In Georgia under the implied consent law, citizens are required to give samples of their blood breath or urine in order to determine if they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. However, citizens are entitled to additional tests of their blood, breath, urine or other bodily substance from qualified personnel of their own choosing at their own expense. Georgia Courts have held that police must “reasonably accommodate” the request for an additional test. This may include taking a DUI arrestee to a hospital and perhaps not the closest one for a additional blood test. If the Dui arrestee faces an obstacle to obtaining a test and not just a sample, the Officer must reasonably accommodate the defendants request by attempting to overcome the obstacle including taking the DUI arrestee to the ATM, having friends meet him/her with money, offering to store the blood sample in the police evidence refrigerator until the arrestee can have it tested. See, Koontz v. State, 274 Ga. App. 248 (Jul. 08, 2005).

In Koontz, the Court held that the Officer failed to reasonably accommodate the request for an additional test when the Officer helped the Defendant get money and took him to a hospital where the Officer knew the Defendant could not get a blood test. He saw the nurse give the Defendant his blood sample which was not sufficient to satisfy the additional blood test requirement and offer no additional help to assist the Defendant in overcoming the obstacle to obtaining his additional test. Essentially, the Officer has to not only reasonably accommodate the request but also any obstacles that arise in obtaining the additional test absent some other emergency or urgent need of law enforcement. In other words, giving a Defendant a phone book and access to a telephone at 3 am and saying knock yourself out is not enough. Additional tests are important as state testing is often not accurate.

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