Seattle DUI - Refuse a Breath Test at your Peril

Our Implied Consent Law states that an individual under arrest for a misdemeanor DUI in Washington state has the "right" to refuse to submit to a breath test. Most citizens know this, and, on average, probably less than 20% of those arrested for DUI in Seattle or elsewhere in Washington State refuse to take the breath test. There are a number of reasons why an individual might refuse to submit to a breath test, however, including the advice of counsel or a fear that the breath test machine is not accurate. Those who refuse to breath test might be calculating that they will pay a price for refusing to provide evidence to the state (loss of license for at least one year) but that on the other hand, the prosecution will not have a sample of breath to use at trial. The decision by the Washington State Supreme Court in the DUI case of City of Seattle v. St. John (No. 81992-1) was issued today and this case changes entirely the calculation regarding refusing to submit to a breath test. In this case, the Supreme Court held that there is no constitutional or statutory authority preventing the police from obtaining a search warrant for the blood of a driver who has refused to breath test. Once a search warrant has been obtained, the individual has no right to refuse to submit to the blood test. Therefore, an individual who does refuse to submit to a breath test at the police station is partially correct in his calculation: the Department of Licensing will administratively revoke the license for at least one year. However, the prosecution likely will not be deprived of any evidence because the police officer is perfectly entitled to obtain a search warrant for the blood of the individual under these circumstances, according to the Supreme Court's opinion. This will leave the prosecution free at the DUI trial to argue that the individual showed "consciousness of guilt" by refusing to submit to the the breath test, and the results of the blood test will also be admitted into evidence and argued to the jury. Therefore, it is difficult to conceive of circumstances where an individual under arrest for a misdemeanor DUI would be better off refusing to submit to the breath test if the DUI police officer is going to obtain a sample of the blood via a search warrant in any event.

They are still remain a number of issues regarding the admissibility of a driver's refusal to submit to a DUI breath test and also regarding the admissibility of any subsequent DUI blood test. Our firm has more combined experience defending Seattle DUI cases and cases throughout Washington State than any other DUI defense firm in Washington State.