State of Montana v. Christina Louise Harrison

Summary

The Montana Supreme Court held that a person's blood and blood alcohol level, while still inside the body, do not constitute physical evidence subject to tampering under Montana's tampering-with-evidence statute. Applying State v. Peplow, the court reversed Christina Harrison's tampering conviction and remanded for entry of judgment consistent with the opinion.

Holdings

1. Blood and blood alcohol content remaining inside a person's body do not constitute physical evidence or a thing presented to the senses under Montana's tampering-with-evidence statute until the blood, breath, or urine has been obtained or collected for analysis.

Questions Presented

1. Whether blood and blood alcohol content remaining inside a person's body, before a sample is obtained or collected for analysis, constitute physical evidence subject to the Montana tampering-with-evidence statute.
2. Whether amendments to Montana's implied-consent and search-warrant statutes displaced or limited State v. Peplow.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded