Missouri v. McNeely
United States Supreme Court
569 U.S. 141 (2013)
A Missouri officer stopped Tyler McNeely (defendant) for suspected drunk driving; after McNeely failed field sobriety tests and refused a blood-alcohol test, the officer arrested him, drove him to a hospital, and — again without a warrant, after McNeely again refused testing — directed hospital staff to draw his blood anyway, confirming his BAC exceeded the legal limit. The trial court acquitted McNeely because the officer never obtained a warrant, and the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed; the U.S. Supreme Court granted Missouri's petition for review.
Whether, in drunk-driving investigations, the natural dissipation of alcohol in the bloodstream constitutes an exigency that in every case is sufficient to justify conducting an involuntary blood test without a warrant.