A Hawaii Supreme Court decision today could affect hundreds of outstanding drunken driving cases across the state — and potentially force authorities to reconsider whether those arrested for drunken driving in Hawaii in recent years gave proper consent before they took a blood-alcohol test. 

The high court’s decision centers on an isolated drunken-driving case, the State of Hawaii vs. Yong Shik Won. Won’s 2011 driving-under-the-influence conviction relied on a breath test that showed he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.17. That’s above the state’s 0.08 legal limit to drive. 

Won consented to the test after signing his initials on a consent form that said he faced up to $1,000 in fines and 30 days in jail if he refused to submit to it, according to court documents. The form mirrors a state law enacted that same year that made it a misdemeanor crime to refuse to submit to such breath tests, as well as blood or urine tests, to determine if someone was legally intoxicated. 

The law is similar to statutes in other states across the country, officials say. 

Won, through his attorney, Jonathan Burge, had argued the Hawaii law violates the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches. 

“If you don’t consent to this search, you’re going to go to jail for 30 days. And that’s what they told people as they did all this.” Burge said today, referring to blood, breath and urine tests. 

A three-member majority of the state’s highest court ruled in Won’s favor, arguing that Won did not voluntarily consent to the breath test used in his DUI conviction. Won’s breath test could not be used as evidence against him, the majority concluded. 

Only one of those Supreme Court Justices, Michael Wilson, called the state law unconstitutional in his concurring opinion. The other two justices who ruled in Won’s favor, Sabrina McKenna and Richard Pollack, simply found that Won did not consent to the breath test. 

The decision does not stop the state from confiscating drivers licenses for refusing to submit to the tests because that’s an administrative action, Burge said. 

It wasn’t immediately clear how many outstanding cases resemble Won’s, although Burge said it could be around 3,000.

 The Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney’s office wasn’t immediately available for comment. Many of those arrested in those cases could still be convicted under evidence from field sobriety tests, Burge added.