Medcalf v. State, Dept. of Licensing
| Decision Date | 02 October 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 64509-4,64509-4 |
| Citation | 133 Wn.2d 290,944 P.2d 1014 |
| Court | Washington Supreme Court |
| Parties | Thomas R. MEDCALF, Petitioner, v. STATE of Washington, DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING, Respondent. |
Christine O. Gregoire, Atty. Gen., James Schmid, Asst. Atty. Gen., Seattle, for respondent.
The issue in this case is whether a driver who refuses to take a breath alcohol test as required by the implied consent law, RCW 46.20.308, may challenge the subsequent revocation of his license on the ground that he suffers from a mental disorder which prevented him from refusing or from taking the test.
We hold that the existence of a mental disorder which is not manifested by objective, physical symptoms, so as to permit the arresting officer to administer a blood test, is not a defense for refusing to submit to a breath test and is not relevant to the issues to be resolved in a license revocation proceeding under the implied consent law.
Shortly after 2:30 a.m. on June 22, 1991, Petitioner Medcalf Medcalf was taken to the Bainbridge Island police station. He immediately asked to speak with a lawyer. Officer Giuntoli provided access to the telephone and directory assistance, but Medcalf apparently was unable to contact his attorney. He then asked for a public defender, and Officer Giuntoli telephoned the Bainbridge Island public defender for him. Medcalf spoke with that public defender and asked the attorney to meet with him at the police station. The attorney refused and said that he would advise Medcalf only over the telephone. Medcalf then told police he wanted a different attorney. He was given a telephone directory, opened to the attorney section in the yellow pages, and was told he could call whomever he wanted and that he could make as many telephone calls as he wanted. Medcalf did not call another attorney but continued to request a public defender who would meet with him at the police station.
was arrested by a Bainbridge Island police officer for suspicion of driving while under the influence of alcohol. The arresting officer, Denise Giuntoli, testified that she had reasonable grounds to believe Medcalf was driving while under the [944 P.2d 1016] influence (DWI), and Medcalf stipulated to this fact.
Medcalf then was read his Miranda 1 rights and signed a statement acknowledging that he understood them. He said he wanted to remain silent and told officers that he wished to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.
Medcalf then was read his rights under the implied consent law. One of the rights read to him was that he had the right to refuse to take a breath test, but that if he did refuse, his license would be revoked. After she read him the statement, Officer Giuntoli explained the rights to him. Medcalf responded that he would not lose his license. A second officer also explained that a consequence of refusing to take the breath test would be revocation of his driver's license. Medcalf reportedly replied, "no it It is undisputed that Medcalf understood the consequences of his refusal because he had previously had his license revoked for refusing to take the breath alcohol test.
won't" and "I want my lawyer here." Report of Proceedings at 119
Although he was asked more than once to take the test, Medcalf would not take the breath test.
Medcalf also refused to sign the DWI citation. Officer Giuntoli told Medcalf that if he did not sign the citation, she would have to book him into the Kitsap County jail. He reportedly responded that he was not going to sign anything until the officers brought a lawyer to the police station so that he could talk to a lawyer personally.
Medcalf's explanation of the events of that night is that after he finished work in Bellevue on the evening of June 21, 1991, he did drink some beer, but not enough to affect his ability to drive. About 2 a.m., he caught the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Shortly after driving off the ferry he was stopped by Officer Giuntoli.
Medcalf claims that when he was stopped by Officer Giuntoli he began having an obsessive-compulsive disorder attack. He states he wanted to take the breath test to prove he was not intoxicated, but his obsessive-compulsive disorder made him incapable of complying with the officer's requests that he submit to the test.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a mental or psychiatric disorder. AMERICAN P SYCHIATRIC A SS'N, D IAGNOSTIC AND S TATISTICAL M ANUAL OF M ENTAL D ISORDERS 417-18 (4th ed.1994) (hereafter DSM-IV). The DSM-IV describes obsessive-compulsive disorder as follows:
The essential features of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder are recurrent obsessions or compulsions ... that are severe enough to be time consuming ... or cause marked distress or significant impairment....
Obsessions are persistent ideas, thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced as intrusive and inappropriate and that cause marked anxiety or distress....
The most common obsessions are repeated thoughts about contamination ... repeated doubts ... a need to have things in a particular order ... aggressive or horrific impulses ... and sexual imagery....
The individual with obsessions usually attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts or impulses or to neutralize them with some other thought or action (i.e., a compulsion). For example, an individual plagued by doubts about having turned off the stove attempts to neutralize them by repeatedly checking to ensure that it is off.
Compulsions are repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) the goal of which is to prevent or reduce anxiety or distress, not to provide pleasure or gratification. In most cases, the person feels driven to perform the compulsion to reduce the distress that accompanies an obsession or to prevent some dreaded event or situation.
DSM-IV, at 417-18. See also Report of Proceedings at 7-12.
Medcalf began showing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the early 1980s. At the time of his arrest in 1991, his disorder was substantially controlled by medication. His psychologist, who had begun treating him in 1985, was not providing regular treatment by the time of trial and testified that he might see Medcalf once or twice a year. The psychologist testified, in an offer of proof, that Medcalf's obsessions largely revolved around images of violence, crimes and other stimuli associated with the judicial system. The psychologist testified that in order to avoid something bad from happening, Medcalf would have to correct his thoughts of violence or crime by countering them with thoughts that "felt right." An obsessive-compulsive attack in Medcalf could be triggered by anything to do with the judicial system or law enforcement, including being stopped for DWI. The psychologist testified, in an offer of proof, that "there's a good likelihood that [Medcalf's] obsessional disorder rendered him unable to comply with the request to take the breath test." Report of Proceedings at 27.
At the time the officers were attempting to administer the breath test, Medcalf maintains he "began going off into a little world of [his] own." Report of Proceedings at 53. He testified that his thoughts were of "Gary Gilmore, his execution, what he did to other people." Report of Proceedings at 54. Because he was trying to counter these thoughts, Medcalf contends he could not respond to the officers' requests to take the breath test.
Medcalf was ultimately found guilty of negligent driving but acquitted of DWI. Because he refused to take the breath test, his license was revoked by the Department of Licensing for two years, pursuant to former RCW 46.20.311(2)(e). See also RCW 46.20.3101(1)(b) (). 2 Medcalf requested a formal hearing on the revocation, and the revocation was affirmed. He then appealed de novo to the superior court, under former RCW 46.20.308(8) and RCW 46.20.334, 3 claiming that he did not "refuse" to take the breath test because his obsessive-compulsive disorder made him unable to refuse or unable to take the test. In an order on a motion in limine, the trial court ruled that a mental disorder is not a defense to noncompliance under the implied consent statute and prohibited Medcalf from introducing evidence of his mental disorder. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of the Department of Licensing, and Medcalf appealed.
The Court of Appeals affirmed, Medcalf v. Department of Licensing, 83 Wash.App. 8, 920 P.2d 228 (1996), review granted, 131 Wash.2d 1005, 932 P.2d 645 (1997), and Medcalf petitioned this court for review. We accepted review and now affirm the Court of Appeals.
Is a driver who challenges his license revocation under the implied consent law entitled to present evidence showing that a mental disorder rendered him incapable of refusing or taking the breath alcohol test?
The issue in this appeal is one of statutory interpretation. An issue of statutory interpretation is a question of law and is reviewed de novo. Clauson v. Department of Labor & Indus., 130 Wash.2d 580, 583, 925 P.2d 624 (1996); Wheeler v. Department of Licensing, 86 Wash.App. 83, 85, 936 P.2d 17 (1997).
The implied consent law was passed by an initiative of the people of this state in 1968 and codified at RCW 46.20.308. Initiative Measure 242; Laws of 1969, ch. 1, § 1.
The purposes of the law are: (1) to discourage individuals from driving motor vehicles while under the influence of alcohol or drugs; (2) to remove the driving privileges of those individuals who are disposed to driving while intoxicated; and (3) to provide an efficient means of gathering reliable evidence of intoxication or nonintoxication. See Nowell v. Department of Motor Vehicles, 83 Wash.2d 121, 124, 516 P.2d 205 (1973); Department of Licensing v....
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