Walk It Through: The Breath Test
A roadside breath test, a blood draw after arrest, questions at the station, and a first offense in court.
After the bars close, a car rolls through a stop sign and is pulled over. The officer smells alcohol and asks the driver to blow into a handheld device.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One first offense with a breath test and a blood draw. A second offense, a crash with injuries, a commercial license and a drug test for marijuana are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Class 1 misdemeanorThe more serious of the two misdemeanor classes, with a maximum of one year in a county jail or a $2,000 fine, or both.
- Committing magistrateThe judicial officer an arrested person is taken before, the nearest one available, without unnecessary delay after the arrest.
- Exigent circumstancesAn emergency that can justify a warrantless arrest. With an arrest warrant or such circumstances, and after reasonable notice and refusal, an officer may break into a dwelling to arrest.
- Petty offenseA lesser kind of offense, such as not having the license on the driver. An officer may detain a person only as long as it takes to issue the complaint and summons, and that detention is not an arrest.
- Actual physical controlBeing in control of a vehicle without driving it. The DUI law forbids driving or being in actual physical control of any vehicle while impaired or at 0.08 percent or more.
- Class 6 felonyThe least serious felony class: a maximum of two years in a state correctional facility or a fine of $4,000, or both.
- Financial responsibilityThe insurance, bond or deposit every driver or owner maintains on a vehicle at all times. Failing to maintain it is a Class 2 misdemeanor.
- Implied consentThe rule that anyone who drives in South Dakota is considered to have consented to a test of blood, breath or another bodily substance. A refusal may be admitted at trial.