The South Dakota Supreme Court is ruling the state was justified in giving a lifetime CDL ban to a man who refused a blood draw for a DUI test.
Court documents say Donald Blazer struck another vehicle on U.S. Highway 12 in December of 2022. He drove away from the scene. Troopers found his abandoned vehicle nearby, and eventually found Blazer after following his footsteps. Blazer admitted to being the driver of the vehicle in the crash.
Blazer gave a breathalizer test, which showed his blood alcohol level was over the legal limit. When troopers asked him to submit to a blood draw test, he refused.
State law requires CDL holders to submit to blood draws when requested by law enforcement.
The Department of Public Safety disqualified Blazer’s CDL for life, noting he’d previously broken the same law in 2014.
A circuit court overturned that decision on the grounds Blazer submitted to a breathalizer test, ruling this satisfied the law in question.
But the state Supreme Court unanimously overturned that ruling. In a decision released Thursday, justices concluded Blazer’s refusal to submit a blood test was clear violation of the law.