[Harris County, TX] No-refusal 24/7 going into effect.

fify

 

As someone who lives nowhere near the state of Texas, can someone tell me what the course of events were when "No-Refusal" was not in effect?

From my understanding of the article, if a cop suspects you are under the influence, and asks you to take a Breathalyzer test, and you decline, he has the right to draw blood for a BAC test that way.

I know all the DWI laws vary from state to state, but in NY if you refuse to take a Breathalyzer test, your license is suspended for a year and you have to pay a fine. No questions asked. And it's very common to use your refusal as implicit guilt in a prosecution.

I'm not trying to start a big discussion about right/wrong lawful/unlawful. But as implied consent sort of rules the day here in NY, I'm not fully able to appreciate the ramifications of this decision.

 

i think the peeps who get plastered @ bottle shares know their limit...but they just wanna DRINK ALL THE BEERS!

i prefer chillin' and grillin' @ the crib vs. drinking out and about.

 

In Texas, refusing to blow results in your license being suspended for 180 days, and the refusal to be allowed as evidence in a trial against you. If you take the test, and are above the limit, your license is suspended for at least 3 months and charges can be initiated against you. So very similar to New York.

You can challenge the suspension of your license, but must do so in court before a judge in a formal hearing.

Refusing to blow twice can lead to your license being suspended for up to several years.

Upon refusal now, they can of course get a warrant for your blood, but must have enough evidence to do it.

If anyone has any more detailed questions or would like a basic description of this process, or change in the law, I can ask one of my coworkers to give me more information to pass on.

I work in the Harris County DA's office and share a common wall with the vehicular crime division.

 

​

As a scientist, this horrifies me. I can just imagine being in court and having some scientifically illiterate person telling the court, "I made a graph! That proves it with science!" I'd damn well hope that any sort of retrograde extrapolation based on totally variable curves is taken with a goddamned rock of salt. ​

 

The old legal limit was .16. I doubt they ever would have made "near death" the legal limit.

 

"...as you can see, at the time of the blood sample, the suspect registered at 0.00. The arrest oocured four hours prior, so according to my graph, he was dead at the time of the traffic stop..."

 

Thats crazy, unless they changed the laws, i know in Ma and Nh, it was illegal for them to use your refusal to blow a breathalyzer in court. (just assumed that it was the same everywhere i guess.)

Had a friend take a field sobriety test after partaking in a few ounces at a share with friends, cop claims he failed the field test, friend had some good excuses as to why(flat feet, been up all day, had the equivalent of a beer and about 3 lbs of steak) cop asked him for a breath test, he complies, blows a .05 or .06, cop still impounds his car, says hes "too close to call". At least he let him call us to come get him.

So really, does it actually matter if you pass or fail is the question. Theyll still try to get you on something.

and of course he had to pay to get his car out of impound the next day.

 

Awww, come on, man. I didn't need to be really pissed off right now.

 

If I ever get pulled over, I hope it's by Officer Clonies.

 

For God's sake guys, the average lethal dose for alcohol is like .4%. At .15%, you're just pretty damn drunk.

 

He'll probably put you in the back of his police car and then drive you to his house for a bottle share.

 

Can I just get a damn self driving car so I don't have to put up with this bullshit anymore?

 

Rosemary Lehmberg's blood draw came to .239 and she's still the DA of Travis County.

 

Hilarious video of her resisting arrest as well if you google it.

 

I remembered a friend sending me this story a few years ago. .708 BAC which I can't even imagine how bad that is for your body

 

"Sondreal’s research indicates that a blood-alcohol level of .40 is considered a lethal dose for about 50 percent of the population."

 

you'll have to talk to google about that. Currently they're only testing them with their staff in California, but it is coming...

Yup. I once achieved a 0.32 while in highschool... not the proudest moment of my (or my parents) life. You live, you learn.

The point I think that was trying to be made is that anyone over a 0.15 should be aware of the fact they are well past the point of debating their intoxication and should know that they are not capable of "safely" operating a vehicle. I can understand a debate about 0.08, as with people of all different sizes, shapes and metabolisms the point of "intoxicated" is easy to blurr... however if you're blowing (or testing) over a 0.15, you know you're beyond the point where you should be operating a vehicle... unless you're stupid....

 

Yeah.. google needs to hurry up and make this an affordable car option.

 

or drunk