DUI

[Theo]

Detroit, Michigan.
While intoxicated I caused and was involved in an accident involving two other vehicles. I was not tested for DUI.
I and the driver of another car was hospitalized. The driver of the other car was treated for injuries to his leg, my injuries required surgery. Prior to surgery my blood was drawn for what I understand to be hospital procedure. At the time of the accident I remember being questioned by the officers on duty. A few weeks have passed and I am now home and back to work. I have not been contacted by anyone since the accident, I wasn't ticketed, issued a court date or restricted in anyway. I contacted an attorney who assured me that if I haven't been ticketed or contacted by anyone at this point in time, I won't be. He also told me that the police must have a warrant to obtain blood/bodily fluids when testing for blood alcohol content. True? Do the police have access to hospital/patient information and or specimens? Does it usually take this long before a judgement is issued? I understand and agree that I exercised poor judgement the evening of my accident and I am ready to face the punishment. What should I expect? Is the paperwork in the mix or did somebody goof?

 

[lawrat]

I am a law school graduate currently awaiting Bar results. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney-client relationship.


Yes typically the police need a warrant to search records, however, if they should decide to press charges (time limit has not passed yet, but not sure how long they have to issue one), they can subpoena your hospital records to see if the blood test tested positive for alcohol.

I think your attorney is correct. If no ticket was issued and no arrest, then quite possibly yes, nothing will happen. But remember, things can come back to haunt you. What the attorney may have failed to you is this: the victims have one year to file a personal injury claim against you. If they do, you may have to revisit all these issues again.

Check by reading the section on Criminal law at freeadvice.com's home page and get a second opinion from another criminal defense atty. Try attorneypages.com.