Articles

The Pennsylvania Superior Court just decided the case of Akim Sharif Jones-Williams, finding that police must have a warrant or valid exception to the warrant requirement to request a blood draw of a DUI driver who is fading in and out of consciousness. The warrant requirement is clear. Police can only avoid getting a search […]

We’ve been arguing for a good period of time that it is unconstitutional for Pennsylvania’s prosecutors to invoke subsequent offender penalties for DUI drivers who previously were granted ARD for a prior DUI. ARD is a program for first offenders that removes the jail penalties and dramatically reduces or eliminates applicable driver’s license suspensions. Many […]

Under “Deana’s Law,” Pennsylvania lawmakers hope to amend the state vehicle code to increase penalties for repeat DUI offenders. Senate Bill 773, spearheaded by State Sen. Thomas H. Killion (R., Delaware), would require drivers with three or more DUI convictions to wear electronic monitoring devices as a condition of probation. The monitoring devices would regularly […]

On July 17th, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the Superior Court holding that prosecutors could use a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) suspect’s refusal of a warrantless blood draw as evidence against him at trial. In Commonwealth v. Bell, the defendant was suspected of drunk driving and when transported to the Lycoming County DUI Center, […]

The United States Supreme Court recently addressed the issue of warrantless blood draws in what they describe as a narrow line of drunk driving cases: when the driver is unconscious and therefore cannot be given a breath test. The Court held in Mitchell v. Wisconsin the exigent circumstances doctrine almost always allows a warrantless blood […]