Abstract
Defendant was injured in an automobile accident and while unconscious a blood sample was taken by a hospital attendant for the purpose of typing the defendant's blood for a transfusion. One of the five centimeters removed was given to a lab technician for analysis. The alcohol content measured .180. This was admitted as evidence when the defendant was prosecuted in a state court for driving while intoxicated. Held: the taking of blood from an unconscious person does not violate rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Supreme Court of the United States has held that the Fourteenth Amendment does not necessarily require the states to grant to citizens’ rights guaranteed by the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution, but the standard the states must maintain is the protection of those personal immunities which are " ... so rooted in the traditions and conscience of our people as to be ranked as fundamental." In practice there is a conflict between the effective administration of the law and the preservation of personal liberty.
Recommended Citation
Robert Berkshire,
Recent Cases: Due Process — Self-Incrimination — Unreasonable Search and Seizure — Blood Tests In Evidence,
33 Neb. L. Rev. 511
(1953)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol33/iss3/17