FL3: Warrantless blood test justified by exigency where it was 4:22 am Sunday and it would take 4 hours to get SW

Exigent circumstances justified a warrantless blood test because defendant’s accident occurred at approximately 4:22 a.m. on a Sunday, the accident was serious, resulting in an instantaneous death, defendant himself was seriously injured, taken to a hospital for treatment, and induced into a coma and intubated. Defendant smelled of alcohol and exhibited symptoms consistent with drunkenness. It would have taken four hours to get a search warrant for blood. This sample was taken 90 minutes after the accident. Aguilar v. State, 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 482 (Fla. 3d DCA Jan. 17, 2018).

“The existence of probable cause constitutes a complete defense to plaintiff’s state claims … and federal claims for false arrest, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution …. [¶] The existence of probable cause likewise defeats any claim for the same acts based on a lesser showing of negligence.” Phin v. City of New York, 2018 NY Slip Op 00333, 2018 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 332 (1st Dept. Jan. 18, 2018).*

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