TUSCARORA TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Glassy eyes, poor balance, a large open can of beer: Police in northern Michigan figured they had a strong case of drunken driving, especially after they needed a boat to haul a man out of the Indian River in 2020.
But the test results were thrown out in Cheboygan County because the court order authorizing a blood sample didn’t have the man’s name, only the jail.
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The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed that decision Thursday.
“The warrant did not identify defendant and ostensibly authorized a blood draw from any inmate” at the jail, Judge Christopher Yates said in a 3-0 opinion.
The prosecutor argued that an attached affidavit with details of the vehicle crash in Tuscarora Township should be sufficient, but the court disagreed.
The man faces other charges, including resisting police and driving without a valid license. He ran into the Indian River after his SUV landed on its side.