People v. Hager
| Decision Date | 12 February 1987 |
| Citation | 69 N.Y.2d 141,512 N.Y.S.2d 794,505 N.E.2d 237 |
| Parties | , 505 N.E.2d 237 The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Douglas W. HAGER, Appellant. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
Defendant has been convicted of a violation of section 600(2)(a) and (b) of the Vehicle and Traffic law, leaving the scene of an accident, and sentenced to a term of probation.
The charges arose at about 12:40 a.m. on May 9, 1983, when Catherine Kuehhas was struck by a car operated by defendant. According to eyewitness' reports, defendant stopped at the accident scene, but drove away without revealing his identity or exhibiting his license and insurance identification card. Defendant was immediately pursued and caught by the police and after he was caught the investigating officer smelled alcohol on his breath. The police then transported defendant to Central Testing Headquarters where he consented to execute various physical coordination tests, including balancing tests, walking a straight line and holding his arms extended and then touching the tip of his nose with his index fingers. He also consented to a breathalyzer test. Defendant was not given Miranda warnings prior to the administration of the physical coordination tests and he therefore contends that evidence of the results must be suppressed because performance of them violated his privilege against self-incrimination (U.S. Const. 5th and 14th Amends.; N.Y. Const., art. I, § 6).
The privilege against self-incrimination bars the State from compelling a person to provide "evidence of a testimonial or communicative nature" (Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 761, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 1830, 16 L.Ed.2d 908). Evidence is "testimonial or communicative" when it reveals a person's subjective knowledge or thought processes (see, State v. Theriault, 144 Ariz. 166, 696 P.2d 718 (Ct.App.); Commonwealth v. Brennan, 386 Mass. 772, 438 N.E.2d 60). Physical performance tests do not reveal a person's subjective knowledge or thought processes but, rather, exhibit a person's degree of physical coordination for observation by police officers. The defendant's responses to those tests in this case indicated he had imbibed alcohol, not because the tests revealed defendant's thoughts, but because his body's responses differed from those of a sober person (see ...
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