Legislative Update (continued)
One of the most significant amendments is to Section 724.012 of the Transportation Code. Previous to this amendment, this Section of the Transportation Code allowed an officer, upon the defendant's refusal, to make a blood draw without a search warrant if the vehicle or watercraft was involved in an accident and the officer reasonably believed that, as a result of the accident, an individual other than the defendant suffered serious bodily injury or death. This Section has now been amended to expand those circumstances under which an officer may draw blood without a search warrant to include the following circumstances:

1. an individual other than the defendant has suffered bodily injury and been transported to a hospital or other medical facility for medical treatment.
2. the offense for which the officer arrests the person is an offense under Section 49.045, Penal Code (Driving While Intoxicated with Child Passenger).
3. at the time of the arrest, the officer possesses or receives reliable information from a credible source that:

1. the person has been previously convicted of or placed on community supervision for an offense under Section 49.045, 49.07, or 49.08, Penal Code, or an offense under the laws of another state containing elements substantially similar to the elements of an offense under those sections; or
2. on two or more occasions, has been previously convicted of or placed on community supervision for an offense under Section 49.04, 49.05, 49.06, or 49.065, Penal Code, or an offense under the laws of another state containing elements substantially similar to the elements of an offense under those sections.

Obviously, the appellate courts will have to determine what it means for an officer to receive "reliable information from a credible source," but one assumes that this should include a TCIC or NCIC criminal history report.  If the report shows that the defendant has been previously convicted in any jurisdiction for an offense involving the same elements as our Driving While Intoxicated with Passenger, Intoxication Assault, Intoxication Manslaughter, or two or more convictions for DWI, BWI, FWI, or Assembling or Operating an Amusement Ride While Intoxicated, the officer may, upon the defendant’s refusal, draw blood without the necessity of a search warrant.  (As an aside, I wondered when reading this statute if anyone has ever actually been convicted twice of Flying While Intoxicated and lived to tell about it.)

The speculation is that this amendment may reduce the number of cases requiring a search warrant on the "no refusal" weekends, and may also result in a significant increase in the number of defendants who decide to take a breath test instead of having their blood drawn.

This Section further codifies the immunity from civil liability for the facility that employs the person who draws the blood. To read the final version of the bill, click here: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/SB00328F.pdf

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