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Curious (I never plan to drive drunk so not an issue) but I always heard rumors that you can say no. You would get thrown in jail for the night and then they would test you in the morning via testing your actually blood, not just the breathalyzer.
True? False? Say no and get beaten with an ASP?
This answer will be different from state to state. In MN if you refuse the intoxilyzer it will go from being 4th degree DWI to a 3rd degree - refusal.
Here a refusal nets you a suspended license that you can apply for and receive a hardship to get them back.
Here you would be asked to take a breath test after failing field sobriety tests or after other PC for DUI is shown. If you fail to take FSTs you are arrested. If you fail to take the breath test you are marked as a refusual and your license is suspended. Everytime you are stopped with a suspended license for refusal per se DUI your vehicle is towed.
Here if you fail FST's, you're arrested for DUI. If you refuse the breathalyzer, you will be charged with the additional crime of refusal. Same madatory minimums as DUI...
Laws vary by state. That having been said... false.Quote:
Originally Posted by StoleIt
Refusing a breath test won't get you beaten, but it will get your license revoked. Where I work, a DUI with a refusal carries higher penalties than a DUI with a high test would. Also, the you would get thrown in jail (or maybe detox) for the night whether you took the test or not.
If I'm going to force someone to submit to a blood test (which isn't going to happen on a standard DUI), then I'm not going to wait until the next morning to do it.
In Louisiana you do have the right to refuse the test if you were not involved in a crash where a death or serious injury occured and on a first offense the differance is you lose your license for 90 days if you submit and 365 days if you refuse.
What needs to be kept in mind is that supensions of your licese is an administrative penaty not a criminal.
In many of the parishes I work the courts have began to use "No Refusal". Basical works like this:I stop you for a violations and during the course of the stop I note signs of impairment, request you do SFST, and based on everything make an arrest decision.
we get to the jail and you are requested to take the breath test. Your choice, you take it lose license for 90days and were done or you refuse lose license for one year.
If you refuse I draft a search warrant (you are holding evidence of the crime in your body) I spell out what makes me believe you have committed a crime and that you are withholding evidence that is time sensitve.Judge makes a ruling, if granted then you are ordered to provide the sample. You can then submit to the breath test or we will draw blood and/or urine to satisfy the warrant. Your license is still suspended one year.
Not only does it go from a Misdemeanor to a Gross Misdemeanor in MN if you refused (up to 90 days in jail and up to $1,000 fine to up to a year and up to $3,000 fine) but it also revokes your license for 1 yr rather than 90 days (assuming you are a first time offender and over 21 yoa).
And you'll still be charged with a DWI. The complaint signed by our detectives would look like this:Quote:
Originally Posted by jmur5074
1 - DWI
2 - Test Refusal
Keep in mind that the officer still has Probable Cause for a DWI arrest. All the suspect is doing if they refuse to test is getting enhanced driving sanctions and an ADDITIONAL crime added on.
Also, I book Refusals into Hennepin County jail 100% of the time. If someone's cooperative and agrees to the urine or blood test (we don't use the Intoxilyzer 5000 right now), I let them call a sober person to come pick them up after I print and photograph them at the station.
What people don't understand is that, generally in all states, by the time you get to the breathalyzer point you are already arrested. The breathalyzer has nothing to do with your actual arrest. It just gives us your BAC. Here if you refuse and try to plead not guilty, the judge asks "howcome, if you were sober you wouldn't do the test". And then he/she finds you guilty for stupidity. In other words, refuse away. Doesn't make a difference as far as your arrest goes. By the way...who the hell are all the lawyers that keep telling people not to blow?? I don't think I would hire them.:taser:
here you get "arrested" and taken downtown and are searched etc then are given the choice to submit to a breatalyzer, if refused you get a year suspension, $1000 fine and spend the night or two in jail depending on the day of the week. Then you get your court date which 99% of the time the judge will uphold the year suspension but lower the fine with a good lawyer.
If there is suspected narcotics or found narcotics in the vehicle then its a blood request with the same consequences of refusing.
90 day suspension if first offence, one year if 2nd or more DUIs. You will still get charged with DUI.
Is that standard for the penalty of a refusal? Or are you making them go to jail simply because they defied you and the state's "authority"?~Quote:
Originally Posted by gopherpuckfan
Take a breath. Please. That's a lot of emotive rhetoric you just spouted there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam
They are going to jail because they've been arrested for DUI, not out of spite. It's called officer discretion. I like to help out people who are cooperative and just made a bad decision. I do this by letting them call a ride and being released on personal recognizance rather than making them post a bond.
If you resist the process and don't want to comply with a breath test that has been mandated by the DMV as a condition of you receiving your license in the first place, then so be it. I'll save my sympathy for someone else. If you want me to be all business, then I'll be all business and follow the book to the letter. You can spend the night courtesy of the taxpayers, and can post a bond in the morning. It's your choice, not mine.
I only administer a breath test after I've already arrested them for DUI because they failed the SFST's. Refusal nets an automatic license suspension and you're still getting booked for the DUI regardless. If you're not a hazard to yourself, you get to spend 12 hours in the lovely inn before we let you take off. And then, you get to deal with getting your car out of impound. ;)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam
You're onto something, at least on the state authority part just not in the context of your reference. Well sort of. A person has already violated when they chose to drink and drive. Courts will take into consideration a persons cooperation and may be more lenient. When you're busted your busted.
If a person is not being cooperative on the stop, has a history of DWI, refuses, contemptuous disregard etc. then that person should be arrested 100% of the time. They are indeed showing defiance of the state law and the court system in general and certainly is showing no remorse for their actions. It's not about making a mistake, it's did you learn something from it. It's common knowledge that a person who refuses is doing nothing more than attempting to beat the charge. If a person is arrested for DWI and they know they are not intoxicated by alcohol providing a breath sample does nothing but exonerate them.
Take no offense, sir. It wasn't meant to stir the pot. Thank you for the explanation though. I've just heard of a thing called "attitude arrest", or "contempt of cop" as I've seen mentioned and thought an incident such as this seemed to fit that.Quote:
Originally Posted by 121Traffic
If a person who is extremely polite, takes the field balance tests, is respectful of the officers, yet politely refuses the BAC test is encountered, would he/she be offered the same leniency? Or is it dependent on the taking of the breath test? What if I would rather have my blood drawn or provide a urine sample and the Officer wants me to blow? Is that still a refusal?Quote:
Originally Posted by lewisipso
Here you don't have the luxury of picking the test. The test offered by the Officer is the test you're obligated to submit to. If I offer breath and you refuse, but want urine, you're going down as a refusal, and if you're that steadfast about wanting urine, you can pay for it on your own after you're out of jail.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam
In the cases of DWI politeness can be taken into consideration but the refusal of the test is an automatic deal breaker. So no, he/she would not be offered leniency although I would be as polite as the suspect would be and would be appreciative of it. Blood and or urine is usually drawn or provided for accidents with no, or unable to provide a breath sample. It is considered a refusal if a person does not provide a proper breath sample.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam