A blood test has one feature a breath test does not. It leaves a sample behind. When the State draws your blood, the tube does not vanish after analysis, and that physical sample can be tested again. Florida law also gives you an affirmative right to your own independent test. Together, these mean the State’s number is not the last word. There is a way to check it.
Many folks never learn this, and the right is easy to lose if no one asserts it. But a preserved sample, sent to an independent analyst, can confirm or contradict the State’s result, and it can expose problems in how the blood was handled along the way. In the right case, a retest changes everything.
The same blood, tested independently, gives a second result. When the two disagree, that disagreement is something a jury can hear.
Florida Gives You the Right
Section 316.1932(1)(f)3 of the Florida Statutes gives a person who has submitted to a state-administered test the right to have a qualified person of their own choosing administer an independent test. The choice of analyst is yours, not the State’s. This is a statutory right built into the implied consent scheme, recognizing that the accused should have a fair chance to gather their own evidence rather than relying entirely on the government’s test. The right belongs to you, but it only helps if it is exercised.
The right, and the sample that makes it real
This right is written into Florida’s implied consent law, section 316.1932(1)(f)(3), Florida Statutes, not a courtesy an officer can skip, and it gives a person tested at the State’s request the right to have a qualified person of their own choosing perform an independent test. Officers do not have to arrange it for you, and they are not allowed to stand in your way either, so blocking or unreasonably impeding a reasonable attempt to get one is itself a problem for the State. What makes this especially powerful in a blood case is the sample. Unlike a breath test, which leaves nothing behind, a blood draw produces physical evidence, and a portion can be preserved and retested independently later. That means the State’s number is not the last word. It can be checked against a second analysis, and a retest can confirm it, undercut it, or put it in a context the first number left out.
The Police Cannot Stand in the Way
Law enforcement is not always required to arrange or pay for your independent test, but officers cannot prevent you from obtaining one by denying a reasonable opportunity to do so. When the police interfere with that right, by refusing a reasonable request or making it impossible to get an independent sample while there is still time, it can affect the admissibility of the State’s own result. The right would mean nothing if police could simply block it, so the law treats interference as a serious problem for the State.
Blood Leaves a Sample to Retest
Even when no separate independent draw was taken at the time, blood differs from breath in a way that helps you later. A breath test consumes the breath and leaves nothing to recheck. A blood draw produces a physical sample, and forensic tubes are generally preserved. That means a portion of the very same blood the State tested can often be released to a defense expert and analyzed again. We can move for access to the remaining sample so an independent analyst can run it.
You choose the analyst, the police cannot deny a reasonable opportunity, and the result gives you an independent check on the State.
When a Retest Can Change the Case
An independent test does more than produce a second number. If the retest comes back meaningfully lower, that difference undercuts the reliability of the State’s result and can be powerful in front of a jury. A retest can also reveal handling problems, for example a sample that has changed over time through poor storage or that shows signs of fermentation, which ties directly to the storage and time and fermentation pages. The independent analyst examines not just the number but the condition of the sample.
What We Do
We assert the right to an independent test, and where a sample was preserved, we move for its release so a qualified defense analyst can retest it. We pair the retest with a full review of the State’s chain of custody and analysis, so the independent result is read in light of how the sample was handled. The aim is a fair, second look that the State cannot control.
Why This Matters
The State’s blood result is presented as the truth, but blood, unlike breath, can be checked. Florida gives you the right to your own test, and a preserved sample can be analyzed again. That second look is one of the most concrete advantages a blood case offers, and it should not be left on the table.
One of the quiet advantages of a blood case is that the sample still exists, and I use that. Where a breath test is gone the moment it is over, blood leaves something to retest, and I move to preserve it and, where it helps, to have it analyzed independently. I also look hard at whether anyone interfered with your right to your own test, because that right is real and the State cannot block it. A second look at the evidence is often where the State’s single confident number stops being the only number in the room.
I started out as an Assistant Public Defender in Florida’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, in Tampa, and today I am one of six ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientists in Florida. I work both the science and the procedure in your case the way the State’s own analysts and officers are trained to, and I show a jury the exact point where the evidence does not hold up. Learn more about my background.
Questions About an Independent Blood Test
Do I have a right to my own blood test?
Yes. Section 316.1932(1)(f)3 gives a person who submitted to the state test the right to have a qualified person of their own choosing administer an independent test. The choice of analyst is yours.
Do the police have to arrange it for me?
Not always, but they cannot prevent you from obtaining one by denying a reasonable opportunity. If officers interfere with the right, it can affect the admissibility of the State’s own result.
Can my blood be retested later?
Often yes. Unlike breath, a blood draw leaves a physical sample, and forensic tubes are generally preserved. A portion of the same blood the State tested can frequently be released to a defense expert for independent analysis.
What can a retest show?
A second number to compare against the State’s, and the condition of the sample. A meaningfully lower retest undercuts the State’s result, and signs of poor storage or fermentation can reveal that the sample changed over time.
What if I never got an independent test at the time?
You may still be able to retest the preserved sample. We can move for access to the remaining blood so an independent analyst can run it, even when no separate draw was taken at the scene.
How do you use the independent result?
We read it together with the chain of custody and the State’s analysis, so the retest is understood in light of how the sample was handled. A difference between the two results is evidence a jury can weigh.
Related: chain of custody, storage and time, fermentation, measurement uncertainty, and how we challenge a blood test.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. The right to an independent test arises under Fla. Stat. 316.1932, and blood testing is also governed by Fla. Stat. 316.1933 and the Florida Administrative Code chapter 11D-8. Procedures and rules change, and every case turns on its own facts. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
