Beating a DWI case may soon get a lot tougher: Blood Draws

Drivers stopped on suspicion of DWI can refuse to take roadside sobriety and breath tests, and about half of the nearly 4,000 people arrested annually in the city of Dallas for DWI refuse the breath test. The number of "total refusals" of both kinds of tests have been skyrocketing in the last year and a half, say officers, judges and lawyers. Drivers are getting smarter about the law, and DWI cases are getting tougher for police and prosecutors to win. To counter that, police have arranged to have judges standing by on no-refusal weekends, ready to sign search warrants that allow officers to get blood from drivers whether they like it or not. The weekend before this St. Patrick's Day, 32 people were arrested for DWI, and about half refused to give up their blood voluntarily to a certified medical technician stationed at the jail. Two resisted even after being served with search warrants and were cuffed and strapped into a chair so their blood could be drawn. More here.