• Home
  • About
    ▼
    • About
    • Ben Sessions
    • Locations
      ▼
      • Atlanta, GA Office Location
      • Macon, GA Office Location
      • Columbus, GA Office Location
    • Areas We Serve
      ▼
      • Albany
      • Americus
      • Atlanta
      • Bartow County
      • Bibb County
      • Brookhaven
      • Centerville
      • Chatham County
      • Chattanooga
      • Clayton County
      • Cobb County
      • Columbia County
      • Columbus
      • Coweta County
      • DeKalb County
      • Doraville
      • Douglas County
      • Dublin
      • Fayette County
      • Gray
      • Griffin
      • Gwinnett County
      • Hall County
      • Hawkinsville
      • Henry County
      • Hinesville
      • Houston County
      • Jackson County
      • LaGrange
      • Lowndes County
      • Macon
      • McDonough
      • Milledgeville
      • Muscogee County
      • Newton County
      • Paulding County
      • Perry
      • Pooler
      • Richmond Hill
      • Roberta
      • Rockdale County
      • Savannah
      • Walker County
      • Walton County
      • Whitfield County
  • Practice Areas
    ▼
    • Practice Areas
    • Personal Injury
      ▼
      • Car Accidents
      • Motorcycle Accidents
      • Truck Accidents
      • Slip-And-Fall & Premises Liability
      • Pedestrian Accidents
      • Bicycle Accidents
      • Elder Abuse
      • Product Failure Injury
      • Defective Product Injuries
      • Negligent Security
      • Wrong Prescriptions
      • Wrongful Death
    • DUI Defense
      ▼
      • 1st DUI Offense
      • 2nd DUI Offense
      • DUI Drug Offense
      • Child Endangerment DUI
      • License Suspension
    • Criminal Defense
      ▼
      • Bond in Georgia Criminal Cases
      • Drug Charge Defense
      • Sex Crime Defense
      • Domestic Violence
      • Probation Violation
      • Vehicular Homicide
    • Workers’ Comp
      ▼
      • Calculating Workers’ Comp Payments
      • Fall at Work
  • Testimonials
    ▼
    • Case Results
  • Resources
    ▼
    • Resources
    • Preparing for Our Meeting
    • Personal Injury Resources
      ▼
      • Personal Injury Blog
      • Back Injuries
      • Spinal Cord Injuries
      • Nerve Damage
      • Broken Bones
      • Brain Injury
      • Scarring
    • Car Accident Resources
      ▼
      • Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer
      • Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer
      • Following Too Closely Accident
      • Common Causes of Car Accidents
      • Do I Need a Lawyer for My Car Accident Case?
      • Car Accident Blog
      • Step-By-Step Car Accident Guide
    • DUI Defense Resources
      ▼
      • DUI Defense Blog
      • Georgia DUI Process
      • The “Walk and Turn” Test in DUI Cases
      • The Eye Test
      • Your Driver’s License After a DUI Arrest
      • License Suspension in A DUI Case
      • Ignition Interlock Permit
      • Importance of Your Driving in Your DUI Case
  • Contact Us Now
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Sessions Law Firm, LLC

FREE CONSULTATION

470.225.7710

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Ben Sessions
    • Locations
      • Atlanta, GA Office Location
      • Macon, GA Office Location
      • Columbus, GA Office Location
    • Areas We Serve
      • Albany
      • Americus
      • Atlanta
      • Bartow County
      • Bibb County
      • Brookhaven
      • Centerville
      • Chatham County
      • Chattanooga
      • Clayton County
      • Cobb County
      • Columbia County
      • Columbus
      • Coweta County
      • DeKalb County
      • Doraville
      • Douglas County
      • Dublin
      • Fayette County
      • Gray
      • Griffin
      • Gwinnett County
      • Hall County
      • Hawkinsville
      • Henry County
      • Hinesville
      • Houston County
      • Jackson County
      • LaGrange
      • Lowndes County
      • Macon
      • McDonough
      • Milledgeville
      • Muscogee County
      • Newton County
      • Paulding County
      • Perry
      • Pooler
      • Richmond Hill
      • Roberta
      • Rockdale County
      • Savannah
      • Walker County
      • Walton County
      • Whitfield County
  • Practice Areas
    • Practice Areas
    • Personal Injury
      • Car Accidents
      • Motorcycle Accidents
      • Truck Accidents
      • Slip-And-Fall & Premises Liability
      • Pedestrian Accidents
      • Bicycle Accidents
      • Elder Abuse
      • Product Failure Injury
      • Defective Product Injuries
      • Negligent Security
      • Wrong Prescriptions
      • Wrongful Death
    • DUI Defense
      • 1st DUI Offense
      • 2nd DUI Offense
      • DUI Drug Offense
      • Child Endangerment DUI
      • License Suspension
    • Criminal Defense
      • Bond in Georgia Criminal Cases
      • Drug Charge Defense
      • Sex Crime Defense
      • Domestic Violence
      • Probation Violation
      • Vehicular Homicide
    • Workers’ Comp
      • Calculating Workers’ Comp Payments
      • Fall at Work
  • Testimonials
    • Case Results
  • Resources
    • Resources
    • Preparing for Our Meeting
    • Personal Injury Resources
      • Personal Injury Blog
      • Back Injuries
      • Spinal Cord Injuries
      • Nerve Damage
      • Broken Bones
      • Brain Injury
      • Scarring
    • Car Accident Resources
      • Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer
      • Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer
      • Following Too Closely Accident
      • Common Causes of Car Accidents
      • Do I Need a Lawyer for My Car Accident Case?
      • Car Accident Blog
      • Step-By-Step Car Accident Guide
    • DUI Defense Resources
      • DUI Defense Blog
      • Georgia DUI Process
      • The “Walk and Turn” Test in DUI Cases
      • The Eye Test
      • Your Driver’s License After a DUI Arrest
      • License Suspension in A DUI Case
      • Ignition Interlock Permit
      • Importance of Your Driving in Your DUI Case
  • Contact Us Now

Hospital Blood Tests: Not the DUI Cure You Are Looking For

By Ben Sessions on December 4th, 2014 in DUI / DWI

It is a very infrequent that I have clients that request and actually follow through with a request for an independent test after being arrested for DUI. Generally, the supposed costs of the independent test are sufficient to deter most people from following through with the test. Often times, officers improperly overstate the costs of the independent tests, but I will leave that discussion for another day. One of the most bothersome issues that I see with regard to independent tests is that the tests are generally performed at a hospital, and generally hospitals performs alcohol tests on serum or plasma. These tests overstate the concentration of alcohol because serum and plasma have a higher concentration of water than “whole blood.” Further, these “independent tests” usually state in bold print below the results: FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES ONLY.

“O.C.G.A. § 40-6-392(a)(3) gives one accused of driving under the influence the right to ‘have a…qualified person of his own choosing administer a chemical test or tests in addition to any administered at the direction of a law enforcement officer.’ (Emphasis supplied.) ‘There can be no question that by judicial interpretation of [O.C.G.A. § 40-6-392] the results of an intoximeter (breath) test which is taken in violation of the protections afforded by [that section] may not be used in evidence against the defendant.‘”

The statutory scheme which requires that a DUI suspect be provided with the opportunity to obtain an independent test is intended to “safeguard the Defendant’s equal protection and due process rights to gather exculpatory evidence, i.e., an independent test.” “The legislative purpose behind the implied consent law is to allow a DUI suspect to obtain an independent test after taking the test requested by the state.”

In Schlanger v. State, the Court of Appeals expounded upon the purpose of providing of a suspect with the right to independent test pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 40-6-392(a)(3):

This procedure helps dissipate any feelings the DUI suspect may have of collusion, fraud, or inaccuracy in the [s]tate-administered testing. It also enables the suspect to obtain independent evidence to refute a possible erroneous [s]tate test result.

How can a test that is “for medical purposes only” be sufficient to overcome the state’s forensic breath test? How does such a test “dissipate any feelings the DUI suspect may have of collusion, fraud, or inaccuracy”? How is this an “independent test”?


Blog Post Provided By:

The Sessions Law Firm, LLC

3155 Roswell Rd., Ste. 220
Atlanta, GA 30305
Phone: 470-225-7710

Primary Sidebar

Get Your Free Consultation

  • Hidden
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Follow Us

Atlanta Office:
3155 Roswell Road, Ste 220
Atlanta, GA 30305

Macon Office: 544 Mulberry Street, Ste 319 Macon, GA 31201
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Copyright © 2022 The Sessions Law Firm, LLC
Disclaimer Privacy Policy