A.R.S. 28-1321 Interpretation

In Arizona, a person operating a motor vehicle gives implied consent to a BAC test if he or she is arrested for violating the DUI statutes. 28-1321(A). If a person revokes this implied consent, that is, refuses to submit to the test chosen by the law enforcement officer, 28-1321(D)(1) provides that: "The test shall not be given, except as provided in 28-1388, subsection E or pursuant to a search warrant." the penalty for refusing to submit to the test is mandatory suspension of the person's driver's license. A.R.S. 28-1321(D)(2). The drawing of blood is a bodily invasion and, thus, constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment. State v. Jones, 203 Ariz. 1, 49 P.3d 273 (2002); see also Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 86 S. Ct. 1826, 16 L. Ed. 2d 908 (1966). To comply with the Fourth Amendment's requirement that searches be reasonable, the police may obtain a suspect's blood sample if: they obtain a search warrant founded on probable cause, Jones; the suspect consents either expressly, Flannigan, or implicitly to the blood draw, 28-673(F) and A.R.S. 28-1321(C); exigent circumstances exist and the police have probable cause to believe the person violated the DUI statute. Schmerber; Flannigan. The legislature codified the third method in 28-1388(E), which also requires that the blood be drawn by medical personnel for any medical reason.