Parade of Horribles? DWI Warrants Not Difficult to Obtain
We've spent a lot of time blogging about the McNeely decision here, and with good reason. For starters, we've been raising McNeely arguments since long before the McNeely case even existed. More importantly, the McNeely decision has fundamentally changed how the courts deal with DWI cases, and many well respected judges are throwing out the results of DWI tests.
I'll tell you one thing I know for certain; there is not a judge in Minnesota that likes suppressing evidence. To a judge, throwing out evidence takes remarkable bravery, and is still a lot like taking a double dose of awful-tasting medicine - they know it's necessary to protect the integrity of the Constitution . . . but it's still a bitter pill to swallow. (Note: Ramsay Law Firm does everything it can to get evidence suppressed, and we don't lose any sleep over our victories).
But the suppression of evidence based upon the clear holding of McNeely is part of what makes Stearns County, MN, so remarkable. There, almost the entire bench has been proudly upholding the Constitution since the United States Supreme Court issued the McNeely decision, and suppressing warrantless blood, urine and breath tests. And, as reported by the St. Cloud Times, it turns out that getting warrants in routine DWI cases is really not that difficult.
"It's OK, so far,| said Police Chief Blair Anderson. |It has not caused too much trouble for our folks in the field, thus far.|
Our firm practices across Minnesota, in any county that our client's need help. And in many of those counties, we hear the non-legal argument from prosecutors that "your argument can't possibly win, because it is impossible to get a warrant for every DWI case." Well, ladies and gentlemen, I think that Stearns County has shown that to be completely untrue.