In light of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Zalcberg decision, some legal observers believe police will be more inclined to draw blood from drunken driving suspects without a warrant.
The court ruled on March 27 in State v. Zalcberg that a suspected drunken driver’s constitutional rights were not violated when police had a sample of her blood drawn without her consent at a hospital. There, the court ruled a series of exigent circumstances, including a police force that was not trained in how to obtain warrants by phone, relaxed the need for a warrant and rendered the drawing of blood from Shayna Zalcberg constitutional.
