Hi, I have a DWI case where the defendant flipped his car and was in pretty bad shape but was conscious. He was taken to the hospital where he consented to give blood, but on the form the officer uses to memorialize the consent, the officer wrote "subject too intoxicated" on the defendant's signature line. We're working on the video evidence but there's a chance we'll just have to take the officer's word for it that the blood draw was consensual (and it was done at the direction of the police as well). I don't doubt that the defendant WAS too intox. to sign (the blood came back at .23) but does this create an admissibility problem or just a weight-of-the-evidence problem? Your help is greatly appreciated!
You aren't looking for evidence of consent. He already gave consent back when he was sober and asking for a driver's license. You are looking for evidence that he refused. There is none, as you got a sample.
Also sounds like he needed medical attention that required someone to check his alcohol level, regardless of his ability to consent/refuse.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - State Police say they have arrested a man whose blood alcohol level was .491 - more than six times the legal limit - which they believe is the highest ever recorded in Rhode Island for someone who wasn�t dead.
Maj. Stephen O�Donnell says 34-year-old Stanley Kobierowski was arrested early Tuesday after he drove his car into a highway message board on Interstate 95 in Providence. He says troopers had to carry Kobierowski to the breakdown lane before taking him back to their barracks
