« Ind. Law - More on "Take the Money and Run:The crazy perversities of civil asset forfeiture" | Main | Courts - "Wall Street Journal Calls For Fitzgerald Resignation" »

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Ind. Decisions - Judge allows cop in DUI to keep license

Updating this ILB entry from August 17th, Jon Murray of the Indianapolis Star reports this afternoon in a story that begins:

A judge ruled this morning that a suspended Indianapolis police officer may keep his driver's license while he awaits trial on charges that he was driving drunk on duty when he struck two motorcycles, killing one rider and injuring two others.

The decision by Marion Superior Court Judge Grant Hawkins came down to differences in the language of two chapters of Indiana’s “implied consent” laws for drivers suspected of driving drunk. Police learned that officer David Bisard was drunk when blood test results came back days after the Aug. 6 crash — but officers at the scene had not suspected that he was intoxicated, according to court documents.

That lag in suspicion was key to the judge’s ruling. Citing an appellate court decision, he found that in the law at issue, license suspension only applies to suspects when probable cause to believe they are intoxicated is established by police before any blood test is given. But a separate provision requiring drivers involved in fatal crashes to submit to an intoxication test automatically does not discuss a license suspension unless the person refuses the test.

That latter section of the law applied in Bisard’s case.

The defense could try to keep the blood test from being used as evidence against Bisard in the larger case — a move that, if successful, would torpedo the charges. But that issue was not addressed today, and the defense has not filed a motion to suppress the blood test.

“I think we all agree that probable cause for an arrest is not the same as probable cause for a license suspension,” Hawkins said today, making clear he considered the issues separate.

Don't miss Murray's lengthy background piece on the Bisard case, including a narrative, a timeline, and links to the charging information and probable case affidavit.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 19, 2010 02:01 PM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions