Brackin v. Boles
| Citation | 452 So.2d 540 |
| Decision Date | 14 June 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 61978,61978 |
| Parties | Don Andrew BRACKIN, et al., Petitioners, v. George William BOLES, et ux., Respondents. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Donald H. Partington and W. Christopher Hart of Clark, Partington, Hart, Hart & Johnson, Pensacola, for petitioners.
W.H.F. Wiltshire and James M. Wilson of Harrell, Wiltshire, Stone and Swearingen, Pensacola, for respondents.
This is a petition to review a decision of the First District Court of Appeal reported as Boles v. Brackin, 411 So.2d 280 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982), which directly and expressly conflicts with several decisions of the Third District Court of Appeal, Corbett v. Seaboard Coastline Railroad, 375 So.2d 34 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), review denied, 383 So.2d 1202 (Fla.1980); Dorsett v. Dion, 347 So.2d 826 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977); and Goldner v. Lentin, 96 So.2d 553 (Fla. 3d DCA 1957). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.
This cause concerns the admissibility, in a civil trial, of the results of a blood alcohol test and a violation of the driver's license law. We hold that the results of a blood alcohol test are admissible in a civil trial regardless of whether the test was made for purposes of an accident report investigation or a criminal investigation. Consequently, we recede from our decisions in State v. Mitchell, 245 So.2d 618 (Fla.1971), and State v. Coffey, 212 So.2d 632 (Fla.1968). We also hold that a violation of the driver's license law is admissible if relevant to the issues in a cause, although under the facts of this case such a violation was not admissible.
This case commenced as a personal injury action arising from an automobile accident. Respondent Boles, the driver of one car, sued Brackin, the driver of the other car. At the trial Boles testified that he stopped at a three-way intersection. He saw headlights approaching from both directions, but judged that he had enough time to make a left turn and proceed down the highway. As he proceeded through the intersection, the car on his left, driven by Brackin, rammed him broadside. Boles received severe injuries.
The defense called as a witness the highway patrol officer who had investigated the accident. During the proffer of the officer's testimony the officer said that he asked a lab technician for a sample of Boles' blood. A chemist proffered that the blood alcohol content of the sample was .083 per cent. The trial court ruled that this evidence was inadmissible under section 316.066, Florida Statutes (1981). During Brackin's cross-examination, Boles attempted to submit evidence that Brackin had been ticketed and fined for violating a restriction on his driver's license. At the time of the accident Brackin was driving alone although his restricted license required that he be accompanied at all times by a licensed driver who was not less than eighteen years of age and who was actually occupying the front seat of the vehicle. See § 322.16, Fla.Stat. (1981). The trial court found this evidence to be irrelevant and ruled it inadmissible.
The jury returned a verdict finding that Brackin was not negligent. Boles appealed to the First District Court of Appeal, arguing that the trial court erred in not allowing him to submit evidence of Brackin's violation of the driver's license law. Brackin filed a cross-appeal, arguing that the trial court erred in not allowing him to introduce into evidence testimony concerning Boles' blood alcohol content. The district court ruled in Boles' favor on both issues, finding that Brackin's violation of the driver's license law should have been admitted but that evidence of Boles' blood alcohol content was properly excluded. We disagree.
With respect to the admissibility of Boles' blood alcohol content, both the trial court and the district court of appeal concluded that this evidence was inadmissible under section 316.066, Florida Statutes (1981), because the chemical analysis of Boles' blood was performed for the purpose of completing an accident report. Although the conclusion reached by the trial court and the district court is consistent with our decisions in State v. Mitchell, 245 So.2d 618 (Fla.1971), and State v. Coffey, 212 So.2d 632 (Fla.1968), we now find that we should recede from those decisions to the extent that they prohibit the admissibility of the results of the blood alcohol test in this case.
There is no federal or state constitutional prohibition against the admissibility of this type of blood alcohol test in either civil or criminal proceedings. The law is clear that the taking of a blood sample is not a violation of the fourth amendment; nor is it a communication which violates the fifth amendment. In Breithaupt v. Abram, 352 U.S. 432, 77 S.Ct. 408, 1 L.Ed.2d 448 (1957), the United States Supreme Court held that the taking of a blood sample from an unconscious automobile accident victim, who was later charged with involuntary manslaughter, did not violate the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. In Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 16 L.Ed.2d 908 (1966), the Court held that the taking of a blood sample for chemical testing from a defendant without his consent, where there was probable cause for the officer to believe that the defendant was under the influence of intoxicating liquor, did not violate the defendant's constitutional rights. Most recently, in South Dakota v. Neville, 459 U.S. 553, 103 S.Ct. 916, 74 L.Ed.2d 748 (1983), the Court went a step further and held that refusal to submit to a blood alcohol test may be used against a defendant at trial. Such use, the Court held, does not violate either the fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination or the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment even though a defendant is not warned that his refusal to submit could be used against him.
This Court has followed these United States Supreme Court decisions and has held that there is no state constitutional prohibition against the admissibility of blood tests taken without the consent of the subject party. Filmon v. State, 336 So.2d 586 (Fla.1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 980, 97 S.Ct. 1675, 52 L.Ed.2d 375 (1977).
This Court has also determined that blood alcohol tests are admissible when an accident investigation can be separated into an accident report phase and a criminal investigation phase. In Coffey and in Filmon this Court held a blood alcohol test admissible when the evidence reflected that the accident report phase of the investigation had ended and the blood test was taken as a result of the criminal investigation of the incident. This so-called distinction between an accident report investigation and a criminal investigation is based on a construction of section 316.066, Florida Statutes (1981), which provides:
316.066 Written reports of accidents.--
(1) The driver of a vehicle which is in any manner involved in an accident resulting in bodily injury to or death of any person or total damage to all property to an apparent extent of $100 or more shall, within 5 days after the accident, forward a written report of such accident to the department. However, when the investigating officer has made a written report of the accident, no written report need be forwarded to the department by the driver.
(2) The department may require any driver of a vehicle involved in an accident of which written report must be made as provided in this section to file supplemental written reports whenever the original report is insufficient in the opinion of the department, and may require witnesses of accidents to render reports to the department.
(3)(a) Every law enforcement officer who in the regular course of duty investigates a motor vehicle accident in which damage to property exceeds the amount of $100, or in which bodily injury or death occurs, either at the time of and at the scene of the accident, or thereafter by interviewing participants or witnesses, shall, within 24 hours after completing the investigation, forward a written report of the accident to the department.
(b) In the case of a county which has a central traffic records system for the purpose of tabulating and analyzing countywide traffic accident reports, the law enforcement agency shall submit a copy of the written report of the accident within the time limit prescribed in paragraph (a) to the central traffic records section of such county.
(4) All accident reports made by persons involved in accidents shall be without prejudice to the individual so reporting and shall be for the confidential use of the department or other state agencies having...
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