Blank v. State

Laura A. Blank struck and killed a pedestrian and then drove away from the scene. Soon thereafter, an Alaska State Trooper arrived at Blank’s home to investigate. While Blank and the trooper sat in his patrol car discussing the situation, the trooper asked Blank to blow into a portable (hand-held) breath testing ■ device. Blank did so, and the result of this test showed that Blank had a blood alcohol level of .082 percent.

At the time (1994), the blood alcohol limit proscribed by Alaska law was .10 percent, so the trooper did not arrest Blank. However, Blank was later indicted for manslaughter…