Duty to Test
The coroner’s duty to test
Toxicology is often the single fact that decides a wrongful death case. California law requires testing in defined circumstances, and the absence of a test is itself significant.
Where testing is required
California law requires blood alcohol and, in specified circumstances, drug testing following certain deaths, notably deaths arising from traffic collisions, and deaths where the coroner is required to investigate under Government Code section 27491.
Government Code section 27491.25 addresses the coroner’s obligation to draw and test blood in specified death investigations, and to report certain results.
Why it decides cases
- It establishes or eliminates impairment of the other driver
- It rebuts the assumption, often made early and unfairly, that the person who died was impaired
- It can support a punitive damages claim where a defendant drove while intoxicated
- In a work fatality, it can defeat the employer’s reflexive suggestion that the worker was at fault
When testing was not done
Samples degrade, and the window in which a meaningful test can be run is short. If testing was not performed, that fact needs to be established quickly and the reason documented.
It is sometimes possible to obtain testing from hospital specimens drawn before death, which are retained on a different schedule. That option disappears with time, which is why the first week matters so much.
If you are unsure whether testing was performed in your family member’s case, call (951) 354-5700. We will find out.
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