A proposed change in state law would give more weight to blood-alcohol tests when prosecutors take suspected drunken drivers to court.
Sioux Falls prosecutors who support the change to the Legislature say it would result in more guilty pleas.
The key change is this: as long as blood was drawn within two hours of driving and a chemical analysis came back over the legal limit, a suspect would be presumed guilty.
Currently, prosecutors use mathematical equations to estimate how intoxicated a suspect was when driving. That forces prosecutors to rely on defendants' statements about how much they drank and when they stopped.
Some people even argue they drove before the alcohol got in their system so they weren't legally drunk until the blood was drawn.
Posted in Top-stories on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 11:00 pm | Tags: Sd Legilsature, 01-07-09, Ap, Dui, Crime, State Crime, Government, State Government, Blood-alcohol Content
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