Father's Blood Sample Ruled Admissible in Vehicular Homicide Trial

A blood sample taken from the father of an infant who died after her family's vehicle broke through the ice on Lake Minnetonka last winter can be used in court, according to a Monday morning report filed by KSTP.

Attorneys representing Jonathan Markle, who faces a criminal vehicular homicide charge in connection with his daughter, Tabitha's, death had petitioned a judge to suppress the sample because no search warrant was obtained. The blood, which indicated an alcohol content of .13, was drawn about two hours after the Marke family's vehicle broke through the ice—trapping 9-month-old Tabitha for more than 15 minutes before divers were able to free her.

She died three days later.

Joe Friedberg, who has represented Markle since he turned himself into authorities back in February argued a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling makes clear a warrant should be obtained in almost all drunk driving cases.

In its April 17 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court—in a 5-4 decision—wrote, in part, that “We hold that in drunk-driving investigations, the natural dissipation of alcohol in the bloodstream does not constitute an exigency in every case sufficient to justify conducting a blood test without a warrant.”

The Supreme Court’s full ruling can be read by clicking here.

More than two dozen states require law enforcement to obtain a warrant before drawing blood from a suspected drunk driver.