Orange County Crime Lab is Testing All Blood Samples For Drugs

Posted on June 07, 2019 in Uncategorized

Citizens arrested for DUI in Orange County, California need to know that if they consent to a blood test, agree to a blood test after giving an evidential breath test under "Trombetta" or have their blood draw pursuant to a warrant that blood will automatically be screened for marijuana, cocaine, opiates, Xanax, Valium, ambien and all other common controlled substances. If the screening test is positive for any drugs that may impair driving, the blood will then be subjected to confirmatory testing by GC or Mass Spec. Drivers who are arrested for suspicion of driving while under the influence of drugs or the combined influence of drugs and alcohol are supposed to be advised that choice between blood or breath is limited because they are suspected of drug use. which, at least for the time being, is not being tested with a breath device. Drivers who are merely suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol only are now being subjected to unconstitutional general exploratory searches of their blood. Any evidence of drugs obtained from these searches should be suppressed. See People v. Pickard (2017) 15 Cal.App.5th Supp.12, 222 Cal.Rptr. 3rd 686 for an excellent evaluation of the issue. This is a trend that you can expect to travel to your jurisdiction soon. See our blog for further information. Barry T. Simons

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