ABSTRACT
Legal commentators widely considered Schmerber to be the death knell for self-incrimination claims in-volving physical evidence obtained from the suspect's person and a major retreat in exclusionary rule application The petitioner/defendant in Schmerber v. California, 384 US 757, was taken to the hospital after sustaining injuries when the car he was driving struck a tree. At the hospital, he was placed under arrest and subjected to a blood test over his objection. He was convicted of driving under the influence based largely on the fact that his blood-alcohol exceeded the legally permissible level. In a five-four decision, Justice William J. Brennan Jr., writing for the majority, held that the defendant's involuntary blood test did not violate the Fourth, Fifth, or Fourteenth Amendments and thus the results were not subject to the exclusionary rule. An involuntary blood-alcohol test raised several constitutional issues.
