New Hampshire v. Bazinet

Defendant James Bazinet was convicted by a jury of negligent homicide for driving a motor vehicle while he was intoxicated and causing a fatal collision. He appealed the rulings of the Superior Court denying his motions to suppress the results of testing done by the State on a blood draw sample taken by the hospital after he arrived there unconscious. The court ruled that the defendant did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the hospital blood draw sample, and that the State acted lawfully in obtaining and testing it for blood alcohol content without a warrant. Citing a case discussing the emergency exception to consent in the civil context, the court found that the defendant implicitly consented to medical treatment. The court further concluded that “no ‘search’ occurred within the meaning of [the federal and New Hampshire] constitutions when the police later tested the defendant’s blood for DNA.” The New Hampshire Supreme Court concurred with the Superior Court’s judgment, noting in particular to the admission of the DNA evidence that given the other evidence presented by the State to establish that the defendant was the driver, the DNA evidence was cumulative. View "New Hampshire v. Bazinet" on Justia Law