People v. Beck

• Decision Date: 30 November 2017
• Docket Number: NO. 4–16–0654,4–16–0654
• Citation: 2017 IL App (4th) 160654,90 N.E.3d 1083
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. William L. BECK, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

2017 IL App (4th) 160654

90 N.E.3d 1083

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.William L. BECK, Defendant–Appellant.

NO. 4–16–0654

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District.

Filed November 30, 2017

Lou J. Viverito, of Taylor Law Offices, P.C., of Effingham, for appellant.

Brian Bower, State's Attorney, of Charleston (Patrick Delfino, David J. Robinson, and Linda Susan McClain, of State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Office, of counsel), for the People.

JUSTICE HARRIS delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 Following a stipulated bench trial, defendant, William L. Beck, was found guilty of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) ( 625 ILCS 5/11–501(d)(1)(C) (West 2012)) and sentenced to 30 months' probation. Defendant appeals, arguing the trial court erred by (1) denying his motion to suppress statements he made to a law enforcement officer, which he alleges occurred during the course of a custodial interrogation and without the benefit of Miranda warnings (See Miranda v. Arizona , 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966) ); (2) denying his motion in limine to bar the State from presenting evidence at trial of the result of a blood draw performed during his hospitalization; (3) denying his motion in limine to bar the State from presenting at trial the results of a blood draw performed at the request of law enforcement; (4) denying his motion in limine to bar the State from offering expert opinion testimony on retrograde extrapolation; (5) overruling his objections to subpoenas duces tecum utilized by the State to obtain his hospital records; and (6) finding evidence relevant to the issue of proximate cause inadmissible. We affirm.

¶ 2 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 3 On the evening of October 25, 2014, defendant, who was then 19 years old, was involved in a motor vehicle accident on a two-lane highway in Coles County, Illinois. The record reflects defendant's vehicle collided with a vehicle driven by Alyssa Camp. Both defendant and Camp sustained injuries in the collision and were transported to Carle Foundation Hospital (Carle) for emergency medical treatment. Coles County sheriff's deputy John Clough investigated the accident and, at Carle, issued defendant a traffic citation for DUI. In November 2014, the State charged defendant with two counts of aggravated DUI ( 625 ILCS 5/11–501(d)(1)(C) (West 2012)), alleging that he drove with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 or greater (count I) or while under the influence of alcohol (count II) and was involved in a motor vehicle accident that resulted in great bodily harm to Camp and that his actions were the proximate cause of Camp's injuries.

¶ 4 A. Pretrial Proceedings

¶ 5 The record reflects the trial court considered numerous pretrial motions filed by the parties, several of which are at issue on appeal. In April 2015, defendant filed a motion to suppress statements he made to Clough while hospitalized at Carle. Defendant alleged the statements concerned his consumption of alcohol on the day of the accident and were elicited by Clough during the course of a custodial interrogation and without the benefit of Miranda warnings.

¶ 6 From April to June 2015, defendant also filed a series of motions in limine , asking the trial court to exclude certain evidence from being offered by the State at his trial. Relevant to this appeal, he first asked the court to bar the State from offering evidence at trial of the result of a chemical analysis of a blood specimen (hereinafter hospital blood draw) obtained from him on the day of his accident, which was conducted at Carle. The record reflects the hospital blood draw occurred not long after defendant arrived at Carle on the day of the accident and yielded a serum BAC of 0.211. In support of his request, defendant asserted the hospital blood draw "was not conducted in accord with the statutory criteria for admissibility in evidence" because it was performed at the request of a law enforcement agency.

¶ 7 In a separate motion in limine , defendant asked the trial court to bar the State from offering evidence at trial of the result of a chemical analysis of a blood specimen (hereinafter law enforcement blood draw) taken from him on the day of the accident, which was conducted at the Illinois State Police (ISP) crime laboratory. The record shows the law enforcement blood draw was requested by Clough, collected at 3:25 a.m. on October 26, 2014, and yielded a whole BAC of 0.071. In support of his motion, defendant argued that Clough's decision to "charge" him with DUI was based upon the unauthorized disclosure to Clough of the hospital blood draw results. He maintained that, because the disclosure of those results was unauthorized, Clough lacked both the probable cause to charge him with DUI and the authority to obtain the law enforcement blood draw.

¶ 8 In a third motion in limine , defendant asked the trial court to bar the State from offering retrograde extrapolation opinion testimony at his trial. He argued that for a retrograde extrapolation calculation to be valid, two factors had to be established to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty: (1) the rate at which a person metabolized alcohol and (2) whether the person was in the post-absorption phase at the time of chemical testing. Defendant maintained that information disclosed by the State during discovery did "not provide sufficient information for a qualified witness to render an opinion, to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, regarding" either factor.

¶ 9 In September 2015, the trial court conducted a hearing on defendant's motion to suppress and motions in limine . Clough testified regarding his investigation of the motor vehicle accident and his interactions with defendant. He stated he worked as a Coles County sheriff's deputy for 22 years and was the accident investigator for the sheriff's office. On October 25, 2014, he went to the scene of the accident and took measurements, examined skid marks, and spoke with witnesses. Based on his examination of the scene and witness statements, he determined that defendant's vehicle crossed into Camp's lane of travel, resulting in a head-on collision with Camp's vehicle. While at the scene, Clough was informed that Camp had sustained severe injuries and "they didn't know whether she would make it or not." He was also advised that the incident "was possibly a DUI investigation."

¶ 10 Clough testified he went to Carle to further his investigation. Upon his arrival, he spoke with defendant's parents, Camp's parents, and emergency room staff. He also spoke with a nurse and inquired if any lab work had been performed by the hospital. Clough was shown test results indicating defendant had a blood alcohol result of 0.211. After receiving those results, Clough waited to speak with defendant, who was undergoing a medical procedure. He spoke with defendant's parents after obtaining the test results and agreed that he told them that defendant "was going to be charged with DUI." Clough testified that, prior to talking with defendant, he had been given information that led him to believe defendant had been drinking or that he was under the influence of alcohol.

¶ 11 Clough stated he first saw defendant in a bed in his hospital room. Defendant's parents were present and Clough believed a nurse was also in and out of the room. Clough testified he spoke to defendant briefly, asking him what happened, informing him that Clough "was go[ing] to charge him with DUI," and reading to him the "Warning to Motorist." More specifically, Clough testified he read the warning to motorist to defendant at 1:45 a.m., then had an initial discussion with defendant "about drinking." Clough next asked defendant if he was willing to submit to testing of his blood and urine. Defendant consented to the testing, and Clough asked a nurse to "do a DUI kit." Because the emergency room was busy, blood was not collected from defendant until approximately 3:25 or 3:26 a.m. While waiting on the nurse to obtain specimens from defendant, Clough and defendant had a further discussion about defendant's consumption of alcohol. During that conversation, defendant reported that he had been drinking at a party prior to the accident.

¶ 12 Defendant submitted a warning to motorist into evidence, which was signed by Clough and indicated it was issued to defendant at 1:45 a.m. on October 26, 2014. The initial sentence of the warning to motorist begins with the phrase "[s]ubsequent to an arrest for [DUI]" and contains various warnings regarding a DUI arrestee's driving privileges.

¶ 13 At the hearing, Clough acknowledged that he did not read defendant Miranda warnings prior to their discussions. Further, he agreed that he obtained defendant's driver's license while at the hospital and that defendant's license was retained "by the Court." Clough also issued two traffic citations to defendant. He testified he wrote the citations after midnight on the evening of the accident but prior to 1:45 a.m. the following morning and before reading the warning to motorist to defendant. Before leaving the hospital, Clough gave the citations to defendant's parents "because [defendant] was still being examined." He stated he gave the citations to defendant's parents after he read the warning to motorist to defendant and "would have handed all the paperwork [over] at the same time."

¶ 14 Defendant submitted copies of the citations issued by Clough into evidence. The record reflects the citations were for improper lane usage (citation No. 56321) and DUI (citation 56322). Under a section entitled "BOND," the improper lane usage citation indicated Clough obtained defendant's drivers' license and that bond was "POSTED ON TICKET NO. 56322." The DUI citation identified defendant's bond as a "NOTICE TO APPEAR."

¶ 15 Clough further testified that there was nothing to prevent a person from leaving defendant's hospital room and that no other law...