Types Of Blood Tests in DUI Cases

Forensic or “legal” blood refers to the sample of blood the police obtain pursuant to their criminal DUI investigation. Medical blood refers to a blood sample that was either voluntarily given or involuntarily taken by medical personnel in the course of rendering medical treatment.  For injured DUI suspects, a blood sample given for medical treatment purposes may be subpoenaed or obtained pursuant to a search warrant, and used against them in their criminal DUI trials.  The legal standard of causation is usually the same when requesting medical blood as it is for legal/forensic blood.  The police must have either a subpoena or a search warrant, and probable cause to believe the suspect was the cause of the accident and that he/she was impaired.

Regardless of whether your blood was drawn by a police officer or hospital personnel, special procedures and policies are required to be followed when collecting the specimen.