Matter of Abe A

In Matter of Abe A. (56 NY2d 288), the Court was faced with the issue of whether a court may order a person who has not been arrested to give a blood sample. After stating that there is no explicit statutory authority for a court to so order, the Court held that such orders fall within the parameters of the search warrant provisions of the CPL ( id., at 294). The Court of Appeals held that: "a court order to obtain a blood sample of a suspect may issue provided the People establish (1) probable cause to believe the suspect has committed the crime, (2) a 'clear indication' that relevant material evidence will be found, and (3) the method used to secure it is safe and reliable. In addition, the issuing court must weigh the seriousness of the crime, the importance of the evidence to the investigation and the unavailability of less intrusive means of obtaining it, on the one hand, against concern for the suspect's constitutional right to be free from bodily intrusion on the other. Only if this stringent standard is met, as we conclude it was here, may the intrusion be sustained." (Abe A., 56 N.Y.2d at 291). The Court also provided that: "before authorizing the intrusion, the court must give careful consideration to the circumstances of the particular case. These should include, for instance, not only the probable worth of the evidence to the investigation, but the nature of alternative means, if any, for obtaining the evidence." (Abe A., 56 N.Y.2d at 298 .)