Nash v. Comm'r of Pub. Safety
Jurisdiction | Minnesota,United States |
Parties | Brian Matthew Nash, Respondent, v. Commissioner of Public Safety, Appellant. |
Decision Date | 10 April 2024 |
Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Docket Number | A22-1238 |
1
Brian Matthew Nash, Respondent,
v.
Commissioner of Public Safety, Appellant.
No. A22-1238
Supreme Court of Minnesota
April 10, 2024
Court of Appeals Thissen, J. Office of Appellate Courts
Rodd Tschida, Minneapolis, Minnesota, for respondent.
Keith Ellison, Attorney General, Nicholas Moen, Ryan Pesch, Assistant Attorneys General, Saint Paul, Minnesota, for appellant.
William A. Lemons, Minnesota County Attorneys Association, Saint Paul, Minnesota, for amicus curiae Minnesota County Attorneys Association.
Barry S. Edwards, Keller Law Offices, Minneapolis, Minnesota, for amicus curiae Minnesota Society for Criminal Justice.
SYLLABUS
A state trooper's statements that "refusal to take a test is a crime" complied with the advisory required by Minn. Stat. § 171.177, subd. 1 (2022). Reversed and remanded.
OPINION
THISSEN, Justice.
This case is about what information peace officers must convey to a person suspected of driving while impaired under the advisory for chemical tests that require a search warrant under Minn. Stat. § 171.177, subd. 1 (2022). On July 28, 2019, a state trooper pulled over respondent Brian Matthew Nash ("Nash") for suspected driving while impaired. After Nash failed field sobriety tests, he was arrested for driving while impaired. The trooper obtained a search warrant to conduct a blood or urine test. She showed Nash the warrant and stated that she had applied for a warrant for a blood test and "refusal to take a test is a crime." Nash submitted to the blood test and, based on the results, his driver's license was subsequently revoked. We now address whether the trooper's statement to Nash complied with the statutory requirement that, before the test is administered, the driver "must be informed that refusal to submit to a blood or urine test is a crime." Minn. Stat. § 171.177, subd. 1.
FACTS
The relevant facts are not in dispute. On July 28, 2019, at approximately 1:30 a.m., a state trooper stopped Nash's vehicle and observed indicators that he was impaired by a controlled substance. After the trooper administered field sobriety tests and arrested Nash for driving while impaired, she obtained a search warrant authorizing her to obtain a sample of Nash's blood or urine.
The trooper showed the warrant to Nash but did not hand it to him or otherwise offer to let him review it. She made no reference to the fact that the warrant was for either a
blood sample or a urine sample. She stated that she had applied for a warrant for a blood test and "refusal to take a test is a crime."
After Nash complied without objection, his blood test revealed the presence of methadone, a controlled substance for which he had a valid prescription. Nash's driving privileges were administratively revoked as a result. Nash testified that he agreed to the blood test because he was scared and did not want to commit an additional crime. Nothing in the record suggests that Nash was averse to taking a blood test, that he would have refused a urine test if offered as an alternative, or that the urine test would not have revealed the presence of methadone.
By petition dated November 18, 2019, Nash sought judicial review of his license revocation. A hearing was held on May 31, 2022. Nash raised several issues at the hearing, including whether the trooper's statements at the time of Nash's arrest complied with the advisory provision set forth in section 171.177, subdivision 1.[1] The district court rejected all of Nash's arguments and sustained the revocation of his driving privileges. Nash raised the same arguments on appeal.
The court of appeals reversed. Nash v. Comm'r of Pub. Safety, 989 N.W.2d 705 (Minn.App. 2023). The court of appeals considered only whether the advisory given to Nash complied with the language of section 171.177, subdivision 1. Id. at 707. The court
of appeals held that "the advisory informed Nash that he could be charged with a crime if he refused the blood test, even though the trooper had not offered Nash an alternative urine test. That was an inaccurate statement of law and misleading." Id. at 710. Because the court of appeals concluded that its resolution of the meaning of section 171.177, subdivision 1, was dispositive, it did not consider the remaining issues Nash raised on appeal. Id. at 707.[2] We granted review.
ANALYSIS
The facts relevant to this case are not in dispute. The application of a statute to undisputed facts is a legal question that we review de novo. AIM Dev. (USA), LLC v. City of Sartell, 946 N.W.2d 330, 335 (Minn. 2020); see also State v. Anderson, 941 N.W.2d 724, 727 (Minn. 2020).
A.
Minnesota Statutes section 169A.20, subdivision 2 (2022), makes it a crime to "refuse to submit to a chemical test . . . of the person's blood or urine as required by a search warrant under sections 171.177 and 626.04 to 626.18."[3] Minnesota Statutes
section 171.177 (2022) sets forth the process for conducting-pursuant to a search warrant-a blood or urine test of a person suspected of driving while impaired.
This dispute centers on the language of the advisory in section 171.177, subdivision 1, which provides that "[a]t the time a blood or urine test is directed pursuant to a search warrant under sections 626.04 to 626.18, the person must be informed that refusal to submit to a blood or urine test is a crime." (Emphasis added.)
In arguing for differing interpretations of subdivision 1, the parties also cite to subdivision 2, which states:
The peace officer who directs a test pursuant to a search warrant shall direct a blood or urine test as provided in the warrant. If the warrant authorizes either a blood or urine test, the officer may direct whether the test is of blood or urine. If the person to whom the test is directed objects to the test, the officer shall offer the person an alternative test of either blood or urine. Action may be taken against a person who refuses to take a blood test only if a urine test was offered and action may be taken against a person who refuses to take a urine test only if a blood test was offered.
Minn. Stat. § 171.177, subd. 2. In other words, subdivision 2 tells us that when a warrant authorizes either a blood or urine test (as in this case), the officer has discretion to decide which test to use. But subdivision 2 also says that if the person refuses the type of test the officer initially offers (blood or urine), action may not be taken against the person for test refusal unless the person is also offered and refuses to take the other type of test.[4]
B.
"The aim of statutory analysis is to 'effectuate the intent of the legislature.'" State v. Pakhnyuk, 926 N.W.2d 914, 920 (Minn. 2019) (quoting State v. Riggs, 865 N.W.2d 679, 682 (Minn. 2015)). "The first step in statutory interpretation is to determine whether the statute's language is ambiguous." State v. Fugalli, 967 N.W.2d 74, 77 (Minn. 2021). "The language of a statute is unambiguous when there is only one reasonable way to read the text." Id.[5]
We start with the language of the search-warrant advisory provision. Once again, section 171.177, subdivision 1, provides: "At the time a blood or urine test is directed pursuant to a search warrant under sections 626.04 to 626.18, the person must be informed that refusal to submit to a blood or urine test is a crime."
An officer satisfies the language of the statute if she informs a driver that "refusal to submit to a blood or urine test is a crime" using the exact words set forth by the Legislature. Indeed, the best practice is for officers to read verbatim the advisory language as set forth in the statute. See McCormick v. Comm'r of Pub. Safety, 945 N.W.2d 55, 60 (Minn.App. 2020) (recommending that "police officers read the exact words of the statute in order to avoid any possibility of confusion or improper deviation" (quoting Hallock v. Comm'r of Pub. Safety, 372 N.W.2d 82, 83 (Minn.App. 1985)) (internal quotation marks omitted)). But we have never held that the section 171.177 advisory must be recited verbatim and no party to this case contends that an exact recitation is required.
One reasonable interpretation of section 171.177, subdivision 1, is that it requires the driver to be informed that refusal to take "a test" (without mentioning blood or urine) is a crime. Under this reading, "blood or urine test" is a phrase describing a singular thing: a test used to determine if a person is under the influence of an intoxicating substance. This interpretation is reasonable because a blood test and a urine test are the only tests covered by section 171.177. Subdivision 1 starts with the phrase "[a]t the time a blood or urine test is directed." Thus, saying "a blood or urine test" in the context of section 171.177 is the same as saying "a test." Stated more simply, in the context of subdivision 1 (a single-sentence provision), telling a driver that "refusal to submit to a test
is a crime" is the same as saying "refusal to submit to a blood or urine test is a crime."[6] Accordingly, a straightforward reading that section 171.177, subdivision 1, generally required that Nash be informed that "refusal to take a test is a crime" is reasonable.
Nash objects to that interpretation, contending that section 171.177, subdivision 1, requires much more. He argues that the statute mandates that an officer inform a driver that a person can refuse a blood test or a urine test and it is a crime if and only if the person refuses both types of test. This interpretation of subdivision 1 would require law enforcement to inform drivers of the substance of section 171.177, subdivision 2, which provides that "[a]ction may be taken against a person who refuses to take a blood test only if a urine test was offered and action may be taken against a person who refuses to take a urine test only if a blood test was offered." Minn. Stat. §...
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