State v. Dewitt

• Decision Date: 29 April 2008
• Docket Number: No. 33706.,33706.
• Citation: 184 P.3d 215,145 Idaho 709
• Parties: STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Shawn Patrick DeWITT, Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: Idaho Court of Appeals

184 P.3d 215

145 Idaho 709

STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Shawn Patrick DeWITT, Defendant-Respondent.

No. 33706.

Court of Appeals of Idaho.

April 29, 2008.

Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General; John C. McKinney, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for appellant. John C. McKinney argued.

John F. Porter, Troy, for respondent.

WALTERS, Judge Pro Tem.

The state appeals from the decision of the district court affirming a magistrate order suppressing evidence of blood testing done on Shawn Patrick DeWitt.

I. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

DeWitt was seriously injured in a single car accident. He was the only individual in the car, and emergency responders removed him from the driver's seat so that he could be transported to the hospital. Deputy Damon Carpenter of the Latah County Sheriff's Department was dispatched to the emergency room to check on DeWitt's condition. As Deputy Carpenter approached DeWitt, he noticed a smell of alcohol which increased as he walked into the room where DeWitt was being treated. Suspecting that DeWitt had been driving under the influence of alcohol, he contacted Sergeant Phil Gray, who was at the scene of the accident. Sgt. Gray advised him that DeWitt's vehicle smelled of alcohol, and that there were empty beer cans in and around it. Sgt. Gray instructed Deputy Carpenter to obtain a blood sample from DeWitt. Although DeWitt was unconscious, Deputy Carpenter read out loud a form outlining the consequences of refusing evidentiary testing contained in Idaho Code § 18-8002(3). Deputy Carpenter then instructed a healthcare professional on the hospital staff to draw blood from DeWitt for evidentiary testing. DeWitt remained unconscious throughout this procedure. Subsequent testing revealed that DeWitt had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.20.

DeWitt was charged with misdemeanor second-time DUI. I.C. §§ 18-8004, -8005(4).¹ DeWitt filed a motion to suppress the evidence of the blood test, arguing that because it was done while he was unconscious, the blood draw violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The magistrate granted the motion to suppress, a decision that the district court affirmed on intermediate appeal. The state appeals.

II. DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS

A. Standard of Review

The Supreme Court has recently altered the standard by which we review a decision of the district court acting in its appellate capacity. Rather than directly reviewing the magistrate court's decision independently of, but with due regard for, the district court's decision, we instead directly review the district court's decision. Losser v. Bradstreet, ___ Idaho ___, 183 P.3d 758 (2008). We do examine the magistrate record to determine whether there is substantial and competent evidence to support the magistrate's findings of fact and whether the magistrate's conclusions of law follow from those findings. If those findings are so supported and the conclusions follow therefrom and if the district court affirmed the magistrate's decision, we affirm the district court's decision as a matter of procedure. Id.; Nicholls v. Blaser, 102 Idaho 559, 633 P.2d 1137 (1981).

B. The Evidence of the Blood Draw Should Not Have Been Suppressed

The magistrate found that drawing blood from the unconscious DeWitt was a warrantless seizure in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights, and therefore suppressed the evidence obtained from that blood draw. The district court affirmed. On review of a decision to grant or deny a motion to suppress evidence, the Court employs a split standard of review. The Court will defer to the trial court's findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous. State v. Hawkins, 131 Idaho 396, 400, 958 P.2d 22, 26 (Ct.App.1998). However, the Court exercises free review over the application of constitutional standards to those facts. Id.

The administration of a blood alcohol test constitutes a seizure of the person and a search for evidence within the purview of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 767, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 1834, 16 L.Ed.2d 908, 917 (1966); State v. Worthington, 138 Idaho 470, 472, 65 P.3d 211, 213 (Ct.App.2002). Searches and seizures conducted without a warrant are presumptively unreasonable. Schmerber, 384 U.S. at 770, 86 S.Ct. at 1835, 16 L.Ed.2d at 919; State v. Curtis, 106 Idaho 483, 488, 680 P.2d 1383, 1388 (Ct.App.1984). To overcome the presumption, the state bears the burden of establishing two prerequisites. First, the state must prove that a warrantless search fell within a well-recognized exception to the warrant requirement. State v. Diaz, 144 Idaho 300, 302, 160 P.3d 739, 741 (2007). Second, the state must show that even if the search is permissible under an exception to the warrant requirement, it must still be reasonable in light of all of the other surrounding circumstances. Id.

1. Warrant exception

There are two exceptions to the warrant requirement which are applicable in this case: exigent circumstances and consent. The exigent circumstances exception allows agents of the state to conduct a warrantless search when there is a "compelling need for official action and no time to secure a warrant." Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U.S. 499, 509, 98 S.Ct. 1942, 1949, 56 L.Ed.2d 486, 498 (1978); State v. Wren, 115 Idaho 618, 624, 768 P.2d 1351, 1357 (Ct.App.1989). It is well established that blood draws to test for alcohol concentration fall within this exigency exception because blood alcohol content diminishes over time, and valuable evidence would be lost in the time required to obtain a warrant. Schmerber, 384 U.S. at 770-71, 86 S.Ct. at 1835-36, 16 L.Ed.2d at 919-20; State v. Woolery, 116 Idaho 368, 370, 775 P.2d 1210, 1212 (1989); Worthington, 138 Idaho 470, 65 P.3d 211; State v. Cooper, 136 Idaho 697, 700-01, 39 P.3d 637, 640-41 (Ct.App. 2001). DeWitt argues that the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement does not apply because he was charged with misdemeanor DUI rather than a felony. This is not a persuasive argument. In Schmerber the United States Supreme Court applied the exigency exception in the context of a misdemeanor DUI charge. Schmerber, 384 U.S. at 758 n. 1, 86 S.Ct. at 1829 n. 1, 16 L.Ed.2d at 912 n. 1. Further, this Court rejected DeWitt's argument in State v. Robinson, 144 Idaho 496, 163 P.3d 1208 (Ct.App. 2007), where we held that a misdemeanor driving under the influence offense, which carries a penalty of up to six months jail time, falls under the category of an offense subject to the exigent circumstances doctrine.

Even if the exigent circumstances exception was inapplicable, the blood draw was valid pursuant to DeWitt's implied consent. See Diaz, 144 Idaho 300, 160 P.3d 739; State v. Rodriguez, 128 Idaho 521, 915 P.2d 1379 (Ct.App.1996). Valid consent is an exception to the warrant requirement. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973); State v. Nickerson, 132 Idaho 406, 410, 973 P.2d 758, 762 (Ct.App.1999). Under Idaho's implied consent statute, I.C. § 18-8002(1), anyone driving on Idaho roads is deemed to have impliedly consented to evidentiary testing for the presence of alcohol or drugs when a police officer has reasonable cause to believe the person was driving under the influence.² In other words, "[b]y virtue of this statute, `anyone who accepts the privilege of operating a motor vehicle upon Idaho's highways has consented in advance to submit to a BAC test.'" Rodriguez, 128 Idaho at 523, 915 P.2d at 1381 (quoting Matter of McNeely, 119 Idaho 182, 187, 804 P.2d 911, 916 (Ct.App. 1990)). See also Diaz, 144 Idaho 300, 160 P.3d 739. Implied consent to evidentiary testing is not limited to a breathalyzer test, but may also include testing the suspect's blood or urine. I.C. § 18-8002(9). The evidentiary test to be employed is of the officer's choosing. Diaz, 144 Idaho at 302, 160 P.3d at 741. In this case, DeWitt does not assert that he was not in control of the vehicle, nor does he argue that the officer lacked reasonable grounds to suspect that he was driving under the influence. Indeed, from the odor of alcohol and presence of beer cans in his vehicle, there was ample evidence that DeWitt had been driving under the influence at the time of the accident. See Curtis, 106 Idaho at 489, 680 P.2d at 1389.

DeWitt nevertheless argues that his implied consent was nullified because he was unconscious when he was "informed" of the consequences of refusal. Idaho Code § 18-8002(3) requires that, at the time of evidentiary testing, the suspect must be informed of the consequences if he refuses to submit or complete evidence testing, including a civil penalty of $250, and seizure and suspension of his driver's license, and of his right to request a hearing to show cause why his license should not be suspended. The magistrate found that DeWitt's implied consent was rendered invalid because Deputy Carpenter read him a form outlining these consequences while he was unconscious. Thus, the magistrate reasoned, because DeWitt did not have an opportunity to refuse to submit to the evidentiary testing, he was necessarily unable to consent.

The Idaho Supreme Court squarely rejected this reasoning in Woolery, 116 Idaho 368, 775 P.2d 1210. In that case, the defendant was the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident. At the instruction of a police officer, hospital personnel drew a sample of his blood; however, the officer neglected to inform the defendant of the consequences of refusing as required by a prior version of the statute. The defendant argued that the evidence obtained in the blood draw should be suppressed on that ground. The Idaho Supreme Court disagreed. The Court stated that a drunken driver has no legal right to resist or refuse evidentiary testing.³ The Court noted that in recognition of the driver's physical ability to refuse to submit, the legislature enacted the license suspension statute to discourage and civilly penalize...