State v. Robinson

• Decision Date: 04 October 2000
• Docket Number: 96-00029
• Citation: 29 S.W.3d 476
• Parties: STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MICHAEL ELMORE ROBINSONIN THE SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE February 2000 Session Filed
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

STATE OF TENNESSEE v MICHAEL ELMORE ROBINSON

No. M1996-00029-SC-R11-CD

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE

February 2000 Session

Filed October 4, 2000

Appeal by Permission from the Court of Criminal Appeals Criminal Court for Rutherford County No. M-34917

James K. Clayton, Jr., Judge

This is an appeal from the judgment of the Rutherford County Criminal Court where the defendant was convicted and sentenced for his third offense of driving under the influence. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-401(a) (1998). After determining that the defendant was a repeat offender, the trial court instructed the jury that intoxication may be inferred from a blood alcohol content of .08%. On appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the defendant's argument that Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-408(b) violated the equal protection provisions of the state and federal constitutions. We conclude that the statute does not violate equal protection because it is rationally related to the State's legitimate interest in deterring repeat offenders. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Tenn. R. App. P. 11 Appeal by Permission; Judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals

Affirmed.

Michael J. Flanagan, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Michael Elmore Robinson.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; Daryl J. Brand, Associate Solicitor General; William C. Whitesell, Jr., District Attorney General; and John W. Price, III, Assistant District Attorney, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

E. Riley Anderson, C. J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which Frank F. Drowota, III, Adolpho A. Birch, jr., and Janice M. Holder, JJ., joined. William M. Barker, J., not participating.

OPINION

We granted this appeal to determine whether Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-408(b) (1998), which provides that evidence of a .08% blood alcohol content creates a presumption of intoxication in cases where a defendant has previously been convicted of driving under the influence, violates the equal protection provisions of the United States and Tennessee Constitutions.

The defendant, Michael Elmore Robinson, was convicted of his third offense of driving under the influence (DUI) after the jury was instructed in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-408(b).¹ On appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that the statute is rationally related to the State's legitimate interest in deterring repeat offenders and does not violate the equal protection provisions of the United States or Tennessee Constitutions.

After our review of the record and applicable authority, we agree that Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-408(b) is rationally related to the State's legitimate interest in deterring repeat DUI offenders and does not violate the equal protection provisions of the United States or Tennessee Constitutions. We further conclude that in order to protect a defendant's right to a fair trial, the trial court should hold a hearing outside the presence of the jury to determine by a preponderance of the evidence whether the defendant has a prior DUI conviction and, if so, should instruct the jury that it is permitted but not required to "infer" intoxication if it finds the defendant to have a blood alcohol content of .08 %, without using the term "presumption." Because these safeguards were followed in this case, we affirm the Court of Criminal Appeals' judgment.

BACKGROUND

In the early morning hours of July 16, 1995, law enforcement officers found the defendant, Michael Elmore Robinson, asleep in his car in Rutherford County. The rear of Robinson's car was blocking an intersection and the front end was in a ditch, resting against a stop sign. The driver's side door was open and there were two beer cans in the car.

Trooper John Albertson testified that he arrived at the scene around 5:00 a.m. and that Robinson smelled of alcohol. According to Trooper Albertson, Robinson's speech was slurred and he staggered. Robinson admitted to having some drinks around 1:30 a.m. that morning and stated that he had fallen asleep on his way home.

Trooper Albertson administered four field sobriety tests: Robinson could not successfully recite the alphabet, count from one to five on his fingers, stand on one leg, or walk a straight line. Albertson testified that he gave Robinson several chances to perform each test and that Robinson failed each time. The trooper arrested Robinson and took him to a hospital for a blood test. Robinson signed a consent/waiver form and gave a blood sample around 5:30 a.m. Testing revealed that Robinson's blood alcohol content was 0.13 % at the time the sample was taken.

At the close of the evidence, and outside the presence of the jury, the State requested the trial judge to instruct the jury on the presumption of intoxication pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-408(b), which is required in cases where the defendant is a repeat DUI offender. The trial court did not make a formal finding on the record regarding Robinson's prior DUI convictions, but granted the State's request and instructed the jury in pertinent part that:

Evidence . . . that there was at the time alleged eight-hundredths of one percent or more by weight of alcohol in the Defendant's blood creates a presumption that the Defendant was under the influence . . . and that the Defendant's ability to drive was impaired. If you find from the proof that the Defendant was found by means of a blood test to have eight-hundredths of one percent or more by weight of alcohol in his blood, you, the jury, are permitted to infer that the Defendant was under the influence . . . and that the Defendant's ability to drive was therefore impaired sufficiently to constitute a violation of the law against driving under the influence of alcohol.

However, you're not required to make this inference. It is an exclusive province of the jury to determine whether the facts and circumstances shown by the evidence . . . warrant any inference which the law permits you, the jury, to draw from any blood test results.

Also, the inference may be rebutted by other evidence and circumstances. It is for the jury to determine, after the consideration of all the evidence, whether to make the inference which the law permits and the correctness of such inference and what weight to be given to such inference.

(Emphasis added). The jury convicted Robinson of driving under the influence.

On appeal, Robinson argued that the trial court's jury instruction pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-408(b) violated his fundamental right to equal protection as guaranteed by the state and federal constitutions. The Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the argument, holding that the .08% presumption contained in Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-408(b) is rationally related to the State's legitimate interest in deterring repeat DUI offenders.

We granted this appeal to review this issue of first impression.

ANALYSIS

Standard of Appellate Review

When this Court evaluates a statute, we must presume that an act of the General Assembly is constitutional and must uphold the constitutionality of a statute whenever possible. Riggs v. Burson, 941 S.W.2d 44, 51 (Tenn. 1997); WRG Enterprises, Inc. v. Crowell, 758 S.W.2d 214, 215-216 (Tenn. 1988). As the constitutionality of a statute is a question of law, our review is de novo without a presumption of correctness given to the lower courts' judgments. E.g., State v. King, 973 S.W.2d 586, 588 (Tenn. 1998).

Constitutional Review

We begin our analysis by examining the language of Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-408(b) (1998), which states:

Evidence that there was, at the time alleged, eight-hundredths of one percent (.08%) or more by weight of alcohol in the defendant's blood shall create a presumption that the defendant was under the influence of such intoxicant, and that the defendant's ability to drive was impaired thereby . . . . The provisions of this subsection only apply if the defendant has been convicted one (1) or more times of violating the provisions of § 55-10-401[(a)(1)] [statute proscribing driving under the influence].

In contrast, the presumption in first-offense DUI cases requires a blood alcohol content of .10%. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-408(a) (1998).

Turning to the constitutional equal protection provisions which impact the statute, the federal and state constitutions guarantee to citizens the equal protection of the laws. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "[n]o state shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." U. S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. The Tennessee Constitution contains two provisions that have been interpreted as extending equal protection guarantees. Article I, § 8 states that:

no man shall be taken or imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any manner destroyed or deprived of his life, liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land."

Tenn. Const. art. I, § 8. Article XI, § 8 states that the:

Legislature shall have no power to suspend any general law for the benefit of any particular individual, nor to pass any law for the benefit of individuals inconsistent with the general laws of the land; nor to pass any law granting to any individual or individuals, rights, privileges, immunitie, [immunities] or exemptions other than such as may be, by the same law extended to any member of the community, who may be able to bring himself within the provisions of such law.

Tenn. Const. art. XI, § 8.

Equal protection constitutional provisions guarantee that "'all persons similarly circumstanced shall be treated alike'." Tennessee Small Sch. Sys. v. McWherter, 851 S.W.2d 139, 153 (Tenn. 1993) (quoting F.S. Royster Guano Co. v. Virginia, 253 U.S. 412, 415, 40 S. Ct. 560, 562, 64 L. Ed. 989 (1920)). This Court has said:

The initial discretion to...