BAC "Refusal" Has Different Meanings from State to State
The question as to whether or not a DUI defendant has refused a breathalyzer or blood test might sound simple, but in fact "refusal" has very different meanings depending upon state law.
For instance, a Missouri appellate court ruled in February that a man who had explicitly stated that he was not refusing the breathalyzer test but would not take it until he was allowed to use the restroom had refused the test. The court cited a prior ruling explicitly stating that a refusal need not be "knowing".
In contrast, a Pennsylvania trial court recently suppressed evidence of a blood test refusal where the defendant had been asked three times whether she would go to the hospital for a blood test, but had not been asked directly after the refusal consequence warnings had been read to her.