Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer Blog
In most DUI (driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs) cases in Florida, the police officers will conduct their routine (and highly subjective) DUI investigations after a traffic stop, which includes a request for field sobriety tests at the scene and then a request for a breathalyzer test at the jail after the DUI arrest. However, some DUI cases are handled differently due to the circumstances, and the state will try to obtain evidence of impairment a different way.
In a DUI case south of Jacksonville, Florida, the police learned of a vehicle that was involved in a crash where the driver then fled the scene of the crash. The police had the license plate number of the vehicle and went to the owner’s address. At that address, they saw the vehicle involved in the crash, but the owner was not there. An occupant of the residence told the police that he left in a different vehicle. The police then went to search for that vehicle. When they found it, the police made a traffic stop and conducted a DUI investigation at the scene. The police officer made all of the standard observations at the scene (odor of alcohol, swaying, slurred speech, bloodshot and watery eyes, etc.) and arrested the defendant for DUI. As he was being arrested, the defendant claimed he was having medical problems. As a result, the police took him to the hospital where medical personnel took a blood sample for the purposes of diagnosis and treatment.
The state later sent a subpoena to the hospital to obtain those medical records to see the blood alcohol content. The criminal defense lawyer objected, but the court allowed the subpoena and evidence of the medical records. The court determined that the medical records were relevant to the DUI investigation which was the legal standard since this was not a blood draw elicited by the police for the purposes of the DUI case but a medical blood draw elicited by the medical personnel for diagnosis and treatment. If the court determines the medical records are relevant to the DUI case, the criminal defense attorney would have to show bad faith by the state to keep that evidence out of the case.
It is unclear what happened here at the time of arrest, but some people will claim a medical issue at the time of arrest to avoid or delay going to jail. In DUI cases, if the suspect is taken to the hospital where blood or urine is sampled, that could give the state additional evidence to prove their DUI case.