The Tennessee State Legislature pasted a DUI law several years ago that authorized a mandatory blood draw in multiple DUI prosecutions, accidents involving serious bodily injuries, and if a minor child was a passenger in a car driven by a DUI driver. There  were constitutional issues raised on a seizure of a person’s blood without a search warrant. The U.S. Supreme Court dealt with those issues in McNeely v. Missouri.

In McNeeley, the court held that a search warrant may be required to obtain a defendant’s blood sample. Exigent circumstances did not always outweigh the search warrant requirement. Soon after McNeeley was the law of the land. Tennessee law enforcement began obtaining search warrants in those cases. Law enforcement soon realized it was not that difficult to get a search warrant on multiple DUI offenders. Regular patrol officers soon trained to get a blood alcohol search warrant in all DUI cases. District attorneys began drafting template search warrants for local police. The Tennessee highway Patrol even had a template. All the arresting officer had to do is fill in the blanks of the template and present it to the magistrate.

Several counties across Middle Tennessee apply for a  a blood alcohol search warrant in all DUI investigations. Williamson County, Tennessee is the primary county where search warrants are used all the time.

The result for those charged with a DUI and those defending DUI cases is a more vigorous defense. Was the magistrate truly neutral and detached ? Was there a Franks violation in that the police officer make some reckless statements on the affidavit for the search warrant.

it reminds me of the old adage. Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.