State v. Mills, 169-74
| Decision Date | 14 November 1974 |
| Docket Number | No. 169-74,169-74 |
| Citation | 328 A.2d 410,133 Vt. 15 |
| Parties | STATE of Vermont v. Douglas C. MILLS. |
| Court | Vermont Supreme Court |
Patrick J. Leahy, State's Atty., and Paul D. Jarvis, Deputy State's Atty., for the State.
Richard W. Darby, of Adams & Meaker, Waterbury, for defendant.
Before BARNEY, C. J., and SMITH, KEYSER, DALEY and LARROW, JJ.
On May 9 and 10, 1974, Douglas C. Mills was tried for operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .10 or above. At the close of the State's case, the defendant moved for a directed verdict of acquittal on the ground that the State had not proved that the chemical analysis of the breath sample had been performed according to methods approved by the State Department of Health. The court denied the motion. The defendant renewed his motion at the close of all of the evidence. The court reserved its ruling on the motion and instructed the jury that the question of the method of approval was a question of law and not for their consideration. The case was submitted to the jury for decision which returned a verdict of guilty. Subsequently, the court granted defendant's motion for a directed verdict of acquittal. It held as follows:
Since the method of analyzing the respondent's breath sample has not been shown to be approved by the department of health it cannot be considered valid. The State having thus failed to introduce a prima facie case, the respondent's motion for a directed verdict is granted.
The State was allowed an exception before final judgment and permitted an appeal to this Court under 13 V.S.A. § 7403 which provides that this Court 'shall hear and determine the questions upon such exceptions and render final judgment thereon.' Although the order of the district court permitting the State to appeal did not include a singed statement of the questions to be presented for review, we find authority to examine the question implied by the exception taken by the State. In re Dexter, 93 Vt. 304, 313, 107 A. 134 (1919). Thus, the basic question for our determination is whether the evidence of the State established a prima facie case.
The focal point in this appeal is the sentence in 23 V.S.A. § 1203(a) which reads, 'Chemical analysis of the person's breath or blood shall be considered valid under the provisions of this section which performed according to methods approved by the state department of health.' The defendant contends that in order to approve the methods of chemical analysis, the department of health was required to take action in accordance with the rule-making provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act, 3 V.S.A. chapter 25. The defendant thus concludes that since the department of health had failed to approve the methods utilized for analyzing his breath sample pursuant to the procedures required by the Administrative Procedures Act, the chemical analysis cannot be considered valid; hence, the State was unable to introduce a prima facie case that the defendant was operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .10 or above 'as shown by chemical analysis of his breath or blood', in violation of 23 V.S.A. § 1201(a)(1), the statute with which he was charged.
Section 1203(a) purports to assign to the department of health a duty to approve methods of chemical analysis of blood or breath to be considred valid for the determination of the percentage by weight of alcohol in the blood for the purpose of prosecuting violations of 23 V.S.A. § 1201-'Operating vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor.' However, the judiciary has long had available to it a procedural and evidentiary framework to determine the validity of chemical analysis to establish blood alcohol concentration. R. Donigan, Chemical Tests and the Law 15-19 (2d ed. 1966). See also C. McCormick, Evidence § 209, at 513 (2d ed. E. Cleary 1972); Annot., 77 A.L.R.2d 971 (1961). The controlling question is whether the evidence given, concerning the tests and result, is trustworhty. State v. Magoon, 128 Vt. 363, 366, 264 A.2d 779 (1970).
It is not required that the results of accepted chemical testing methods be infallible to be admissible. If the test affords reasonable assistance to the triers of the fact, technical shortgages in the manner or method of proof may affect its weight but do not control its admissibility. (Id. 128 Vt. at 367, 264 A.2d at 781.)
The State's evidence showed that on March 23, 1974, the defendant was driving his automoible from Vergennes to Burlington. He was stopped in Shelburne Village by state police who had followed defendant for several miles. After dexterity tests were administered to the defendant, he was asked to and gave a sample of his breath for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content of his blood. The officer testified as to the equipment (crimper box) used to collect the breath sample, the manner of taking it, and the procedures he followed which were also demonstrated to the jury by the state toxicologist. He said the crimper box was an effective means of gathering the sample. The procedure of analyzing defendant's breath samples by means of the Mark II...
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State v. Bourassa
...the defendant with the crime. By returning a verdict of guilty, the jury resolved the issue in favor of the State. State v. Mills, 133 Vt. 15, 19, 328 A.2d 410, 413 (1974). The defendant next contends that the trial court erred in failing to grant his motion for judgment of acquittal. He ar......
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State v. Bell
...California. People v. Adams, 59 Cal.App.3d 559, 131 Cal.Rptr. 190 (1976); State v. Hansen, 203 N.W.2d 216 (Iowa 1972); State v. Mills, 133 Vt. 15, 328 A.2d 410 (1974); Shumate v. Commonwealth, 207 Va. 877, 153 S.E.2d 243 Both of these positions, however, are based on the language of the spe......
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State v. Roy, 17-270
...this version of the statute, this Court allowed an appeal of a judgment of acquittal entered after a guilty verdict. State v. Mills, 133 Vt. 15, 19, 328 A.2d 410, 413 (1974) (reversing judgment of acquittal entered after guilty verdict). The statute contemplated the possibility of an interl......
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State v. Van Wie
...this evidence through a procedure designed to show their reliability as scientific evidence in each and every case. See State v. Mills, 133 Vt. 15, 328 A.2d 410 (1974). The legislature in RSA 262-A:69-i (Supp.1975) delegated to the director the twin tasks of determining: (1) how the chemica......