State v. Woomer

In State v. Woomer, 196 N.J.Super. 583, 586-87, 483 A.2d 837 (App.Div.1984), the Court held that a police officer's threat of the use of force to obtain a blood test was not unreasonable. The defendant, in Woomer, submitted to the blood test after first refusing the test when the police officer said, "we could use force." Id. at 585, 483 A.2d 837. However, no actual force was administered during the blood test. As to the issue of force, the Court stated: While we might conceive of circumstance in which threats of force or violence are of such an egregious nature as to implicate a due process claim or negatively affect the integrity of the medical environment, that is not the case before us. Id. at 586-87, 483 A.2d 837 The Court reasoned that an individual resisting a blood sample could be "restrained in a medically acceptable way as could any other uncooperative patient." Id. at 586, 483 A.2d 837.