Name: cherry boom

Case Name | STATE of Missouri V. Tyler G. McNEELY | Citation(year) | 358 S.W.3d 65 January 17, 2012 | Ct/J. | John G. Roberts Chief Justice | Pro. History | A trial judge ruled in McNeely's favor to suppress the results of the blood test, stating that administering a blood test without a warrant was a violation of the suspect's Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. State prosecutors later argued that the administration of the test without a warrant was justified as blood alcohol would be metabolized with time, and a delay in obtaining a warrant would amount to destruction of evidence, citing the exigent circumstances exception in the United States Supreme Court decision Schmerber v. California. On appeal, the state appeals court stated an intention to reverse, but transferred the case directly to the Missouri Supreme Court. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's decision that the officer had violated McNeely's Fourth Amendment rights. | Short Facts | On October 3, 2010, at approximately 2:08 A.M., patrolman Mark Winder stopped Tyler G. McNeely for speeding. During the routine traffic stop, Winder thought McNeely showed signs of intoxication, including bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and the smell of alcohol on his person. As a result, Winder had McNeely perform multiple field-sobriety tests. According to Winder’s later testimony, because McNeely performed poorly on each of these tests, Winder arrested McNeely for driving while intoxicated. Winder then asked McNeely to take a breathalyzer test, but McNeely refused. Winder, relying on an article he had recently read in Traffic Safety News that was written by a prosecutor in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, took McNeely to the local hospital for a blood test without first getting a search warrant. Upon arrival at the hospital,