When is “consent” not “CONSENT”?

What do you do when the Police say you consented to something, but you do not remember doing so or expressly remember not giving consent? How does someone fight what the police are calling “consent” in a criminal case?

This situation happened recently with one of our firm’s clients. “Jake” was arrested by the Harris County Constable’s office after a minor traffic accident on the Beltway. Jake does not drink alcohol. Jake never has drunk alcohol. But the police thought he was intoxicated on something else, and so they arrested him and took him downtown, against his will, for a DWI investigation.

Once they got Downtown, Jake thought it might help if he cooperated with the police. This was Jake’s first mistake. Since he does not drink alcohol, Jake consented to give a breath test to the police. Once the breath test came back with no alcohol, things took a turn against Jake. The police were convinced Jake was intoxicated on drugs, and they were going to get the evidence they wanted, legal or not.

After their DWI drugs investigation, the police made Jake give a blood sample. Jake did not consent to this search of his body. The police did not get a warrant for this invasive search. THE POLICE CANNOT TAKE YOUR BLOOD WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT OR A WARRANT.

Things looked bad at this point. Jake’s blood had evidence of drugs in it. However, this blood was never admitted as evidence against him. The blood was suppressed by the judge because the police went too far and took his blood illegally.

Someone has to step up and make sure the police are being policed. This is what our firm stands for. If you need help, we can guide you. Do not let the police run roughshod on your rights.

Stand up and FIGHT.