Tarr v. People.

2024 CO 37. No. 22SC226. Expressed Consent Statute—Revoking Consent—Fourth Amendment.

June 3, 2024

The Supreme Court held that a driver can revoke consent otherwise given under Colorado’s Expressed Consent Statute. While every driver in the state is “deemed” to have consented to take a breath or blood test to determine alcohol levels simply by getting behind the wheel of a vehicle, CRS § 42-4-1301.1(1), (2)(a)(l), the law is silent as to whether drivers can revoke that consent.

The Court held that a driver can revoke statutory consent and that after consent is revoked the police should obtain a warrant before performing any blood draws. Because the police did not have a warrant before Tarr’s blood was drawn, the results from those blood draws are inadmissible unless one of the exceptions to the exclusionary rule applies. The case was reversed and remanded for consideration of any outstanding arguments concerning the admissibility of the evidence.

The full opinion is available at https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/Supreme_Court/Opinions/2022/22SC226.pdf.