State v. Morales, 20140407.

• Citation: 869 N.W.2d 417
• Decision Date: 17 September 2015
• Docket Number: No. 20140407.,20140407.
• Parties: STATE of North Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee v. Edward MORALES, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

869 N.W.2d 417

STATE of North Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee

v.Edward MORALES, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 20140407.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

Sept. 17, 2015.

Nathan K. Madden, Assistant State's Attorney, Williston, N.D., for plaintiff and appellee.

Lee M. Grossman, Valley City, N.D., for defendant and appellant.

Ken R. Sorenson, Assistant Attorney General, Bismarck, N.D., for amicus curiae Attorneys for North Dakota Attorney General.

Opinion

SANDSTROM, Justice.

[¶ 1] Edward Morales appeals from a judgment entered upon a conditional guilty plea to causing death while operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, reserving his right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress the results of a warrantless blood-alcohol test. Morales argues there was not sufficient evidence to support the district court's decision that exigent circumstances permitted the warrantless blood-alcohol test and N.D.C.C. §§ 39–20–01 and 39–20–03 are unconstitutional. We conclude the warrantless blood-alcohol test was authorized under the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement, and we affirm the judgment.

I

[¶ 2] At about 10:28 p.m., on November 28, 2013, law enforcement officers and emergency medical personnel were dispatched to a single-car accident in a RV trailer park about four miles north of Williston. According to Williston Police Officer Jacob Hendricks, because the accident occurred outside the Williston city limits on Thanksgiving, he responded to “stand by at the crash scene and offer aid until the sheriff's office could arrive.” He testified he was the first officer on the scene, and he observed a passenger in a vehicle that had hit a parked gooseneck trailer. The passenger was not responsive and was pronounced dead at the scene. According to Officer Hendricks, the sheriff's office was ordinarily responsible for investigating accidents outside the Williston city limits, but the highway patrol investigates accidents involving injuries and fatalities. Morales was identified as the driver of the vehicle. Officer Hendricks testified he detected the odor of alcohol emanating from Morales but he did not talk to him because he was receiving emergency medical care and was strapped to a back board and transported by ambulance to a Williston hospital.

[¶ 3] North Dakota Highway Patrol Officer Scott Stoczynski arrived at the accident scene at about 10:34 p.m., after Morales had been transported to the hospital. According to Officer Stoczynski, Williston Police Officer Sam Aide informed him that Morales had been walking around the vehicle after the accident, that Morales had received emergency medical care and had been transported to the hospital, and that Officer Hendricks said Morales smelled of alcohol. Officer Stoczynski testified only two highway patrol officers were working in the Williston area because of the Thanksgiving holiday and he remained at the scene to investigate the accident. Officer Hendricks returned to his patrol duties, but was subsequently dispatched to the Williston hospital at the request of Officer Stoczynski to watch Morales. At the hospital, Officer Hendricks observed Morales was unconscious, but again detected he smelled of alcohol. Meanwhile, Officer Stoczynski remained at the accident scene and investigated the crash, measuring markings on the driving surface, taking pictures, locating debris, and inspecting and photographing vehicles. Officer Stoczynski testified highway patrol officers specialize in accident reconstruction and his investigation ultimately revealed Morales' vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed and failed to negotiate a turn and avoid or brake for a parked gooseneck trailer that was loaded with lumber.

[¶ 4] Officer Stoczynski testified it took him about an hour and a half to complete the on-scene accident investigation, and he then proceeded to the hospital, arriving at about 12:15 a.m. According to Officer Stoczynski, when he arrived at the hospital Morales had been intubated and was unconscious and not responsive. Officer Stoczynski testified he smelled the odor of alcohol coming from Morales and read him Miranda warnings and an implied consent advisory. He testified he arrested Morales and requested a warrantless blood draw from him, which was performed by hospital personnel at about 12:30 a.m.

[¶ 5] The warrantless blood draw revealed a blood-alcohol concentration above the legal limit, and the State charged Morales with causing death while operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. Morales moved to suppress the results of the warrantless blood draw, arguing it constituted an illegal search and seizure. After an evidentiary hearing, the district court denied Morales' motion to suppress, ruling exigent circumstances justified the warrantless blood draw and, even if exigent circumstances did not exist, Morales was deemed to have consented to the test under N.D.C.C. § 39–20–03, which provides that an unconscious driver is deemed to have not withdrawn the driver's implied consent to a test for intoxication. Morales conditionally pled guilty to the charge, reserving his right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress the results of the warrantless blood-alcohol test.

[¶ 6] The district court had jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, § 8, and N.D.C.C. § 27–05–06. Morales' appeal is timely under N.D.R.App.P. 4(b). We have jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, §§ 2 and 6, and N.D.C.C. § 29–28–06.

II

[¶ 7] In State v. DeCoteau, 1999 ND 77, ¶ 6, 592 N.W.2d 579 (citations omitted), we described our standard of review of motions to suppress:

We give deference to the district court's findings of fact when reviewing a motion to suppress evidence. The district court is in a superior position to assess the credibility of witnesses and weigh the evidence, and conflicts are resolved in favor of affirmance. A district court's findings of fact on a motion to suppress will not be reversed if there is sufficient competent evidence fairly capable of supporting the court's findings, and the decision is not contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence. Matters of law are fully reviewable by this Court on appeal.

III

[¶ 8] Unreasonable searches and seizures are prohibited by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, made applicable to the states under the Fourteenth Amendment, and by Article I, Section 8, of the North Dakota Constitution. State v. Birchfield, 2015 ND 6, ¶ 8, 858 N.W.2d 302. The administration of a blood test to determine blood-alcohol concentration is a search under those constitutional provisions. Id. Warrantless searches are unreasonable unless they fall within one of the recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement. City of Fargo v. Wonder, 2002 ND 142, ¶ 18, 651 N.W.2d 665. “In suppression cases, the defendant has the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case that the evidence was illegally seized.” State v. Glaesman, 545 N.W.2d 178, 182 n. 1 (N.D.1996). Thereafter, the State has the burden of proving a warrantless search falls within a recognized exception to the warrant requirement. State v. Nickel, 2013 ND 155, ¶ 22, 836 N.W.2d 405. Absent an exception to the warrant requirement, the exclusionary rule requires suppression of evidence obtained in violation of the federal and state constitutions' protections against warrantless searches or seizures. Id. Exceptions to the warrant requirement include consent and exigent circumstances. DeCoteau, 1999 ND 77, ¶¶ 9, 14, 592 N.W.2d 579.

IV

[¶ 9] Morales argues the district court erred in ruling the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement permitted the warrantless blood draw.

[¶ 10] Exigent circumstances are “an emergency situation requiring swift action to prevent imminent danger to life or serious damage to property, or to forestall the imminent escape of a suspect or destruction of evidence.” DeCoteau, 1999 ND 77, ¶ 15, 592 N.W.2d 579 (quoting City of Fargo v. Lee, 1998 ND 126, ¶ 10, 580 N.W.2d 580 ).

[¶ 11] In Missouri v. McNeely, ––– U.S. ––––, 133 S.Ct. 1552, 1558–59, 185 L.Ed.2d 696 (2013) (citations omitted), the United States Supreme Court discussed exigent circumstances in the context of a warrantless blood test and an argument that the natural dissipation of alcohol in a driver's bloodstream, by itself, satisfied the requirements for exigent circumstances:

“One well-recognized exception,” and the one at issue in this case, “applies when the exigencies of the situation make the needs of law enforcement so compelling that a warrantless search is objectively reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.” A variety of circumstances may give rise to an exigency sufficient to justify a warrantless search, including law enforcement's need to provide emergency assistance to an occupant of a home, engage in “hot pursuit” of a fleeing suspect, or enter a burning building to put out a fire and investigate its cause. As is relevant here, we have also recognized that in some circumstances law enforcement officers may conduct a search without a warrant to prevent the imminent destruction of evidence. While these contexts do not necessarily involve equivalent dangers, in each a warrantless search is potentially reasonable because “there is compelling need for official action and no time to secure a warrant.”

To determine whether a law enforcement officer faced an emergency that justified acting without a warrant, this Court looks to the totality of circumstances.

In McNeely, at 1558–60, the Court discussed a prior case, Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 16 L.Ed.2d 908 (1966), dealing with exigent circumstances and a warrantless blood draw from an automobile driver involved in an accident while suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol.

[¶ 12] In Schmerber, 384 U.S. at 758, 769, 86 S.Ct. 1826, the driver was hospitalized following an automobile accident, and a police officer smelled alcohol on the driver's breath at the accident scene and at...