The general rule in DUI cases, is that the level of alcohol or other substances in an individual accused of DUI’s blood is inadmissible in court if it is not drawn within 2 hours of the Defendant’s driving his motor vehicle. Specifically under Title 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(c), DUI marijuana A criminal defendant may not drive, operate or be in actual physical control of the movement of a vehicle after imbibing a sufficient amount of alcohol such that the alcohol concentration in the individual’s blood or breath is 0.16% or higher within two hours after the individual has driven. Accordingly, under this statute, the government generally is required to prove that they took a defendant’s blood within 2 hours of his driving or operating a motor vehicle.
Whenever a criminal defendant’s blood is not drawn within 2 hours, the government may still use the blood as evidence so long as they had a good cause or reason for not drawing the blood within 2 hours. § 3802(g) of the Pennsylvania vehicle code provides the following “good cause” exception: where alcohol or controlled substance concentration in an individual’s blood or breath is an element of the offense such as DUI, the blood results may come in to court: (1) where the Commonwealth shows good cause explaining why the chemical test sample could not be obtained within two hours; and (2) where the Commonwealth establishes that the individual did not imbibe any alcohol or utilize a controlled substance between the time the individual was arrested and the time the sample was obtained. One example of good cause is found in Com. v. Eichler. In Eichler, good cause was found when the defendant fled an accident scene, leading to a delay in finding him. probable cause DUI The Commonwealth must show “good cause” and also must establish that Defendant did not imbibe alcohol between the time of his arrest and his blood test (i.e. that he was under police observation for the entirety of this period). The burden is on the Commonwealth, with “good cause” being established on a case-by-case basis. The remedy for a violation of the two-hour rule is suppression of the blood results, in which case the DUI would revert to general impairment.