State v. Bostrom

• Decision Date: 14 September 1995
• Docket Number: No. 62524-7,62524-7
• Citation: 902 P.2d 157,127 Wn.2d 580
• Court: Washington Supreme Court
• Parties: The STATE of Washington, Petitioner, v. Gregory Robert BOSTROM, Patrick M. Johnson, Michael J. McCormick, Loren D. Riffe, Brian E. Bridges, Larry L. Lyke, Richard R. Camus, and Lisa Brown, Respondents.

Page 580

127 Wn.2d 580

902 P.2d 157

The STATE of Washington, Petitioner, v. Gregory Robert BOSTROM, Patrick M. Johnson, Michael J McCormick, Loren D. Riffe, Brian E. Bridges, Larry L. Lyke, Richard R. Camus, and Lisa Brown, Respondents.

No. 62524-7.

Supreme Court of Washington En Banc.

Sept. 14, 1995.

Christine O. Gregoire, Attorney General, James T. Schmid, Asst., Seattle, for amicus curiae Department of Licensing.

Greg A. Rubstello, Pasco, William Cameron, Kennewick City Attorney, Kennewick, for amicus curiae Washington Association of Municipal.

Bernardean Broadous, Thurston County Prosecutor, John M. Jones, Deputy, Olympia, Kalo Wilcox, Olympia, for petitioner State.

Foster, Foster & Schaller, Rex N. Munger, Olympia, John Sinclair, Olympia, for respondents.

PEKELIS, Justice.

We accepted the parties' petition for discretionary review of these consolidated cases in which the Thurston County District Court (1) suppressed the test results of the Respondents who consented to a breathalyzer test and (2) suppressed the evidence of refusal by those Respondents who would not consent to such a test. The court concluded that the implied consent warnings which the arresting officers read to the Respondents were inadequate because they failed to warn them of the new administrative consequences for taking the test and having a breath alcohol level of 0.10 or higher and of the new penalty enhancements for refusing to take the test. We reverse, concluding neither the implied consent statute nor constitutional due process mandates the giving of additional warnings.

At various times after July 1, 1994, each of the Respondents were arrested in Thurston County for driving while intoxicated. The arresting officers advised the Respondents of their Miranda rights and read them the following implied consent warnings:

Further, you are now being asked to submit to a test of your breath which consists of two separate samples of your breath, taken independently, to determine alcohol content. You are now advised that you have the right to refuse this breath test; that if you refuse, your privilege to drive will be revoked or denied by the Department of Licensing; and that you have the right to additional tests administered by a qualified person of your own choosing and that your refusal to take the test may be used in a criminal trial.

Several of the Respondents consented to the breath test. All who took the test had a breath alcohol level of 0.10 or higher. Some of the Respondents refused the test.

On November 17, 1994, the Thurston County District Court suppressed the results of those Respondents who submitted to a breath test, as well as evidence of refusal by those Respondents who would not consent to the test. The trial court reasoned that the implied consent warnings as read were inadequate to allow the Respondents to make an informed and intelligent decision on whether or not to consent to the test.

I. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION

In contending that the trial court ruled properly on the suppression motion, the Respondents first argue that, as a matter of statutory construction, the warnings given here were inadequate. We disagree.

In 1968, in an attempt to confront the serious problem of drunk driving in Washington, the voters passed Initiative 242, which provides that all persons operating a motor vehicle within Washington are deemed to have consented to a test of their breath or blood for the purpose of determining their breath or blood alcohol content. RCW 46.20.308(1). At that time, the law also provided that a blood or breath test of 0.10 or higher was evidence giving rise to a presumption that the driver was under the influence of intoxicating liquors. RCW 46.61.506(2)(c), repealed, Laws of 1979, 1st Ex.Sess., ch. 176, § 5.

In 1979, the Legislature amended the law to make a person with a 0.10 or higher alcohol concentration guilty of the crime of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquors (DWI). RCW 46.61.502(1). A person convicted of DWI would have his or her license judicially suspended for 90 days for the first offense, revoked for 1 year for the second offense within 5 years, and revoked for 2 years for the third offense within 5 years. RCW 46.61.515(3), repealed, Laws of 1994, ch. 275, § 42, p. 1787. Under RCW 46.20.285, the Department of Licensing was required to revoke the license of anyone who had received a second DWI conviction within a 5-year period.

In 1994, the Legislature again amended the motor vehicle laws pertaining to drunk driving effective July 1, 1994. The amendments include a provision requiring officers to immediately seize a person's license and issue him or her a temporary license if the breath test results are 0.10 or higher. RCW 46.20.365(2)(c). Then, depending on the person's driving history, the Department of Licensing may issue him or her a probationary license. RCW 46.20.355; RCW 46.20.365. The probationary license remains in effect for 5 years. RCW 46.20.355(2). If, however, within the 5-year probationary period, a person has another breath test result of 0.10 or higher, the person's license will be revoked for 2 years. RCW 46.20.365(3)(b). The 1994 amendments also include stiffer penalties for those who refuse to take the breath test but are nevertheless convicted of DWI. RCW 46.61.5051(2)(b) and RCW 46.61.5052(2)(b).

Since 1968, the implied consent statute has also mandated giving drivers the following warnings:

(2) ... The officer shall inform the person of his or her right to refuse the breath or blood test, and of his or her right to have additional tests administered by any qualified person of his or her choosing as provided in RCW 46.61.506. The officer shall warn the driver that (a) his or her privilege to drive will be revoked or denied if he or she refuses to submit to the test, and (b) that his or her refusal to take the test may be used in a criminal trial.

Former RCW 46.20.308(2). The 1994 amendments to the implied consent law did not alter these warnings. Laws of 1994, ch. 275, § 13, p. 1767.

Recently, however, the Legislature amended these warnings effective as of September 1, 1995. Laws of 1995, ch. 332, § 1, p. 1443. Under the 1995 amendment, in addition to the warnings already included in RCW 46.20.308(2), a driver must also be advised that his or her license will be suspended, revoked or placed in probationary status if he or she consents to a breath test and has an alcohol level above the legal limit. Laws of 1995, ch. 332, § 1, p. 1443.

In this case, the Respondents acknowledge that they were given all the warnings mandated by the implied consent statute in effect at the time of their arrest. Nevertheless, they argue that the officers should have given them additional warnings similar to those contained in the 1995 amendment. ¹ Without such additional warnings, they argue that they were inadequately informed of the consequences of deciding to submit to or refuse the breath test and, therefore, the suppression order was justified.

The Respondents' argument rests on their contention that by mandating the implied consent warnings the Legislature sought to ensure that drivers were given an opportunity to make a knowing and intelligent decision about whether to consent to a breath test. See, e.g., State v. Whitman County Dist. Court, 105 Wash.2d 278, 281, 714 P.2d 1183 (1986); Gonzales v. Department of Licensing, 112 Wash.2d 890, 897, 774 P.2d 1187 (1989); see also Pryor v Department of Motor Vehicles, 8 Wash.App. 953, 956, 509 P.2d 1018 (1973). They maintain that because the 1994 amendments, which were in effect at the time of their arrest, altered the consequences of submitting to or refusing a breath test, the statutory warnings no longer satisfied this legislative goal.

We first address the argument of those Respondents who refused the test. They claim that they were deprived of the opportunity to make a knowing and intelligent decision because they were not warned that if they refused the test, they risked enhanced penalties should they be convicted of DWI. RCW 46.61.5051(2)(b) and RCW 46.61.5052(2)(b). This argument is wholly without merit. Included in the statutory warnings read to these Respondents was the admonition that "refusal to take the test may be used in a criminal trial." RCW 46.20.308(2). This information was sufficient to alert respondents to the possibility that their refusal could be used at any phase of a criminal trial, including sentencing. There is no requirement that each and every specific consequence of refusal be enunciated. We therefore reject the Respondents' contention that the warnings given them were inadequate.

We next address the argument of those Respondents who took the test. They claim that they were deprived of the opportunity to make an informed decision because they were not warned of the new administrative consequences of consenting to a test, and receiving an alcohol reading above the legal limit. Respondents' argument is based on their misinterpretation of our holdings in Whitman and Gonzales. While we remarked that one of the Legislature's purposes in enacting the implied consent warnings is to provide drivers an opportunity to make an informed decision whether to refuse a breath test, we did not mean to suggest that this underlying purpose was a requirement which overrode the plain language of the statute. Whitman, 105 Wash.2d at 281, 714 P.2d 1183; Gonzales, 112 Wash.2d at 897, 774 P.2d 1187. When the language of a statute is unambiguous, courts may not alter the statute's plain meaning by construction. E.g., Department of Licensing v. Lax, 125 Wash.2d 818, 822, 888 P.2d 1190 (1995); State v. Johnson, 119 Wash.2d 167, 172, 829 P.2d 1082 (1992). We are, therefore, not free to graft onto the implied consent statute any additional warnings not contained in the plain language of that statute.

In accordance with this rule of statutory construction, Washington case law has consistently...