Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 2525 – Drug impairment assessment
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1. Submission to test required. If a drug recognition expert has probable cause to believe that a person is under the influence of a specific category of drug, a combination of specific categories of drugs or a combination of alcohol and one or more specific categories of drugs, that person must submit to a blood or urine test selected by the drug recognition expert to confirm that person’s category of drug use and determine the presence of the drug.
[PL 2011, c. 335, §14 (AMD).]
Terms Used In Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 2525
- drugs: includes any natural or artificial chemical substance that, when taken into the human body, can impair the ability of the person to safely operate a motor vehicle. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 2401
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- highway: means a public way. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 101
- Law enforcement officer: means a person who by virtue of public employment is vested by law with a duty to maintain public order or to make arrests for crimes, whether that duty extends to all crimes or is limited to specific crimes. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 101
- Person: means an individual, corporation, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, fiduciary, trust, estate or any other legal or commercial entity. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 101
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
- test: means a test or tests used to determine alcohol level or the presence of a drug or drug metabolite by analysis of blood, breath or urine. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 2401
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
- Under the influence of intoxicants: means being under the influence of alcohol, a drug other than alcohol, a combination of drugs or a combination of alcohol and drugs. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 2401
2. Admissibility of evidence. If a law enforcement officer certified as a drug recognition expert by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy conducts a drug impairment assessment, the officer’s testimony about that assessment is admissible in court as evidence of operating under the influence of intoxicants. Test results showing a confirmed positive drug or metabolite in the blood or urine are admissible as evidence of operating under the influence of intoxicants. Failure to comply with any provision of this section does not, by itself, result in the exclusion of evidence of test results, unless the evidence is determined to be not sufficiently reliable.
[PL 2011, c. 335, §14 (AMD).]
3. Payment for tests. A person authorized to take specimens of blood at the direction of a law enforcement officer or to perform tests on specimens of blood or breath must be paid from the Highway Fund.
[PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]
4. Repeal.
[PL 1995, c. 145, §2 (RP).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 1993, c. 683, §A2 (NEW). PL 1993, c. 683, §B5 (AFF). PL 1995, c. 145, §2 (AMD). PL 2011, c. 335, §14 (AMD).