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Driving under the influence arrests typically begin with similar factual scenarios. A person is detained for committing a traffic violation. During that detention, a person has contact with a police office. And, during that contact the police officer decides to initiate a driving under the influence investigation.
What is a driving under the influence investigation you might ask? A driving under the influence investigation is when a police officer begins a series of interviews and performs a series of tests to determine whether a person has violated that area’s driving under the influence laws.
Who Can Refuse A Roadside Test?
The officer typically likes to request that a driver who is suspected of DUI to submit to a breath test at the side of the road. In California, most officers use a portable Intoximeter that screens for the presence of alcohol in the blood by analyzing a breath sample. The purpose of this test is to determine whether the officer has probable cause to arrest. Typically, the officer is looking to see if the breath gives a reading at or near the legal limit.
Can a person refuse to submit to this chemical test? The short answer is “in most cases, yes”. Because in most cases this test is used for investigation a person can legally refuse to submit a breath sample. However, in some cases a person cannot. For example, in California a person under the age of 21-year-old cannot refuse to provide a roadside sample. Additionally, any person on probation for DUI cannot refuse to submit to this chemical test.
The Evidential Test: Implied Consent for Chemical Tests
In addition to investigatory tests, a police officer might determine that he or she needs to take an evidential test. Prosecutors used the evidential test in court. Examples of the evidential test include a breath test, blood test, or urine test.
Under the state of California’s Implied Consent Law, a driver agrees to submit to a chemical test when receiving his or her driver’s license. So, failure to submit to a chemical test can result in a license suspension or revocation. Also, courts use a chemical test refusal as consciousness of guilt.
Lastly, police can legally get a warrant to force a person to provide a blood sample. So, a person can refuse a chemical test but risks suffering additional consequences.
