Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance
committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports
if they are used for other purposes.
Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).
Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and
attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.
F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR SJC
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1/30/07
3/11/07 HB
SHORT TITLE DWI Chemical Test Time Limits
SB 440/SJCS
ANALYST Wilson
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)
FY07
FY08
FY09 3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
Total
(Unknown) Unknown)
Recurring General
Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to HB 403, HB 420, HB 478, HB 624, HB 1233 & HB 1247/HJCS
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)
Department of Health (DOH)
Department of Public Safety (DPS)
Department of Transportation (DOT)
Public Defender Department (PDD)
Sentencing Commission (SC)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Judiciary Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 440 amends the DWI statute, NMSA
1978, Section 66-8-102. At present, it is unlawful to drive a vehicle with a blood alcohol
concentration (BAC) of .08 or more. This bill makes it unlawful to drive with a .08 BAC as
proved by a test given within three hours of driving the vehicle where the BAC results from
alcohol consumed before or while driving the vehicle. The bill also amends NMSA 1978,
Section 66-8-110, to allow use in evidence of the BAC results of a test that occurs more than
three hours after the driving and lets the trier (judge or hearing officer) of fact determine what
weight to give the test result.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The long term impact of this bill will be to allow existing FTEs at the State Laboratory Division
(SLD) to complete their required workload of drug testing more efficiently and within acceptable
pg_0002
Senate Bill 440/SJCS– Page
2
times to meet the needs of law enforcement and Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI). In
recent years, the growing demand for expert witness testimony in DWI cases has diverted
manpower from performing lab analyses and cause delays in results which have adversely
affected DWI prosecution and the issuance of death certificates. Legislators and the Governor
have received complaints about the delays. This bill will help remedy these delays as well as
slowing the growth and need for additional FTEs.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
A recent appellate court decision in the State v Day case has changed the way that New Mexico
courts approach DWI so that the prosecutors in a case now must present an expert witness to
“back estimate" what the defendant’s blood alcohol level was at the actual time of the traffic
stop. This is a problem for two reasons. First, the Scientific Laboratory Division (SLD) of the
DOH, which provides the expert witness for these cases, has only six expert witnesses to cover
the approximately 18,000 DWI prosecutions occurring each year in NM. In 2006, SLD received
approximately 900 subpoenas for these six individuals to handle, which was beyond their ability.
As a result, many DWI cases had to do without an expert witness. In light of the recent appellate
decision, this jeopardizes the prosecution of DWI cases throughout the state.
Secondly, the back estimation of blood alcohol levels is difficult to do and requires detailed
knowledge of the composition and timing of the defendant’s drinking and/or eating prior to the
arrest. Because providing this information to the prosecutor and expert can be viewed as self-
incrimination, defendants are not required to provide this information, which prevents the expert
witness from back estimating the alcohol level at the time of the traffic stop. This interferes with
prosecution of the case.
Twice in the past three years, the New Mexico courts have asked that the legislature to address
this issue in the law. This bill will do so and will eliminate the need for expert witnesses from
SLD in approximately 90% of the alcohol DWI prosecutions in the state.
The scientific literature indicates that a chemical test for alcohol taken two hours after the
driving stop provides a good estimate of the alcohol at the time of the traffic stop. A chemical
test for alcohol taken within three hours of the traffic stop will provide an estimate either the
same or slightly lower then the alcohol at the time of the traffic stop. In neither case will the
reading within three hours of the traffic stop overestimate the alcohol level at the time of the
stop.
Approximately 14 other states, as well as Canada, have adopted windows of time for the
chemical test up to four hours after the traffic stop.
The three-hour window proposed by this bill mirrors the three-hour window already present in
the Boating While Intoxicated law, passed by the legislature in 2003 eliminating inconsistencies
between the two laws.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
There will be a minimal administrative cost for statewide update, distribution and documentation
of statutory changes. Any additional fiscal impact on the judiciary will be proportional to the
enforcement of this law and commenced prosecutions. New laws, amendments to existing laws
pg_0003
Senate Bill 440/SJCS– Page
3
and new hearings have the potential to increase caseloads in the courts, thus requiring additional
resources to handle the increase.
RELATIONSHIP
Senate Judiciary Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 440 is similar to, but does not duplicate
HB 403, HB 420, HB 478, HB 624, HB 1233 & HB 1247/HJCS which also amend the DWI
statute, NMSA 1978, Section 66-8-102
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The concentration of blood-alcohol in the body depends on a number of factors including body
weight, gender, presence of food and the type of food in the stomach when alcohol is consumed,
the quantity and rate at which drinking alcohol occurs, and the rates of alcohol absorption and
metabolism.
For example, the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into the body depends on how quickly the
stomach empties its contents into the intestine. Women absorb and metabolize alcohol
differently from men. Women have a higher BAC after consuming the same amount of alcohol
as men.
Blood alcohol analysis in DWI cases is the attempt to measure the amount of alcohol within the
person’s blood at any given time.
This bill appears to rely on the use of retrograde extrapolation. Retrograde extrapolation is the
process by which someone’s blood alcohol concentration at the time of driving is estimated by
projecting backwards from a later chemical test. This process involves estimating the absorption
and elimination of alcohol in the time period between driving and testing.
The use of this process relies on assumptions regarding the amounts of alcohol and food
consumed and the time taken to consume the alcohol and food. The process also assumes that
absorption of alcohol has been completed and the peak BAC has been reached.
The difficulty in this process is the reasonableness and justifiability of the assumptions made.
When reasonable and justifiable assumptions are made alcohol elimination rates of .015 of blood
alcohol concentration to.020 blood alcohol concentration per hour can be assumed.
In practical terms this means that an individual who has a BAC of .08 three hours after the stop
and arrest will have had a BAC of .04 at the time of the stop. This is calculated as:
BAC Test
First hour
Second hour Third hour
Extrapolated
Measure
.08
- .015
- .015
- .015
= .04
DW/nt