Out for Blood: Another Texas Police Department to Begin Obtaining Blood Warrants for DWI Suspescts.
by Collin County DWI attorney Troy Burleson
Following the lead of the Fort Worth and Arlington police departments who routinely declare “no refusal” weekends in which the police seek warrants for blood from DWI suspects, the Burleson police department has declared warrant war on DWI suspects.
On Saturday, May 3, WFAA reported that the Burleson police department joined the growing list of area police who are “out for blood from drunk drivers.” As of May 2, 2008, DWI suspects in Burleson who refuse a breath test will have their blood taken by a court order.
Texas law allows a police office to obtain blood from a DWI suspect with a search warrant signed by a magistrate. However, most officers do not follow this procedure for a variety of reasons. As the number of people who refuse a breath test request increases (the city of Burleson had 32 refusals out of the 59 DWI cases its officers have investigated so far in 2008), police departments are becoming more aggressive in obtaining search warrants for blood evidence.
Although most police departments view blood evidence as “bulletproof,” Prosecutor Richard Alpert, Tarrant County, acknowledged that there are precise steps that a police officer must follow to make sure blood evidence holds up in court.
