When You Get Bad Mail From the Police: Do You Need To Take Action? Call the Law Offices of Mark Stevens at 603-893-0074

The mail carrier asks you to sign for a letter and you are dismayed to see that it is from the police department that arrested you a few weeks earlier. For whatever reason, on the night of your DWI arrest you agreed to let them have a sample of your blood so that they could use the "results" against you later. Now you open the envelope and see that the arresting department has forwarded the alleged blood results to you in the form of a letter from the New Hampshire state lab. What to do?

There are some critical time limits you should be aware of in order to preserve your statutory rights. In New Hampshire you have to file a notice that you intend to challenge the piece of paper from the lab or you will waive an important statutory right to challenge the alleged results. I have copied below a couple of paragraphs from a New Hampshire law that applies to these types of alleged blood results:

TITLE XXI Motor Vehicles
Chapter 265-A Alcohol or Drug Impairment
Driving or Operating Under the Influence of Drugs or Liquor
RSA 265-A:12 (2009)
265-A:12 Official Record of Tests.

I. Any person who is arraigned on a charge arising under RSA 265-A:4 shall file notice in said court, within 30 days immediately following the receipt by the person of the results of any alcohol concentration test administered to such person, requiring the attendance of the person who conducted the breath test, or in the case of any other chemical test, the certifying scientist. Failure to file notice shall be deemed a waiver to require attendance of the person who conducted the breath test, or in the case of any other chemical test, the certifying scientist at the trial. The official report of the test issued pursuant to RSA 265-A:4 shall be deemed conclusive evidence of the conduct and result of said test.
...
IV. A copy of the appropriate form filled out and signed by the person who took the sample for the alcohol concentration test in question shall be admissible evidence that the sample was taken by such person at the stated time on the stated date according to the procedures prescribed in the rules adopted by the commissioner of the department of safety pursuant to RSA 265-A:5, V.

V. Any person who is arraigned on a charge arising under RSA 265-A:2, RSA 265-A:3, or RSA 265-A:43 shall file, within 10 days of such person's receipt of the results of any toxicology test administered to such person for the presence of any controlled drug, a notice in said court requiring the attendance of the certifying scientist. Failure to file notice shall be deemed a waiver to require attendance of the certifying scientist at trial. The official report of the test issued pursuant to RSA 265-A:4 shall be deemed conclusive evidence of the conduct of the result of such test.

As you can see, time is of the essence when you receive this bad news in the mail. Contact your DWI defense lawyer as soon as you get any correspondence from the state regarding your case, especially chemical test results, in order to make every effort to preserve every right you have under the laws and under the Constitution.

Have a safe night,

Mark Stevens
New Hampshire Lawyer Mark Stevens
LAW OFFICES OF MARK STEVENS
5 Manor Parkway
Salem, NH 03079
Tel 603-893-0074

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