The near-universal outrage surrounding the arrest of Alex Wubbels, the Salt Lake City nurse who was arrested July 26 for refusing to let police officers draw blood from an unconscious crash victim, empowered Wubbels and her attorney to threaten legal action against the police on CNNs New Day on Monday. At the very least, Wubbels says, shed like to re-educate the police department on proper procedure.
Prospective students are advised to steer clear of Wubbels courses. Despite reams of inaccurate reporting on the incident, Wubbels was likely legally wrong to obstruct the police officer. The case is a much closer one than it appears.
In a widely-seen video documenting her arrest, Wubbels calmly tells a police officer, Jeff Payne, that hospital policy permits the police to draw blood from patients in only three instances: when the patient consents, when the patient is under arrest, or when the police officer has a warrant.
After a hospital administrator tells Payne he is making a mistake by insisting he has the right to obtain the blood, Payne arrests the nurse, who howls her way outside of the building and proceeds to put the salt in Salt Lake City.
The hospitals policy does not have the force of law, even if the local police department agreed to its terms. And crucially, the policy overlooks a well-established exception to the warrant requirement: Police simply do not need a warrant if exigent circumstances justify an urgent search and seizure of evidence. The imminent loss of blood evidence, which would be useful in a drunk-driving case, qualifies as a potentially exigent circumstance.
A quick hypothetical. Lets say youre watching an unlikely UCLA comeback in the peace and quiet of your own home on the day before Labor Day, when suddenly your neighbor bursts through your front door with a pile of drugs in his hands. You hear police sirens in the background, and your neighbor says, Theyre coming for me!
As your neighbor busies himself by tossing his cocaine into your toilet, the doorbell rings, and the police request to come inside. Theyve seen your neighbor running into your house with what they suspect are drugs.
A-ha, you say. I have a policy. No police in my house without my consent, or a warrant, or unless Im under arrest.
The police would be justified in pushing you aside even breaking your door down if necessary to get to your bathroom. As long as a reasonable person would conclude that evidence is in imminent risk of destruction, the police can enter your home for the limited purpose of preventing that destruction.
If you actively impeded their access to the bathroom, you would likely find yourself at least temporarily detained. (Wubbels was only detained for approximately twenty minutes).
In its reporting of this incident, The New York Times falsely claimed that the United States Supreme Court ruled that the police do not have the right to draw blood in drunk driving investigations without a warrant.
But the case the Times cites, Missouri v. McNeely, does not stand for that proposition at all. The court explicitly held in McNeely that some drunk-driving cases could permit warrantless blood draws.
When officers in drunk-driving investigations can reasonably obtain a warrant before having a blood sample drawn without significantly undermining the efficacy of the search, the Fourth Amendment mandates that they do so, the Court wrote. Circumstances may make obtaining a warrant impractical such that the alcohols dissipation will support an exigency, but that is a reason to decide each case on its facts .
There are some more complicated questions at play here. The police are on far shakier ground if they demanded the nurse to draw blood for them, as opposed to the police drawing the blood themselves. But the video suggests that the police wanted to draw blood here.
If she interferes in any way with me getting the blood drawn, she needs to be arrested, an officer says early on in the video. And The Washington Post has reported that Payne is a trained police phlebotomist, meaning that he is sent to hospitals to collect blood from patients and check for illicit substances.
But the coverage of this incident has focused so much on outrage that outlets cannot agree on even this basic factual issue. CNN has reported that the nurse refused to let police officers draw blood. The New York Times reported that the nurse was arrested after refusing to draw patients blood. News outlets cannot even agree on who was going to draw the blood.
Officer Payne is now on paid administrative leave. The chief of the Salt Lake City police department has said he is alarmed and sorry. There is talk of lawsuits and criminal investigation. The mayor of Salt Lake City has called the arrest completely unacceptable and apologized.
These are moves are necessitated not by the law, but public relations. Wubbels says in the video that you cant put me under arrest.
Unfortunately, and only because she is a sympathetic nurse up against a faceless Officer Payne in the YouTube era, she may have been right.
#51: BorisY To: misterwhite (#49)
The pc winds
shariah
jihad
nuclear winTer
snowflakes
blow here
relenTlessly
love
boris
BorisY posted on 2017-09-05 13:29:06 Reply Private Reply
#52: misterwhite To: Tooconservative (#50)
Nah. I think he did everything correctly.
He was patient and waited ... and waited ... and waited while she dicked around and checked hospital policy, actually took time to print out the policy, showed it to him, called her supervisor and chatted away .. I would have tased her and told her to get the fuck out of the way.
misterwhite posted on 2017-09-05 13:31:59 Reply Private Reply
#53: redleghunter To: Tooconservative (#8)
Sooo...Someone driving on the correct side of the road is slammed by an SUV driving on the wrong side of the road while pursued by police.
Yeah, sounds like the cops were fishing for additional crimes here that most likely were not there or any reason to investigate. I mean someone who was just in a head on collision is going to be disoriented regardless of the last beverage taken.
I had a buddy in HS who was in a similar situation. Car veered into oncoming traffic hit him head on (he survived). Last thing he remembers before losing consciousness was a needle going in his arm to draw blood from the EMT crew.
Pretty crappy people are treated as guilty immediately when an accident is not their fault.
I'm sure his age had to do something with it too (17).
redleghunter posted on 2017-09-05 13:32:13 Reply Private Reply
#54: redleghunter To: Deckard (#9)
Points well taken and I agree with you.
redleghunter posted on 2017-09-05 13:41:35 Reply Private Reply
#55: redleghunter To: Tooconservative (#13)
You are right. We might find out Logan PD and SLCUPD had faulty information on the nature of the crash and stepped out accordingly. As we peel the onion more this stinks.
redleghunter posted on 2017-09-05 13:49:40 Reply Private Reply
#56: redleghunter To: randge (#21)
Indeed. Beat me to it. :)
redleghunter posted on 2017-09-05 13:53:08 Reply Private Reply
#57: Tooconservative To: redleghunter (#53)
The Logan PD responded only after the crash, when their fire department and ambulances were already on their way. The Utah HP had chased the driver and put out the burning victim and they had jurisdiction over the local cops in this accident.
This is why it is so puzzling that they obviously put the Logan PD up to getting a blood sample and then Logan PD dragged in Rotten Cop and his supervisor at SLCUPD to do the deed. You know, to "protect" the burned truck driver.
What puzzles me is why Logan PD and SLCUPD agreed to be the henchmen for Utah highway patrol. It makes no sense.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-09-05 13:53:14 Reply Private Reply
#58: redleghunter To: Tooconservative (#22)
Joel Segal mentioned this on one of his documentaries. He said there are probably thousands of city/town ordinances which have not been challenged which are Unconstitutional.
redleghunter posted on 2017-09-05 13:55:28 Reply Private Reply
#59: Hondo68 To: Tooconservative, RICO organized criminal conspiracy, Fusion Center Cop Klan, FCCK, *The Two Parties ARE the Same* (#10)
It's a federal organized crime racket (Fusion Centers) founded by the Bush DHS/DOJ, so the Trump DOJ under Jeff Sessions will ignore it, and decline to prosecute the gangbangers in blue under the RICO statutes. Establishment swamp dwelling Republicans and Democrats will stick together and ignore the US Constitution, the Bill or Rights, and the Rule of Law.
The whole Fusion Center Cop Klan (FCCK) should be in jail!
Hondo68 posted on 2017-09-05 13:55:46 Reply Private Reply
#60: redleghunter To: Tooconservative (#25)
redleghunter posted on 2017-09-05 13:56:49 Reply Private Reply
#61: Tooconservative To: redleghunter (#60)
Nope.
If that cop was so sure he was right, why didn't he just leave another SLCPD officer at the car with the nurse and go in and start hauling out any staff who objected to his taking a blood sample?
It's because he knew he was in the wrong all along. He said they had no probable cause on tape, he said he'd never gone so far before. And he said he was doing it on the orders of his superior.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-09-05 14:22:52 Reply Private Reply
#62: Hondo68 To: Tooconservative, redleghunter (#61)
Some report(s) said that they got some blood that the hospital had taken earlier for medical tests.
AFAIK they did get some blood from someone there, likely in violation of hospital policy.
Hondo68 posted on 2017-09-05 14:43:19 Reply Private Reply
#63: Tooconservative To: hondo68 (#62)
I read a lot of these articles and I haven't come across any reports that they actually got his blood.
If they did, the penalties will be even harsher since they were in the wrong to begin with.
If you can find any reliable reporting that they did get the blood, post me a link.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-09-05 14:51:33 Reply Private Reply
#64: misterwhite To: Tooconservative (#61)
Maybe by then they informed him they already had a blood sample.
misterwhite posted on 2017-09-05 15:13:33 Reply Private Reply
#65: redleghunter To: hondo68 (#62)
redleghunter posted on 2017-09-05 15:14:04 Reply Private Reply
#66: nolu chan To: misterwhite, Vicomte13, Tooconservative (#20)
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/11-1425_cb8e.pdf
Missouri v McNeely, S Ct 11-1425, 569 US (17 Apr 2013)
nolu chan posted on 2017-09-05 15:49:22 Reply Private Reply
#67: Tooconservative To: nolu chan (#66)
At least, I find parsing the two to be difficult.
NYSlimes:
The case, Birchfield v. North Dakota, No. 14-1468, consolidated with two others, arose from laws that made it a crime for motorists suspected of drunken driving to refuse breath or blood tests.
The courts split decision considered three cases: one from Minnesota and two from North Dakota.
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., in a part of the decision determined by a 7-to-1 vote, said laws effectively requiring blood tests violated the Fourth Amendments ban on unreasonable searches. In a part decided by a 6-to-2 vote, Justice Alito wrote that laws requiring breath tests are permissible.
Blood tests are significantly more intrusive, and their reasonableness must be judged in light of the availability of the less invasive alternative of a breath test, he wrote.
When all that is sought is a suspects breath, he wrote, the physical intrusion is almost negligible, adding that the effort is no more demanding than blowing up a party balloon.
Moreover, he wrote, breath tests are capable of revealing only one bit of information, the amount of alcohol in the subjects breath.
But blood tests, Justice Alito wrote, are a different matter, requiring piercing of the skin and extraction of a part of the subjects body.
In addition, he wrote, a blood test, unlike a breath test, places in the hands of law enforcement authorities a sample that can be preserved and from which it is possible to extract information beyond what can be learned from a breath test.
In a partial dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, said warrants should be required for both kinds of tests.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-09-05 16:12:36 Reply Private Reply
#68: Vicomte13 To: nolu chan (#66)
The cops lose here, and lose badly because they used coercive force illegally to try to force medical staff to do what it was illegal for them to do.
The cops don't have a pot to piss in, they have angered the people who pay their salaries, and they are going down, as examples to the whole of American policedom.
Vicomte13 posted on 2017-09-05 16:14:34 Reply Private Reply
#69: Hondo68 To: redleghunter (#65)
They still don't have probable cause, a warrant, or even reasonable suspicion of any crime. The fact that it was already drawn, really changes nothing from a legal standpoint, IMO.
Hondo68 posted on 2017-09-05 16:19:16 Reply Private Reply
#70: Vicomte13 To: Tooconservative (#67)
In both cases the privacy interest of the individual is held as being of greater importance than any law enforcement objective.
What the cop was trying to do in Utah was illegal. The nurse was right. His arresting her was illegal. The supervisor who directed that it happen ordered illegal acts. And ignorance of the law is no excuse, ESPECIALLY not for cops.
Whereas cops are given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the use of force, the opposite rule should be the case when they are enforcing the law. Ignorance of the law should not only not be an excuse FOR THE COPS, but should bring with it the strict liability against them that they apply to the citizenry regarding each and every law.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse, and when the cops are ignorance of the law, it should be a separate and specific offense. The cops have to be forced to learn the law and obey it, and when they don't, they need to be very severely punished, to put the fear of God in the rest of them.
When cops don't obey the law, they damage the very loyalty of people to the republic. That's a serious thing that warrants very harsh punishment.
More cops need to fined, found personally liable, given jail time, broken, expelled from the force. The police forces need to be beaten into submission to the law.
Vicomte13 posted on 2017-09-05 16:20:48 Reply Private Reply
#71: Vicomte13 To: redleghunter (#65)
Maybe, but without a warrant that blood was not, and should not be, available for use by law enforcement.
Vicomte13 posted on 2017-09-05 16:23:55 Reply Private Reply
#72: Tooconservative To: Vicomte13 (#70)
Well, no, I did get that. It was consistent. But the circumstances of the two cases and the results...well, I found parts of it confusing. But IANAL so I shouldn't expect to have a perfect understanding of the Court's finer distinctions in their verdicts.
Overall, the 2016 case restated in even stronger terms the results of the 2013 case.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-09-05 16:27:59 Reply Private Reply
#73: Vicomte13 To: Tooconservative (#72)
This is why I find Mr White's position so perverse.
You can't look at those cases and not see that a warrant is required for an involuntary blood draw (and that an "implied consent" law of some state is inferior to and cannot supersede the Supreme Court, because federal constitutional law is supreme over state law to the contrary).
But he is so very dogged about this that his determination on the matter interests me. I have to think that he's having fun with us. There's no reasonable read of the law that gets us to where he is.
Vicomte13 posted on 2017-09-05 16:43:30 Reply Private Reply
#74: misterwhite To: Vicomte13 (#73)
Yeah. That stupid federalism and states rights is so passe. We need a one-size size-fits-all federal government.
misterwhite posted on 2017-09-05 16:51:22 Reply Private Reply
#75: Vicomte13 To: misterwhite (#74)
It IS passe. The Union won the Civil War. The Constitution IS the Supreme Law of the Land, and the Supreme Court IS the final authority on what the Constitution means.
That's our structure of law, that's our system. Some people fought mighty hard for a different system, but they lost.
The federal Constitution supersedes states rights and federalism on matters of personal liberties and protections under the Constitution, and search and seizure, blood taking, etc. - this is all center field of federal Constitutional jurisdiction. EVEN IN a federalist, states rights thematic, the individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution STILL override state laws to the contrary.
It's obvious.
Taking a violent cop and his ignorant supervisor, who arrested a former Olympian nurse just doing HER job, to try to force an unconstitutional blood draw from an unconscious policeman who happened to also be a part-time truck driver, lying there burnt and unconscious after a police chase herded a car into him - honestly you would have to work to find a worse set of facts, a more unsympathetic case for the police.
So it seems to me that you're making this case a basis on which to try to refight the outcome of the Civil War. You've gotta pick better battlefields than this one. If THIS is the battleground on which to challenge federal constitutional protection, you're more likely to get a complete federalization of the police out of this case than you are a carve out from 4th Amendment jurisprudence to allow the cops in Utah to abuse whomever, whenever, wherever, over whatever, because they wanna.
This is not a hill to die on. And if you fight this battle, with these ignorant violent dirtbag cops, you're going to die on this hill to no effect.
Even AKA Stone, who is no fan of judicial overreach or lawlessness, is not going to be anywhere near these cops with their crazy actions. It's just nuts, what they did.
Is that why you're fighting this so hard? States rights? Really? I think you're busting our chops.
Vicomte13 posted on 2017-09-05 17:01:41 Reply Private Reply
#76: Tooconservative To: Vicomte13 (#73)
He does verge into perversity on the subject of abusive police cases.
Is it a psychiatric thing like his daddy spanked him bareass too often but he really loved daddy anyway?
Is he just pulling our legs? If so, he's devoted a lot of time and effort to it and never convinced anyone to join his opinions.
So it is mysterious. The payoff is so low you just have to wonder.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-09-05 17:05:09 Reply Private Reply
#77: misterwhite To: Vicomte13 (#73)
41-6a-522. Person incapable of refusal.
Any person who is dead, unconscious, or in any other condition rendering the person incapable of refusal to submit to any chemical test or tests is considered to not have withdrawn the consent provided for in Subsection 41-6a-5 520(1), and the test or tests may be administered whether the person has been arrested or not.
Does this confuse you or is it pretty straightforward?
misterwhite posted on 2017-09-05 17:06:21 Reply Private Reply
#78: misterwhite To: Vicomte13 (#75)
Protections under the Constitution, my ass. Utah drivers consent to blood draws the moment they pick up their driver's license.
misterwhite posted on 2017-09-05 17:09:34 Reply Private Reply
#79: Hondo68 To: Tooconservative (#63)
I can't find anything on them getting a blood sample from the lab, probably just a lame rumor.
Sorry about that.
Hondo68 posted on 2017-09-05 17:09:43 Reply Private Reply
#80: misterwhite To: Tooconservative (#67)
misterwhite posted on 2017-09-05 17:12:29 Reply Private Reply
#81: Tooconservative To: hondo68, Vicomte13, misterwhite, nolu chan, A K A Stone, kenh, redleghunter (#79)
I visited the linked website and read your story from 10pm last night. Then at the bottom of the page, I noticed a newer story, dated today at 3pm.
SLC detective who arrested nurse fired from part-time paramedic job
A perfect employee record with the ambulance company for almost 35 years didn't save his part-time gig. Just imagine the legal issues after that statement he made about bringing them only transient homeless patients. That finishes him as an EMT, just from potential lawsuits down the road.
You have to wonder how many arrests he's made over the years as a cop and how those are going to be re-examined in light of what he did to the nurse. I'm sure local defense attorneys will be preparing briefs for new trials, resentencing hearings, etc. He'll be portrayed successfully as a dirty cop.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-09-05 17:29:37 Reply Private Reply
#82: Tooconservative To: misterwhite (#80)
I dunno. Isn't that every state in the Union? I assume they have a multistate compact to deal with drivers from out-of-state and all the legal issues that would arise as a result. But I don't have any info on that right now. The question arises somewhat in this case because the truck driver is from Idaho, not Utah. So how does Utah enforce its implied consent laws on residents of other states with the rules for driver interlock and such? Or seizing their license but giving them a 29-day temporary license, etc.? I don't recall reading about such cases but they must come up with some regularity.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-09-05 17:33:24 Reply Private Reply
#83: Tooconservative To: misterwhite (#78)
The truck driver is a resident of Idaho. When did Idahoans ever consent to the laws of Utah by getting a license in Idaho?
I suppose some pack of asshole judges will tell us it's the Commerce Clause again, the last refuge of scoundrels in black robes.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-09-05 17:37:35 Reply Private Reply
#84: Vicomte13 To: Tooconservative (#81)
Because he is a dirty cop.
Vicomte13 posted on 2017-09-05 18:33:30 Reply Private Reply
#85: Vicomte13 To: misterwhite (#77)
It's utterly irrelevant. The Supreme Court has spoken on the matter of blood draws, and because we are a federal union with federal supremacy, the Utah state and local laws are utterly obliterated, erased from having any force, by the superior federal law.
Yes, that's the Utah statute. So what? No analysis is needed. The Supreme Court says no warrantless blood draws without consent anywhere in the United States. Utah can't make laws opposed to that. Neither can Puerto Rico or American Samoa, for that matter. Federal Constitutional rights trump state laws and regulations to the contrary, every time.
Federal supremacy.
Vicomte13 posted on 2017-09-05 18:37:43 Reply Private Reply
#86: Tooconservative To: Vicomte13 (#84)
How can he ever testify again in court without the defense impeaching him as a cop willing to violate the rights of defendants, crime victims like the trucker, and any nearby nurses that stand in his way?
Similarly, his past cases will be suspect as well. As will the cases handled by his supervisor who he claims ordered him to assault the nurse. Any case in which the primary evidence was his blood draw is suspect. It would be unreasonable to believe that this is the very first time he violated civil rights under the color of authority.
I read that the nurse is also reconsidering her previous disclaiming of any intention to file a lawsuit. Apparently, the police cam videos made her much angrier about what happened.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-09-05 18:44:38 Reply Private Reply
#87: misterwhite To: Vicomte13 (#85)
"Utahs implied consent law only imposes civil penalties (such as suspension of drivers license) and thus is constitutional."
misterwhite posted on 2017-09-05 19:41:11 Reply Private Reply
#88: Vicomte13 To: misterwhite (#87)
So we are to override everything, abuse and arrest nurses, in order to do a blood draw for CIVIL liability?
Nah.
Vicomte13 posted on 2017-09-05 20:27:52 Reply Private Reply
#89: misterwhite To: Vicomte13 (#88)
It needn't be that way. The cop said it was the first time it had gone this far.
"I'm here to do a blood draw."
"Fine. He's in Room 4."
Boom. Done.
misterwhite posted on 2017-09-05 20:55:59 Reply Private Reply
#90: Tooconservative To: Vicomte13 (#88)
Maybe his mommy gave him lots of enemas when he was a young child.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-09-05 22:17:09 Reply Private Reply
#91: Vicomte13 To: misterwhite (#89)
No.
"I'm here to do a blood draw."
"Let me see your warrant."
"I have none."
"Then you cannot draw blood in this hospital. We need to see a warrant before you can touch a patient."
"Ok." Leaves to get electronic warrant.
Boom. Done.
Instead, the cop lost his EMT job, and will lose his police job, and his supervisor will be severely sanctioned, and Salt Lake City will pay a lot of money in damages, because this cop could not follow the law and take "no" for an answer. He bullied his way forward under color of authority, broke the law, and now he needs to be publicly crucified, to put the appropriate degree of fear into police officers all across the nation.
The only way to get their attention is through a zero tolerance policy. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. When the cops step out of line, they need to be crucified for it.
Vicomte13 posted on 2017-09-06 06:29:10 Reply Private Reply
#92: misterwhite To: Vicomte13 (#91)
"Let me see your warrant."
"Your policy for hospital blood draws may require a warrant, but I don't need one. Here's my "warrant" -- a copy of State of Utah law which reads:
41-6a-522. 522. 522. 522. Pe 522. Person incapable of refusal.
Any person who is dead, unconscious, or in any other condition rendering the person incapable of refusal to submit to any chemical test or tests is considered to not have withdrawn the consent provided for in Subsection 41-6a-5 520(1), and the test or tests may be administered whether the person has been arrested or not.
Now get the fuck out of my way or I will have you arrested for obstructing an officer during an investigation.
(Screams follow)
misterwhite posted on 2017-09-06 10:06:40 Reply Private Reply
#93: Tooconservative To: misterwhite (#92)
That's the part you really like, isn't it?
And the Supreme Court has already weighed in, as has been explained to you repeatedly. No state law can overrule the USSC.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-09-06 10:32:35 Reply Private Reply
#94: misterwhite To: Tooconservative (#93)
They're not. The USSC ruled on "A" and the State of Utah is doing "B".
"Utahs implied consent law only imposes civil penalties (such as suspension of drivers license) and thus is constitutional."
misterwhite posted on 2017-09-06 10:43:15 Reply Private Reply
#95: Tooconservative To: misterwhite (#94)
So you're saying that Utah has the right to suspend the drivers licenses of dead people and that is the purpose of this law?
You've gone around the bend. You need psychiatric help.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-09-06 11:07:09 Reply Private Reply
#96: misterwhite To: Tooconservative (#95)
I have cited the law many times. I know you can read.
misterwhite posted on 2017-09-06 11:12:13 Reply Private Reply
#97: Deckard To: misterwhite (#94)
You can repeat your bogus claim ad nauseum and that still makes you wrong. In fact - no one else on the entire internet, cops, civilians, lawyers, judges agree with the bullshit you've posted.
Doesn't that tell you something? Are you the only one in the entire world who is right and everyone else is wrong?
Good luck with that.
Deckard posted on 2017-09-06 13:54:43 Reply Private Reply
#98: Deckard To: misterwhite, Tooconservative (#96)
Deckard posted on 2017-09-07 07:03:30 Reply Private Reply
#99: A K A Stone To: misterwhite (#96)
A K A Stone posted on 2017-09-07 07:30:58 Reply Private Reply
#100: A K A Stone To: misterwhite (#92)
A K A Stone posted on 2017-09-07 07:32:12 Reply Private Reply