• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

MIP and a negative blood alcohol test

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

dumblonde

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Wyoming

I'm so confused I hope this is a coherent posting!
My son was pulled over last night. The officer thought he saw drugs in the car. He asked if he could search the car and my son said no. He then said my son and his friend smelled like alcohol and my son was under arrest and had to do a field sobriety test. He then called for a drug dog so he could search the car I guess now that my son was under arrest he couldn't say no? I'm not to sure. The search with the dog turned up nothing. My son passed a field sobriety test the officer didn't contest this but he claimed he could still smell alcohol and was giving him a MIP ticket. This is about when I showed up. I didn't smell any alcohol and I asked the officer about a breathalizer and did he blow anything and the officer proceeded to tell me that my son had refused a breath test but passed the field sobriety test and in a nut shell that if I pushed the issue with the breathalizer he was going to also ticket my son for DWUI and not having proof of insurance. And yeah we have insurance we just got the new cards on the first and hadn't gotten it in the car yet. He told me he didn't need a breathalizer test to give him a DWUI and I wasn't really sure if my son had or hadn't been drinking at that point and I didn't know about the drug dog either I thought maybe him and his friend had been drinking. I have teenagers I'm realistic :D Rather than argue with the guy I just took my son. My son swore he hadn't been drinking so instead of going home I took him up to the hospital and had a blood alcohol test done. Even according to the blood test my son hadn't been drinking. They actually drew his blood and the hospital was about 5 minutes from where I picked him up at so I'm pretty sure there is no lying with that? I called the officer and let him know that I did take him in for a test and that there was no alcohol in his system and the officer said that test wasn't accurate and he and another officer both for sure smelled alcohol and he wouldn't dismiss the ticket. Not that I asked him to dismiss it I am just not sure what to do???
I tried to look up the state laws but I just don't understand them. Can you get something like this dismissed with a test from the hospital even though the officer insists he smelled alcohol? He implied to me that the hospital test isn't accurate and his word is the law. I'm thinking my son should have just done the breath test but it's a little late for that! Any advice?
 


CdwJava

Senior Member
If he is actually charged, speak to an attorney. My guess is that if the hospital test found no alcohol, then the state's case will go down the tubes. An attorney can talk to the DA and reveal that info about the blood test, and they may decide not to file.

Was any alcohol found in the car? Remember, POSSESSION is not the same as being under the influence or consuming the alcohol.

And the officer was right, the hospital test IS different than the law enforcement lab test ... but, zero is probably still good for zero.

- Carl
 

dumblonde

Junior Member
No alcohol or empty containers or anything that would even imply use of drugs or alcohol was found in the car or on either kid that was involved. The only "evidence" is the officer smelled alcohol.
His ticket has a court date already. Can an attorney help get it thrown out before then?
I'm not questioning your knowledge or anything but how is a hospital blood test and the law enforcement test different?
thank you!!!
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
No alcohol or empty containers or anything that would even imply use of drugs or alcohol was found in the car or on either kid that was involved. The only "evidence" is the officer smelled alcohol.
His ticket has a court date already. Can an attorney help get it thrown out before then?
I'm not questioning your knowledge or anything but how is a hospital blood test and the law enforcement test different?
thank you!!!
An attorney isn't likely to get it "thrown out", but he might be able to convince a DA of the futility of prosecution.

The simple answer is that the criminology labs conduct a different KIND of test for alcohol than hospital labs. It's a matter of methodology ... my understanding is that the hospital tests come back higher than criminology labs, but that's entirely anecdotal as we do not have blood tested in both places.

- Carl
 

CavemanLawyer

Senior Member
That was very smart getting your own blood test. As has already been said, present that to the DA and hopefully he/she will see the light.

As for the difference between blood tests, law enforcement draws test whole blood and hospitals frequently only test blood serum. Because of this, hospital results are often 25%-30% higher. In your child's case, 0% is 0% so it doesn't matter.

Whenever you do get blood drawn for use as evidence, always make sure the tech uses a non-ethanol alcohol swab, otherwise it can increase the results even further.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top