Ford

In March of 1990, an officer of the Monterey Police Department arrested appellant for driving under the influence of alcohol. At the police station, the officer requested that a licensed clinical technologist withdraw a blood sample from appellant. Without appellant’s consent, but without force, the technologist took the sample using a standard procedure and materials he obtained from a local hospital. In this case we are called upon to decide whether this seizure of appellant’s blood was constitutionally permissible. We conclude that it was-.

Appellant was charged with violating Vehicle Code sections 23152, subdivision (a) (driving under the influence of alcohol) and 23152, subdivision (b) (driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 or more). After pleading not guilty, he brought a Penal Code section 1538.5 motion to suppress evidence of his blood sample. When the municipal court denied the motion, he appealed to the superior court appellate department. The appellate department reversed the municipal court’s ruling, and we certified the question to this court for resolution. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 62(a).)

Appellant contends that this evidence was seized in violation…