Sometimes I wonder if the writers at the Houston Chronicle are typing while intoxicated (TWI)

I was reviewing the morning Chronicle and on the top of the front page was this article on how the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals threw out mandatory DWI blood draws without a warrant. FYI, that is Texas' highest criminal court, the Texas Supreme Court handles civil actions. Now this is not surprising seeing the U. S. Supreme Court basically outlawed blood draws without a warrant last year. And the writers seems almost giddy about it. Then again the Chronicle is not a fan of local law enforcement. Here are the basics.

Court scraps DWI tool

Appeal likely on decision ousting ‘no refusal’ law to collect blood

By Lauren McGaughy and Mike Ward

AUSTIN — Texas’ controversial law allowing police to collect blood samples without warrants from drivers who refuse is unconstitutional, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Wednesday.

While the 5-4 decision is expected to be appealed, it appears certain to impact so-called “no refusal” enforcement, including this Thanksgiving holiday weekend, when police collect blood samples from suspected drunken drivers at the scene or following transport to a nearby hospital.
Under the ruling, law enforcement officers would be required to obtain a search warrant before they force suspected motorists to submit to a test measuring their blood-alcohol content.

Many jurisdictions already have started doing that, making sure judges are present at arrest scenes to sign warrants. Some also use DWI enforcement vans where arrested drivers are taken, and where a judge is available to sign a warrant if a suspect refuses to agree to provide a sample.

The “no refusal” enforcement drives have been controversial for years, and the Legislature has revised the wording of the current law in an attempt to make it pass constitutional muster. In its decision, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said it did not.

“We hold that a nonconsensual search of a DWI suspect’s blood conducted pursuant to the mandatory-blood-draw and implied-consent provisions in the Transportation Code, when undertaken in the absence of a warrant or any applicable exception to the warrant requirement, violates the Fourth Amendment,” Judge Elsa Alcala wrote for the five majority opinion judges...

In Harris County, the ruling will have no impact because the district attorney’s office already seeks search warrants in all cases in which drunken driving suspects refuse a breath test or blood draw.

“We’ve already been doing what the court ruled on for the last 18 months,” said Alison Baimbridge, chief of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office Vehicular Crimes Section.

Earlier changes in law

Baimbridge said the office made changes to its policy after an April 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that police generally must obtain a warrant before submitting a drunken-driving suspect to a blood test. However, the high court did not address states like Texas that have statutes that allow mandatory blood draws under certain circumstances. Baimbridge said the changes were made to ensure that evidence would be collected in such cases....

Now you can read the details of the case brought to the court if you will, but this is the part that makes me wonder if there is something in the coffee at the office.

...(defense attorney Fred) Jimenez said while he is pleased with the ruling, it does not mean police officers no will longer be able to take blood and breath samples against a DWI suspect’s will. They just need to ensure they have a warrant first...

I wonder how a cop forced a breath sample from a suspect before? A breathalyzer requires the suspect to blow into a tube for up to 10 seconds for a proper sample. If I ask a suspect for a breath sample and he refuses (aka "F%^& You!, I ain't doing it!) it's not like I can shove him to the ground, place the tube down his throat and compress the check to force air from the lungs. If there is a technique out there guys, please let me know. I would like to use it on the other suspects as they come in.

Sometimes you just have to wonder if they know what they are writing!