A two-month-old U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing criminal penalties for DUI suspects who refuse to submit to a blood test applies retroactively in Pennsylvania, at least three trial judges in separate counties have ruled—but the issue is far from settled.
In Commonwealth v. Bush and Commonwealth v. Fulmer, the Fayette County District Attorney’s Office and the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, respectively, challenged the application of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 23 holding in Birchfield v. North Dakota on the grounds that Pennsylvania does not define a separate offense for refusing a blood test but instead provides for harsher penalties if convicted of DUI after refusing a blood test.
