NCJ Number
108058
Journal
North Dakota Law Review Volume: 59 Issue: 3 Dated: (1983) Pages: 349-367
Date Published
1983
Length
19 pages
Annotation
The article analyzes two major legal issues arising when defendants refuse to submit to chemical testing to determine if they have been driving while intoxicated (DWI).
Abstract
The first issue is whether defendants have any State-created or absolute right to refuse testing when, under State law, they have impliedly agreed to take such a test by using the State's highways. The second issue examines (1) whether defendants have any rights under the fifth amendment of the U.S. Constitution to suppress as evidence an admission of drunkenness as a reason for refusing to submit to chemical testing and (2) whether defendants' due process rights under the 14th amendment are violated when their refusal to submit to chemical testing is offered in evidence against them. Citing the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision South Dakota v. Neville, the article states that the fifth amendment does not bar admission of the defendants' refusals to submit to chemical testing because the refusal was not coerced. 143 footnotes.