In Florida, Vero Beach City police have stopped using search warrants to take blood samples from motorists who refuse to give breath tests for alcohol. This is due to a ruling from the Fifth District Court of Appeals that blood, unlike a handgun for instance, can't be seized as an item used in committing a crime. Vero Beach Police Chief Donald Dappen said he would wait to see if the Florida Attorney General's office challenges the appeals court ruling before taking action.

Back in November 2009, the Vero Beach Police Department became one of a few law enforcement agencies in Florida to implement the controversial approach of using a search warrant in DUI cases.

Florida ranks third-highest in the nation in people refusing a breath test when stopped on suspicion of driving drunk.

That figure is from a U.S. Department of Transportation report to Congress in 2008.

According to a recent article in the TCPalm, under Florida law the first time a driver refuses a Breathalyzer, the state may take away a driver's license for a year.

Refusing during a second DUI arrest is a criminal offense, punishable by up to a year in jail.

After the city started using search warrants to draw blood from suspected drunken drivers, local defense attorneys unsuccessfully challenged the policy in Indian River County Court. Attorney Andy Metcalf of Vero Beach argued in early 2010 that blood couldn't be considered property that is subject to search warrants.

But in February 2010, County Judge David Morgan disagreed.

"The defense has offered no good reason why blood should not be considered ‘property' that can be seized for evidence in criminal cases," Morgan wrote in his ruling.

"The Vero Beach Police Department will have no choice but to follow the law," Metcalf said.

According to the appeals court's written ruling, "We agree ... that blood cannot be drawn [through a search warrant] based on probable cause that a suspect has committed misdemeanor DUI."

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