In this case, the defendant went on trial for Aggravated DUI based on collision which killed one person and injured another. Two blood draws were taken from the defendant at the hospital. The first was for medical treatment and the second was for a “DUI kit.”
The trial court denied motions to suppress the blood draws and at trial, would not allow the defense accident reconstruction expert to give an opinion as to what color the light was.
The appellate court acknowledged that another appellate court decision (Eubanks) declared the statute that allowed the blood draw to be taken to be unconstitutional, but distinguished Eubanks to find that the good faith exception applied as physical force was not applied to this defendant to obtain the blood sample (unlike Eubanks). The appellate court therefore affirmed the denial of the motion to suppress.
The appellate court also affirmed the trial court’s decision not to allow the defense expert to give an opinion as to what color the light was at the time of the incident as both the court and the expert were relying on eyewitness accounts.
The case is People v. Simuel Turner, 2018 IL App (1st) 170204.
http://www.illinoiscourts.gov/Opinions/AppellateCourt/2018/1stDistrict/1170204.pdf