One of the biggest questions I get in driving under the influence consultations is whether you should give a blood, breath, or urine test after being arrested for DUI in Georgia. I’ll be honest, we very rarely ever see requests for urine testing. Occasionally it will happen in DUI drugs cases, but even in those situations, it is extremely rare. For the purposes of this blog, we will be focusing on blood and breath tests.

Georgia law requires any person arrested for DUI must be read the Georgia implied consent notice if the prosecution and law enforcement wants to use the result of any blood or breath test or the refusal to submit to either test against them, either as evidence at trial or for the purposes of suspending their drivers license administratively. If you would like to read about administrative license suspensions after DUI arrests, I have written in great detail about them in my blog, which can be searched from the blog’s main page. The implied consent notice must be read as soon as possible after arrest, and is usually read either right before or right after you are put into the officer’s patrol car to be transported. After the point, you will either be taken to a breath testing machine, where you will provide two breath samples into the Intoxilyzer 9000 machine, or to a registered nurse who will draw blood to be submitted to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for testing.

A Brief Understanding of How Alcohol is Processed in Your Body

Without getting into a deep scientific analysis, as alcohol enters your stomach it is absorbed into your bloodstream through the stomach and small intestine. It is then broken down by your liver and ultimately removed through your kidneys and bladder. The liver can only break down so much alcohol every hour, usually about one drink for a normal functioning liver. Alcohol takes time to enter your bloodstream, so while you may feel the effects of a drink within 10-15 minutes of consumption, the alcohol level does not peak in your body from that drink until about 60-90 minutes after consumption. What that means is your blood alcohol level is a curve. Immediately after consumption your BAC begins to go up and it continues to go up for about 60-90 minutes after that drink, then begins to go down. For every drink your consume, your blood alcohol level will increase and that curve will go higher and push out farther. That is why people are sometimes arrested for DUI hours after they have finished their last drink, sometimes even after sleeping and waking up the next morning.

Should I Consent to a Blood or Breath Sample?

My advice in this situation is no, it is almost never in your best interest to provide a blood or breath sample as evidence that can be used against you unless you are absolutely certain that your blood or breath alcohol level will be significantly under the legal limit of .08. Since there are many factors which determine how quickly your body processes alcohol and they are different for every person, there are no bright line rules that one drink is fine, or two drinks is fine. Because of this, my advice is to always refuse. Refusal to provide a blood or breath sample will impact your drivers license, as a refusal of Georgia’s implied consent statute can suspend your drivers license for one year, even before your criminal charge for DUI moves forward. Remember, after a DUI arrest in Georgia you have 30 days to either appeal your pending suspension or get an ignition interlock device limited permit on your vehicle (if applicable). Failure to do either of those things will result in your license being suspended 15 days after the 30 day period expires.

Other Considerations of Blood and Breath Testing

There are a couple things I want to make sure everyone understands about blood and breath testing. A breath test will usually occur within 30-45 minutes after arrest. They occur at the police station or jail depending on where you are arrested. A breath test requires two samples of air exposed from deep inside your lungs. It is possible if you have a drink or two quickly, get behind the wheel, and then get pulled over that even though your breath alcohol level was not .08 at the time your were pulled over, because of the way alcohol is processed by your body, you may be close to or over .08 by the time you give your sample. The same thing is true for blood alcohol tests. Blood alcohol tests usually take a bit longer to happen because of the need to find a nurse, an appropriate place to draw the sample, and other considerations of health and safety procedures. Blood alcohol tests often happen one to two hours after arrest, which puts you on a different place on the alcohol processing curve than when you were pulled over.

Questions? Call 678-753-6431 for a Free Consultation

A blood or breath alcohol test result is going to be the single most important piece of evidence in your Georgia DUI case. If you have questions regarding the circumstances surrounding giving a blood or breath sample after a Georgia DUI arrest, please feel free to reach out for a free consultation.