By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — The increasing reliance by police on the use of blood tests for suspected intoxicated motorists is leading to delays in eventual arrests.
That was the case of Kosciusko County Councilwoman Kimberly Cates who was pulled over in March, and whose case did not become public for a month as officials waited for results.
When the case did become public, some complained that Cates was not immediately jailed and that a deputy gave her a drive home after a blood test was taken at a nearby hospital.
Sheriff Jim Smith, who declined to discuss specifics about the Cates case, said the number of situations in which officers investigating OWI cases choose to use blood tests rather than breathalyzer tests has risen in recent years.
“That happens a lot more than what people probably realize. Most of those cases that it happens to are not what you would call a high profile case — ones that people pay a lot of attention to,” Smith said last week before Cate’s conviction and sentencing.
The use of blood tests spiked during COVID for safety’s sake, but Smith officers are using the option for various reasons.
Smith could not say exactly how often officers choose blood draws rather than breath tests, but Chief Deputy Chris McKeand, who participated in the interview with Smith, said, “We probably see more blood draws than breath tests.”
One reason is because of the prevalence of drugs including heroin, meth, cocaine, marijuana and prescription drugs.
“Our officers are looking for so much more than alcohol impairment and the only way to get results (on drug use) is the blood test,” McKeand said.
McKeand said officers are also turning to blood tests if there’s a chance the results might be close to or below the legal limit of 0.08.
In the case of Cates, the officer likely wanted to make sure that she was not under the legal limit for fear that he’d then be accused of targeting her for her position, Smith said.
Her blood test showed her blood alcohol level was 0.20 — more than twice the legal limit in Indiana.
Cates was pulled over on March 9 on SR 13 after an officer saw her car crossing the fog line on the outer edges of the pavement. She claimed to have had two beers, but failed three sobriety field tests and was unable to complete a breathalyzer test.
Her inability to complete the test was why Cates was taken to the hospital for a blood test.
The inability or willingness by motorists to take a breathalyzer has been somewhat common over the years for drunk driving suspects. Failure to take a breathalyzer leads to an automatic suspension of their driver’s license for one year.
Regardless, the motorist is still required to get a blood test.
Whether Cates intentionally botched the test was unclear. News Now Warsaw sought comment on the question through her attorney and she declined comment.
McKeand said officers have full discretion in choosing to drive a motorist home or help in other ways when circumstances arise.
Cates issued a statement after her sentencing on Friday when she was sentenced to six days in the Kosciusko County Jail. She will also be on unsupervised probation for a year and was ordered to pay a fine and court costs.
You can read her statement in our story from last week.
In her statement, she expressly apologized for her behavior and said she sought assistance in the matter.
The case against Cates was assigned to a special prosecutor in Whitley County and a judge in Marshall County because of a possible conflict of interest.
Cates, who lives in Syracuse, has served two stints on county council. In both instances, she was chosen by a GOP caucus to fill vacancies. She currently serves as the District 1 representative.
Smith said he found nothing improper about how her case was handled and said he was “proud” of the decision-making used by officers.
“There’s nothing here that’s below board or questionable from a leadership standpoint,” Smith said.
“We’re not playing favorites,” he said. “We don’t do that in the sheriff’s office. I will not allow it.”
