Police Can't Require Drug Tests Without Suspicion
of Intoxication
ATLANTA -- A driver who tested positive for cocaine during a head-on collision
will get a new trial after the Georgia Supreme Court threw out his conviction
Monday because the law is flawed.
Carey Don Cooper had cocaine in his bloodstream on Aug. 11, 2000, when he
swerved into the path of another car on the Atlanta Highway in Barrow County.
Since the other driver suffered a broken arm, a trooper gave Cooper the choice
between a routine blood test for drugs or loss of his license - even though
neither driver appeared to be intoxicated.
Cooper agreed to the test and wound up convicted of a misdemeanor drug charge
after it turned up positive. Then he appealed.
In the appeal, the court ruled the state's so-called "implied consent" law
cannot require a driver to submit to a blood test for illegal drugs or alcohol
unless a law-enforcement officer suspects intoxication. Until Monday's
decision, police officers had been allowed to get the tests from any driver
involved in an accident resulting in serious injuries.
Cooper's attorney predicted the ruling would affect many cases.
Yet, to some, the court was wrong.
"I don't think it violates anybody's rights," said Sam Patl, manager of Oxford
Cleaners in Winder. "If I got nothing to hide, then I should not have a
problem."
The law centered on the assumption that in exchange for the ability to drive, a
person had to agree to drug and alcohol tests after serious wrecks. Normally,
the constitution prohibits such tests without a warrant from a judge who has
determined police had probable cause for suspecting a law was broken. But this
law said that by driving a person has implied that he or she consents to the
tests.
In Cooper's case, the seven justices concluded that driving is so important to
most people that they will feel compelled to submit to a blood test - which
courts consider an invasive "search." Since the Fourth Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution outlaws unreasonable searches, the court threw out his conviction
and ordered a new trial.
Cooper's attorney, William D. "Billy" Healan III, said that the decision reins
in the police from abusing the rights of even people like his client who
happened to have ingested illegal drugs.
"If you take drugs, you still have the constitutional right against unreasonable
searches and seizures," said Healan, who practices in Winder.
Barrow County District Attorney Tim Madison didn't return a call seeking a
comment, so it's not yet known when or if Cooper would be retried.
The decision will require police, deputies and troopers to change their
procedures when investigating accidents with injuries, said Frank Rotondo,
executive director the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police.
"I would have to concur with the judge's decision on that. It sounds like it
might be anti-law enforcement, but it's not," Rotondo said. "Sometimes when you
get rulings like this, it results in stronger laws."
Newshawk: Chip
Pubdate: Tue, 07 Oct 2003
Source: Savannah Morning News (GA)
Copyright: 2003 Savannah Morning News
Contact:
letted@savannahnow.com
Website:
http://www.savannahnow.com/
Details:
http://www.mapinc.org/media/401
Author: Walter C. Jones
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