Colorado v. Simpson
Annotate this CaseColorado’s Expressed Consent Statute provided that any motorist who drives on the roads of the state has consented to take a blood or breath test when requested to do so by a law enforcement officer with probable cause to suspect the motorist of driving under the influence. In this appeal, the issue presented for the Supreme Court's review centered on the trial court’s ruling that an advisement accurately informing defendant William Simpson of this law amounted to coercion that rendered his consent to a blood test involuntary and required suppression of the test result. By driving in Colorado, Simpson consented to the terms of the Expressed Consent Statute, including its requirement that he submit to a blood draw under the circumstances presented here. "That prior statutory consent eliminated the need for the trial court to assess the voluntariness of Simpson’s consent at the time of his interaction with law enforcement. Simpson’s prior statutory consent satisfies the consent exception to the warrant requirement under the Fourth Amendment. Therefore, the blood draw at issue here was constitutional."
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