Colorado v. Schaufele
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Jack Schaufele was involved in a motor vehicle accident that resulted in injuries to himself and others. While he lay unresponsive at the hospital, a police officer asked a nurse to draw Schaufele's blood for an alcohol analysis. The State later sought to use evidence from that blood draw to prosecute Schaufele for vehicular assault, driving under the influence, driving under the influence per se, and careless driving. In an interlocutory appeal, the issue presented for the Supreme Court's review was whether the trial court applied the proper legal test when it suppressed evidence stemming from the blood draw. The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's analysis in suppressing the evidence. The Court declined the State's invitation to disregard the majority opinion in "Missouri v. McNeely" (which instructed a trial court to consider the totality of the circumstances and adopt Chief Justice Roberts' concurring and dissenting opinion that a "warrantless blood draw may ensue" if an officer could reasonably conclude that there was not sufficient time to seek and receive a warrant").
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