State v. Michaels

• Decision Date: 06 August 2014
• Citation: 219 N.J. 1,95 A.3d 648
• Parties: STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff–Respondent, v. Julie L. MICHAELS a/k/a Lynn Michaels, Julie Lynn, Joline Brooks, Jodie L. Calloway, Jodie Callaway, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

219 N.J. 1

95 A.3d 648

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff–Respondent,

v.Julie L. MICHAELS a/k/a Lynn Michaels, Julie Lynn, Joline Brooks, Jodie L. Calloway, Jodie Callaway, Defendant–Appellant.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued March 4, 2014.

Decided Aug. 6, 2014.

Gary A. Kraemer argued the cause for appellant (Daggett, Kraemer & Gjelsvik, attorneys; Mr. Kraemer and George T. Daggett, Sparta, on the briefs).

Frank Muroski, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent (John J. Hoffman, Acting Attorney General of New Jersey, attorney; Kenneth A. Burden and Frank J. Ducoat, Deputies Attorney General, of counsel; Mr. Muroski, Mr. Burden, and Mr. Ducoat, on the briefs).

Justice LaVECCHIA delivered the opinion of the Court.

Defendant Julie Michaels was charged with second-degree vehicular homicide, third-degree assault by auto, and four other related charges, as well as motor vehicle citations, including driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, possession of a controlled dangerous substance in a motor vehicle, and possession of an open containerof alcohol. Laboratory results of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry tests performed on defendant's blood sample, which was drawn at a hospital the evening of her motor vehicle accident, revealed the presence of cocaine, alprazolam (an active ingredient of Xanax), and benzoethylene (a cocaine metabolite).

At trial, the State introduced testimony from Edward Barbieri, Ph.D., an assistant supervisor and toxicology technical leader from the private laboratory that had performed the testing on defendant's blood sample and issued a report certifying the test results. Dr. Barbieri was responsible for supervising the technicians and analysts who were involved in the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry testing. He also was responsible for their adherence to the laboratory's policies and protocols for the testing procedures. He had reviewed the test results and satisfied himself that the test data accurately identified and quantified the substances found in defendant's blood, and he had signed and certified the laboratory results set forth in the report. Over defendant's objection, the report was admitted into evidence without the testimony of the fourteen individuals who had performed various tasks associated with the testing procedures. A jury convicted defendant on all counts, and the Appellate Division affirmed defendant's conviction.

We granted certification in this matter to consider defendant's argument that her Sixth Amendment confrontation rights were violated because the laboratory report was admitted, although defendant had not had the opportunity to confront each laboratory employee who participated in the testing that generated the results contained in the report. We now hold that the admission of the laboratory report did not violate defendant's confrontation rights. The laboratory supervisor—who testified and was available for cross-examination—was knowledgeable about the testing process that he was responsible for supervising. He had reviewed the machine-generated data from the testing, had determined that the results demonstrated that defendant had certain drugs present in her system, and had certified the results in a report that he had prepared and signed.

We recognize that the forensic report in issue is “testimonial” and that it is the type of document subject to the Confrontation Clause. See Bullcoming v. New Mexico, 564 U.S. ––––, ––––, 131 S.Ct. 2705, 2717, 180 L.Ed.2d 610, 624 (2011) (determining that signed and certified laboratory report was formalized sufficiently to be characterized as testimonial); cf. State v. Sweet, 195 N.J. 357, 373–74, 949 A.2d 809 (2008) (noting testimonial nature of signed and certified New Jersey State Laboratory certificates prepared for use in State prosecution), cert. denied,557 U.S. 934, 129 S.Ct. 2858, 174 L.Ed.2d 601 (2009). However, in this matter we join the many courts that have concluded that a defendant's confrontation rights are not violated if a forensic report is admitted at trial and only the supervisor/reviewer testifies and is available for cross-examination, when the supervisor is knowledgeable about the testing process, reviews scientific testing data produced, concludes that the data indicates the presence of drugs, and prepares, certifies, and signs a report setting forth the results of the testing. In examining the testimony and documentary evidence challenged in this matter, we do not find it to be equivalent to the “surrogate testimony” that the United States Supreme Court found problematic in Bullcoming, supra, 564 U.S. at ––––, 131 S.Ct. at 2715–16, 180 L.Ed.2d at 621–22.

Finding no denial of defendant's confrontation rights in this proceeding, we affirm defendant's conviction.

I.

A.

On March 3, 2008, at approximately 10:15 p.m., defendant caused a two-car collision. Danielo Diaz, the driver of the second car, was driving northbound on Route 23 in Hardyston Township. There, Route 23 is a two-lane road with a double yellow center line and a speed limit of forty-five miles per hour. Defendant was driving southbound but swerved into the northbound lane as she reached the crest of a hill. Diaz testified that he saw headlights approaching on his side of the road, but had no time to react before defendant's vehicle struck his vehicle head-on.

Sergeant John Broderick, the police officer responding to the scene, found defendant's car straddling the yellow line facing southbound. Diaz's car was situated perpendicular to defendant's. Diaz and his passenger, Dylan Vecchiarelli, appeared to be injured and in pain. Defendant, who was slumped in her seat, answered Broderick's questions in a slurred voice. Her eyes were partly closed. When she exited her vehicle, she did not seem to be in pain although her ankle appeared to Broderick to be broken. Defendant seemed to Broderick to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Defendant was taken by ambulance to St. Clare's Hospital in Sussex County where she was met by Detective Karl Ludwig, who had been dispatched to obtain a blood sample from her. Although defendant initially informed Ludwig that she was Jodie Callaway of Moscow, Iowa, it was later determined that she was Julie Michaels of Wayne, New Jersey, and that Jodie Callaway was her sister. When asked what had happened, defendant told Ludwig that she had been on the wrong side of the road and hit a car. Ludwig noted that defendant's eyes were red and droopy, her speech was slurred, and she was lethargic. Defendant gave permission for blood samples to be taken but would not sign the consent form. She informed Ludwig that she had not used any alcohol that night, but had taken prescription Xanax at 3:00 p.m. She also stated that her blood would test positive for cocaine because she had used it four days earlier. Defendant later altered her statement, telling Ludwig that, on the night of the accident, she had taken Xanax that belonged to her sister and had used cocaine.

Meanwhile, Diaz and Vecchiarelli were transported by helicopter from the scene of the accident to a trauma hospital. Diaz remained in the hospital for about a month for injuries that included a fractured cheekbone and nose, a broken femur with an open wound, and bruised lungs. Vecchiarelli's injuries included multiple fractures of the skull, a spinal cord fracture, a partial rupture of the thoracic aorta, lacerations of the spleen, and a broken femur. Despite weeks of intensive treatment for his serious injuries, Vecchiarelli's condition deteriorated. He died from his injuries on April 2, 2008.

Defendant's blood sample was sent by the Hardyston Police Department to NMS Labs, a private laboratory in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, that performs analytical testing for a number of private and public entities. NMS was instructed to test the sample for the presence of alcohol and drugs, and to determine the quantities of any substances found. Tests were performed by approximately fourteen NMS analysts.¹ Specifically, small samples, or aliquots, drawn from the original sample were screened for alcohol and a broad range of drugs. Computer analysis of the results of the screening tests indicated presumptive positives for cocaine metabolites, benzodiazepines, and marijuana products. New aliquots from the blood sample were analyzed using a combined gas chromatography/mass spectrometry machine.² That testing showed that defendant's blood sample contained cocaine, benzoethylene (a cocaine metabolite), and alprazolam (a type of benzodiazepine that is the active ingredient in Xanax). Defendant's blood tested negative for marijuana.

The testing of defendant's blood sample produced approximately 950 pages of data, which was provided to Dr. Barbieri, a forensic toxicologist and pharmacologist who held three titles at NMS: Forensic Toxicologist, Toxicology Technical Leader, and Assistant Laboratory Director. Dr. Barbieri reviewed all the data in order to satisfy himself that (1) the testing had been done according to standard operating procedures, and (2) the results were correct. Dr. Barbieri wrote, and then certified and signed, a report stating that defendant's blood contained 270 ng/mL of alprazolam, 140 ng/mL of cocaine, and 2500 ng/mL of benzoethylene. Dr. Barbieri's report concluded that the presence of those quantities of drugs in defendant's blood would have caused her to be impaired and unfit to operate a motor vehicle at the time the blood sample was collected.

B.

In October 2008, defendant was indicted on charges of second-degree vehicular homicide while intoxicated, N.J.S.A. 39:4–50, N.J.S.A. 2C:11–5 (count one); third-degree assault by auto while intoxicated, N.J.S.A. 39:4–50, N.J.S.A. 2C:12–1(c)(2) (count two); third-degree causing death while driving unlicensed or with a suspended license, N.J.S.A. 39:3–40, N.J.S.A. 2C:40–22(a) (count three); fourth-degree causing serious bodily injury while driving unlicensed or with a...