State v. Sanchez

• Decision Date: 30 July 1998
• Docket Number: No. 2CA-CR97-0524,2CA-CR97-0524
• Citation: 192 Ariz. 454,967 P.2d 129
• Parties: , 275 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 47 The STATE of Arizona, Appellant, v. Ramie Chacon SANCHEZ, Appellee.
• Court: Arizona Court of Appeals

Page 129

967 P.2d 129

192 Ariz. 454, 275 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 47

The STATE of Arizona, Appellant, v. Ramie Chacon SANCHEZ, Appellee.

No. 2CA-CR97-0524.

Court of Appeals of Arizona Division 2, Department A.

July 30, 1998.

Review Denied Nov. 17, 1998. ^*

Barbara LaWall, Pima County Attorney by Jonathan Bass, Tucson, for Appellant.

Stephen Paul Barnard, Tucson, for Appellee.

OPINION

BRAMMER, Judge.

¶1 The trial court dismissed one count of aggravated driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor (DUI) filed against appellee, Ramie Sanchez, finding that his due process rights had been violated because the machine used to test his breath was not scientifically valid or reliable, the state should have known that it did not meet the established state regulations for breath testing devices, and he did not waive his right to an independent test. The state appeals, arguing that Sanchez's due process rights were not violated and that, even if they were, the trial court should simply have suppressed the breath test results instead of dismissing the charge. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural Background

¶2 The parties stipulated that the facts were as follows. ¹ Sanchez was arrested in May 1997 for aggravated DUI in violation of former A.R.S. § 28-692(A)(1) and (A)(2). The officers who arrested him invoked the provisions of the Arizona implied consent law pursuant to former A.R.S. § 28-691 and told Sanchez he had a choice between giving two "valid" breath samples in which no sample would be preserved or having his blood tested with a sample preserved. Sanchez chose to take the breath test. The officers used an Intoximeter RBT-IV to test Sanchez's breath. After further investigation into that device, however, defense counsel established at a hearing that it was not scientifically reliable in its ability to test a sample of alveolar air from a subject. Thus, Sanchez's breath test results were inaccurate, and the trial court ruled they were inadmissible at trial. Both parties stipulated that the RBT-IV was unreliable and as a result, the state dismissed the charge under former A.R.S. § 28-692(A)(2).

¶3 Sanchez moved to dismiss the remaining charge on due process grounds, arguing that use of the unreliable machine had prevented him from obtaining an accurate assessment of his blood alcohol concentration at the time when it was most critical and, because of the inherent unreliability of the RBT, that he could not have intelligently and voluntarily waived his right to an independent sample. The trial court agreed and dismissed the remaining count.

Discussion

¶4 "We review an order granting a motion to dismiss criminal charges for an abuse of discretion or for the application of an incorrect legal interpretation." State v. Lemming, 188 Ariz. 459, 460, 937 P.2d 381, 382 (App.1997). The state argues that due process required only that Sanchez be told of his right to obtain an independent test and that, because he was told, his due process rights were not violated. The state further contends that because Sanchez chose to take an invalid breath test instead of a blood test, and failed to avail himself of his right to obtain an independent test, he voluntarily waived his right to an independent test. We disagree.

¶5 "Under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, criminal prosecutions must comport with prevailing notions of fundamental fairness" and defendants must be afforded a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense. California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479, 485, 104 S.Ct. 2528, 2532, 81 L.Ed.2d 413, 419 (1984). Due process requires that defendants have a " 'fair chance' " to obtain potentially exculpatory evidence. Montano v. Superior Court, 149 Ariz. 385, 389, 719 P.2d 271, 275 (1986), quoting Smith v. Ganske, 114 Ariz. 515, 517, 562 P.2d 395, 397 (App.1977). Arizona has a long history of cases in which the courts have addressed the issue of blood alcohol testing. In Baca v. Smith, 124 Ariz. 353, 604 P.2d 617 (1979), our supreme court held that due process required the state, when requested, to preserve a second breath sample for the defendant's own testing, or to demonstrate that the defendant waived the taking and preservation of a second sample. See also Mongan v. Superior Court, 148 Ariz. 486, 715 P.2d 739 (1986); Scales v. City Court, 122 Ariz. 231, 594 P.2d 97 (1979). The defendant's waiver must be knowing, voluntary, and intelligent. Montano; Mongan. A voluntary and intelligent waiver means the defendant intentionally relinquished or abandoned a known right or privilege. Montano.

¶6 Since the accuracy of breath testing devices has increased, the requirement of preserving a second breath sample has disappeared. In State ex rel. Dean v. City Court, 163 Ariz. 510, 789 P.2d 180 (1990), our supreme court reviewed the history of breath testing and its reliability. It specifically discussed the Model 5000 Intoxilyzer and, accepting that device's accuracy and reliability, held that when a defendant is given an express choice between a blood test with a sample preserved and chooses the breath test, the defendant waives the right to an independent breath sample. The court also found that, as long as the method used to test blood alcohol is "reasonably accurate," it is irrelevant whether the sample given is a breath sample or a blood sample. Id. at 514, 789 P.2d at 184. See also State v. Harrison, 157 Ariz. 184, 755 P.2d 1172 (App.1988) (defendants must be able to rely on test results obtained from second breath sample). Although the supreme court in Dean did not specifically hold that a defendant is never entitled to a second breath sample for independent testing, that issue has since been addressed by Division One of this court in Moss v. Superior Court, 175 Ariz. 348, 352, 857 P.2d 400, 404 (App.1993):

Given the reliability and accuracy of replicate testing with an Intoxilyzer 5000, we do not believe that due process or fundamental fairness requires the state to provide defendants with breath samples. In light of the acknowledged technological development of the Intoxilyzer 5000, the focus inherently shifts from the breath sample to the machine itself....

See also State v. Bolan, 187 Ariz. 159, 927 P.2d 819 (App.1996), quoting Moss, 175 Ariz at 353, 857 P.2d at 405 ("Tests performed on the Intoxilyzer 5000 are so accurate that additional breath samples 'no longer add anything "meaningful" to the opportunity to present a defense.' ").

¶7 Contrary to the state's argument, due process is satisfied only when the defendant is given a "reasonably accurate" replicate breath test, State ex rel. Dean, or a blood test. By being offered a flawed breath test, with no sample preserved, Sanchez was denied his right to "a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense," Trombetta, 467 U.S. at 485, 104 S.Ct. at 2532, 81 L.Ed.2d at 419, and was denied his due process rights. Moreover, we fail to see how, by choosing the breath test, Sanchez waived his right to an alternate test, when, as the trial court stated: "The blood test was obviously declined because he believed that he was being offered the opportunity to take another equally valid test." There was no knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of Sanchez's right to obtain an independent test.

¶8 The state next argues that, even if Sanchez's due process rights were violated, the proper remedy is suppression of the evidence, not dismissal, citing Oshrin v. Coulter, 142 Ariz. 109, 688 P.2d 1001 (1984); Scales; State v. Vannoy, 177 Ariz. 206, 866 P.2d 874 (App.1993); Harrison; and State v. City Court, 130 Ariz. 285, 635 P.2d 878 (App.1981). We disagree.

¶9 "[A]n unreasonable or unconstitutional interference with attempts to secure a blood sample for exculpatory purposes in a DWI prosecution under A.R.S. § 28-692 requires a stay or dismissal of the charge as a remedy." Amos v. Bowen, 143 Ariz. 324, 328, 693 P.2d 979, 983 (App.1984). In Amos, the defendant was detained in a police car for about two hours because of an emergency call before he was transported to the hospital for a blood test. After the delay, the defendant decided he did not want the test. The court held that although the delay was proper, the affirmative conduct of the police violated the defendant's right to obtain exculpatory evidence. Although a breath test was not at issue in Amos, the same due process rights of both the defendant there and Sanchez require that they be afforded a fair chance to obtain independent evidence of sobriety essential to their defense at the only time when it is available, whether it be from an independent blood test or a test given by the state. See Montano; Ganske.

¶10 Similar to the facts in Amos, the record reveals that the state ² unreasonably interfered with Sanchez's only opportunity to obtain potentially exculpatory evidence by testing him on a machine that yielded inaccurate results. The trial court found that the RBT-IV used on Sanchez was removed from service shortly before his test and sent back to the manufacturer for repairs because of erroneously high readings. The trial court further found that when the device was returned to the state, it did not contain any repair record or further explanation and although a criminalist from the crime laboratory called the manufacturer and requested the record, the machine was returned to service without knowledge of the repairs. It was used to test Sanchez's alcohol concentration the next day. Most importantly, the trial court, although not specifically finding that the state acted in bad faith, concluded that it and its agents were on notice of the RBT-IV's failure to accurately test alveolar air no later than March 1997 and did not meet either established state regulations for breath testing devices or minimal Frye ³ standards.

¶11 Although the cases the state cites did not involve dismissal as a remedy for due process violations, they are distinguishable. In Scales, Harrison, and City Court, the...