Robert Corey Hildebrandt v. The State of Texas

Summary

The Texas Court of Appeals, Third District, affirmed the conviction of Robert Corey Hildebrandt for felony driving while intoxicated. The court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Hildebrandt’s motion to suppress evidence from a blood draw conducted pursuant to a search warrant. The court concluded that the draw, including the use of restraints and the procedures employed by the certified technician, was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.

Holdings

1. The blood draw was not an unreasonable search or seizure because it was conducted pursuant to a valid warrant by a qualified technician in a safe and sanitary location using accepted medical procedures.
2. The use of a restraint chair was not unreasonable because Hildebrandt refused the blood draw, stated that officers would have to tie him down, and the trial court found that restraint was necessary to obtain a blood sample.
3. The alleged shaking hand, multiple attempts, tourniquet use, mismatched expiration-date markings, and missing secondary video did not establish that the blood draw was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the warrant-authorized blood draw was conducted by reasonable means and procedures under the Fourth Amendment.
2. Whether restraining Hildebrandt in a restraint chair during the blood draw rendered the search unreasonable.
3. Whether alleged departures from accepted medical practices, including the technician's shaking hand, tourniquet use, handling of the test kit, and loss of secondary video footage, required suppression.

Disposition

affirmed