Halloween weekend and New Years Eve. APD agreed to pay the phlebotomist for three eight hour shifts during these weekends. What APD didn’t contract for was pay for this phlebotomist when she is drug into court to testify about the blood draws. I predict there will be a lot of screaming from the phlebotomist when she finally figures out that the money she received per hour will now be reduced by the number hours she has to sit in court.

In the Statesman article, an “expert in blood draws” states that “the state laws are clear that nurses and hospitals are protected from such suits. What the “expert” appears to be referencing is Section 724.017 of the Texas Transportation Code. The relevant section states:

The person who takes the blood specimen under this chapter, or the hospital where the blood specimen is taken, is not liable for damages arising from the request or order of the peace officer to take the blood specimen as provided by this chapter if the blood specimen was taken according to recognized medical procedures.

However, this “expert” left out the final sentence to section (b) “This subsection does not relieve a person from liability for negligence in the taking of a blood specimen.” Now, what the “expert” seems to be forgetting is that it will ultimately be up to a fact finder (judge or Jury) to determine if negligence took place.

Also, I bet no one informed the phlebotomists that they could be help liable for the blood draws either.

APD is treading on thin ice on this issue, and the sad part is, they either don’t even realize it, or they don’t care.

My client provided a BREATH SAMPLE. My client also performed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs). He said he didn’t know he could refuse them.

The officer reported that my client emitted a strong odor of alcohol from his breath, had bloodshot, glassy eyes and slurred speech. The officer reported that my client displayed all 6 of the possible clues of intoxication on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The officer stated that my client lost his balance during the instructions and failed to touch heel to toe during the Walk & Turn test. The officer then reported that my client performed the One Leg Stand test as instructed. In light of all these fact, the officer decided to arrest my client for DWI.

We took the case to court and let the State know that we were going to fight. Eventually the prosecutor agreed to DISMISS THE DWI and my client pleaded to a minor traffic ticket.

My client provided a BREATH SAMPLE. My client also performed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs). He said he didn’t know he could refuse them.

The officer reported that my client emitted a strong odor of alcohol from his breath, had bloodshot, glassy eyes and slurred speech. The officer reported that my client displayed all 6 of the possible clues of intoxication on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The officer stated that my client lost his balance during the instructions and failed to touch heel to toe during the Walk & Turn test. The officer then reported that my client performed the One Leg Stand test as instructed. In light of all these fact, the officer decided to arrest my client for DWI.

We took the case to court and let the State know that we were going to fight. Eventually the prosecutor agreed to DISMISS THE DWI and my client pleaded to a minor traffic ticket.

My client provided a BLOOD TEST SAMPLE and performed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs). She didn’t know she could refuse all the tests.

The officer reported that my client emitted a strong odor of alcohol from her breath and had bloodshot eyes. The officer said my client displayed all 6 of the possible clues of intoxication on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The officer said that my client used her arms to maintain balance, turned improperly and stopped during the test on the Walk & Turn test. The officer stated that my client swayed and hopped to maintain her balance during the One Leg Stand test.

We took the case to court and let the State know that we were going to fight. Eventually the prosecutor agreed to DISMISS THE DWI and my client pled to a minor traffic ticket and paid a small fine. This is especially good because it allows us to have any mention of the DWI arrest completely erased from her record.