State's high court tosses out DUI appeal

Lab technicians are qualified to take blood samples from suspects accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, the Montana Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.

The high court was examining an appeal filed by a Lincoln County man who tried to have his 2014 felony conviction for his fifth DUI overturned on a technicality.

Jason D. Allport, 39, claimed in his appeal that state law “did not authorize [a technician] to draw Mr. Allport’s blood for blood alcohol content (BAC) testing because [the technician] was not supervised by a physician or registered nurse.”

Allport was arrested on Dec. 17, 2013, at 9:45 p.m. on suspicion of driving drunk. A blood draw at the hospital two hours later indicated that Allport’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.237, nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08.

During a jury trial, the technician who took Allport’s blood testified that he was not supervised by anyone at night. Allport objected to the admission of his blood alcohol results at trial but was overruled. The jury found him guilty.

Allport was sentenced to 13 months with the Montana Department of Corrections, followed by a five-year suspended sentence.

The Montana Supreme Court found that the Legislature had already addressed this argument by making state statute broader in 1981 after a number of complaints similar to Allport’s.

“In this case, [the technician] is a medical technologist, a certified phlebotomist, and he works at Cabinet Peaks Medical Center, a hospital,” Justice James Jeremiah Shea wrote. “Although Baker does not work under the direct supervision of an M.D. or a registered nurse, he is a qualified person working in a hospital environment.”

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.