Oh. Here is a quote from the Tribune article:
But while Utah’s law is constitutional, it turns out not to have permitted this specific blood draw. As written, Utah’s law only permits an officer to conduct such a test where he has reasonable grounds to believe that a person from whom blood is to be taken was driving “while in violation of” the laws regarding driving under the influence of alcohol or other substances. In this case, the detective specifically lacked any such grounds, because the draw was being taken to show the opposite – that the driver was not under the influence.
The article actually contains a link to the Utah Statues. I quoted them too. One does not have to be a lawyer to read the law. This is not difficult. This one is quite easy.
1. The officer was wrong about the blood draw. He was in violation of Utah law.
There there is this:
7
7-30-14. Arrest without warrant.
The arrest of a person may be lawfully made also by any peace officer or a private person without a warrant upon reasonable information that the accused stands charged in the courts of a state with a crime punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, but when so arrested the accused must be taken before a judge or magistrate with all practicable speed and complaint must be made against him under oath setting forth the ground for the arrest as in Section 77-30-13, and thereafter his answer shall be heard as if he had been arrested on a warrant.
This does not look good for the officer.
77-7-2. Arrest by peace officers.
A peace officer may make an arrest under authority of a warrant or may, without warrant, arrest a person:
(1)
(a) for any public offense committed or attempted in the presence of any peace officer; and
(b) as used in this Subsection (1), "presence" includes all of the physical senses or any device that enhances the acuity, sensitivity, or range of any physical sense, or records the observations of any of the physical senses;
(2) when the peace officer has reasonable cause to believe a felony or a class A misdemeanor has been committed and has reasonable cause to believe that the person arrested has committed it;
(3) when the peace officer has reasonable cause to believe the person has committed a public offense, and there is reasonable cause for believing the person may:
(a) flee or conceal himself to avoid arrest;
(b) destroy or conceal evidence of the commission of the offense; or
(c) injure another person or damage property belonging to another person;
(4) when the peace officer has reasonable cause to believe the person has committed the offense of failure to disclose identity under Section 76-8-301.5; or
(5) when the peace officer has reasonable cause to believe that the person is an alien:
(a) subject to a civil removal order issued by an immigration judge;
(b) regarding whom a civil detainer warrant has been issued by the federal Department of Homeland Security; or
(c) who has been charged or convicted in another state with one or more aggravated felonies as defined by 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101(a)(43).
This does not look good for the police officer.
Effective 5/9/2017
77-7-6. Manner of making arrest.
(1) The person making the arrest shall inform the person being arrested of his intention, cause, and authority to arrest him.
This does not look good for the police officer.
77-7-1. "Arrest" defined -- Restraint allowed.
An arrest is an actual restraint of the person arrested or submission to custody. The person shall not be subjected to any more restraint than is necessary for his arrest and detention.
Not looking good for the police officer.
77-9-2. Procedure after arrest.
An officer who has made an arrest pursuant to Section 77-9-1 shall without unnecessary delay take the person arrested before a magistrate of the county in which the arrest was made. The magistrate shall conduct a hearing to determine the lawfulness of the arrest. If he finds the arrest was lawful, the magistrate may commit the person arrested for a reasonable time or may admit the person to bail pending extradition proceedings.
Left her in the car for 1/2 hour without transporting her. Not looking good for the police officer. Or his superiors.
I could go on and on.
This officer and his superior who ordered the obviously unlawful arrest when there was absolutely NO REASON for them not to attempt to obtain a warrant, are in for a big ration of shit. This has nothing to do with "liberal media" or excited politically correct citizens. It has to do with laws, very carefully crafted by the legislature, designed to protect the people from unlawful prosecution and constrain the power of the police.
Let's face it. This is a case of a pituitary case of an officer pissed at someone not doing what he said. He was wrong. He was rude. He overstepped his authority. He overreacted. In doing so he traumatized a nurse, destroyed the department's reputation and left the city at risk for a devastating law suit. God knows what a jury would award but seven figures almost certainly.
But wait! Wait Wait Wait.
This was not this officer's prisoner! He was just called in by Logan PD to do the blood draw. He did not even have a dog in the fight and he absolutely DID NOT have personal knowledge of any crime alleged. In fact...Here is what the Logan Police Chief, whose department's case this was, said:
He didn’t tell him you must cease and desist, he simply said ‘don’t worry about it, we’ll go another way,'” Jensen told CNN. “I just don’t believe (Payne’s) actions were in the best interest of the patient, the nurses or law enforcement, quite frankly.
“He could have just packed up and gone home,” Jensen added.
The boom you just heard was the price of the settlement doubling.
- By Fasces
- By Dr House
- By JohnRawls