Option to Undo Some DUI Convictions Yet to be Widely Sought

Bismarck attorney says he's not sure if people know they can petition to have the DUI blood test cases thrown out.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) _ Court officials and lawyers in North Dakota say few people have tried to undo convictions for refusing DUI blood tests in the year since a state Supreme Court opinion offered a narrow pathway for doing so.

The state Supreme Court ruled that a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision that found it unconstitutional to criminalize refusal of a warrantless blood draw applies retroactively. The 2016 decision was based on cases in North Dakota and Minnesota.

The North Dakota Supreme Court said in its ruling that any post-conviction relief applies “in very limited circumstances.” Even so, Bismarck attorney Dan Herbel, who argued in both the 2016 and 2018 cases, tells the Bismarck Tribune he’s not sure if people know they can petition to have the DUI blood test cases thrown out.