Willis v. State

• Citation: 302 Md. 363,488 A.2d 171
• Decision Date: 01 September 1983
• Docket Number: No. 90,90
• Parties: Caroleann Z. WILLIS v. STATE of Maryland. ,
• Court: Court of Appeals of Maryland

Page 363

302 Md. 363

488 A.2d 171

Caroleann Z. WILLIS v. STATE of Maryland.

No. 90, Sept. Term, 1983.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Feb. 22, 1985.

John L. Kopolow, Asst. Public Defender, Baltimore (Alan H. Murrell, Public Defender, Baltimore, on brief), for appellant.

Ann E. Singleton, Asst. Atty. Gen., Baltimore (Stephen H. Sachs, Atty. Gen., Baltimore, on brief), for appellee.

Argued before MURPHY, C.J., ELDRIDGE, COLE, DAVIDSON, ^* RODOWSKY and COUCH, JJ., and W. ALBERT MENCHINE, Associate Judge of the Court of Special Appeals (retired), Specially Assigned.

COLE, Judge.

When fifteen months old, Caroleann Z. Willis was the sole survivor of an automobile accident that claimed the lives of her parents. Now, over forty years later, Willis is ironically before us in a case where her alleged drunk driving led to the deaths of two persons who unfortunately happened upon an intersection at the moment she ran a red light. A jury convicted Willis of various traffic offenses arising out of this accident and the court sentenced her to a term of imprisonment. She now seeks reversal.

The deceptively straightforward issue of first impression presented in this case, the resolution of which will determine whether the trial court erred in admitting evidence of Willis' blood alcohol test results, is the meaning of the verb "apprehended" as used in Md.Code (1974, 1984 Repl.Vol.), § 10-303, of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article (Courts Article). ¹

Pursuant to Md.Rule 828g, the parties submitted an Agreed Statement of Facts. We chronicle such of those facts necessary to place the issue in proper focus. Shortly after 1:00 a.m. on December 25, 1981, Willis was driving a vehicle that ran a red light and collided with an automobile that was traveling through a signal-controlled intersection at U.S. Route 40 and Rogers Avenue in Howard County. Howard County Police Officer James Freeman arrived at the accident scene at 1:10 a.m. and immediately determined the extent of the injuries to the occupants of the respective vehicles. Once Officer Freeman ascertained that the three occupants of the Willis vehicle were not seriously injured, he went to the other vehicle. In that vehicle he found the front seat passenger dead and the driver nearly so, and he attempted to calm the two almost-hysterical passengers in the rear seat. When medical personnel arrived at 1:15 a.m., Officer Freeman directed them to the seriously injured occupants of this vehicle. At 1:18 a.m. Officer Freeman returned to Willis' vehicle to speak with her. The officer testified that Willis had a laceration on her forehead, and that she appeared confused and disoriented. Willis gave Officer Freeman her driver's license, and when he asked where she had been, Willis replied that she had been at "George's" but that she "hadn't had that many drinks." During this conversation, Officer Freeman detected an odor of alcohol from her person.

At 1:32 a.m. Officer Belding of the Traffic Enforcement Section (TES) of the Howard County Police Department arrived. ² Officer Freeman informed Officer Belding of the former's observations of Willis and gave Officer Belding Willis' driver's license. Eight minutes later, at 1:40 a.m., Sergeant Porter of TES arrived and assumed control over the investigation.

Emergency medical personnel placed Willis in a waiting ambulance at 1:52 a.m. Sergeant Porter directed Officer Cook, a plainclothes police officer who had arrived in an unmarked police cruiser at 1:45 a.m., to follow the ambulance to the hospital and to offer Willis a chemical test for alcohol if he had reasonable grounds to do so.

Willis remained at the scene in the ambulance from 1:52 a.m. to 2:37 a.m., at which time the ambulance departed for the hospital. The record indicates that as a matter of policy in Howard County ambulances and their personnel ordinarily remain at an accident scene until all accident victims are extricated from the vehicles. During the 45 minute period that Willis was in the ambulance at the accident scene, she was periodically attended to by medical personnel. Officer Cook opened the ambulance door at approximately 2:00 a.m. to check on Willis, but he did not speak to her because she was with two medical personnel. Although Willis never attempted to leave the ambulance, Officer Cook indicated that he would have detained her for the purpose of completing his investigation had she attempted to leave.

The ambulance containing Willis departed for the hospital at 2:37 a.m., and arrived at approximately 2:47 a.m. Hospital personnel completed their treatment of Willis at 3:00 a.m. Officer Cook, who was in the emergency room area during Willis' treatment, received permission from the medical staff to speak with Willis at 3:00 a.m. Officer Cook approached Willis, who was then lying on an emergency room table, and noticed that she had a strong odor of alcohol on her breath, that her eyes were bloodshot, that she slurred her speech, and that she appeared confused. When Willis got up to walk to another area, Officer Cook observed that her balance was unsteady. He then read Willis the Miranda warnings and the "DR-15" warnings ³ about the blood-alcohol test. Because of the holiday period, Officer Cook was unable to enlist any hospital personnel to administer the test. Ultimately, he persuaded Willis' treating physician to withdraw a specimen of her blood at 4:50 a.m. The test indicated a blood alcohol concentration of .15 percent. ⁴

At a pretrial hearing held in the Circuit Court for Howard County (Honorable Martin A. Wolff, presiding), Willis sought to suppress the blood alcohol test results because the test was not administered "within two hours after the person accused is apprehended" under § 10-303 of the Courts Article. The suppression court disagreed, ruling that Willis was "apprehended" at 3:00 a.m.--less than two hours before the test was administered at 4:50 a.m.--when medical treatment was completed and after Officer Cook advised Willis of her rights.

A jury convicted Willis of two counts of manslaughter by automobile under Md.Code (1957, 1982 Repl.Vol.), Art. 27, § 388, one count of driving while intoxicated under Md.Code (1977, 1981 Cum.Supp.), § 21-902(a) of the Transportation Article, and related traffic offenses. The trial court sentenced Willis to a total of five years' imprisonment, three of which the trial court suspended. The Court of Special Appeals affirmed the convictions and sentences, holding that Willis was "apprehended" within the meaning of § 10-303 of the Courts Article when Officer Cook advised Willis of her rights, and that the trial court properly admitted evidence of the blood alcohol test results. Willis v. State, 55 Md.App. 65, 69, 460 A.2d 1043, 1045 (1983). We granted certiorari to consider the important evidentiary question presented.

I

The tragic circumstances of this case are a grim but graphic reminder of the terrible toll exacted by automobile accidents. The carnage caused by drunk drivers on American highways is a national problem that does not require detailed documentation. See South Dakota v. Neville, 459 U.S. 553, 558, 103 S.Ct. 916, 920, 74 L.Ed.2d 748, 755 (1983). This case glaringly demonstrates that Maryland enjoys no immunity from this lamentable problem, "[t]he magnitude of [which] ... cannot be exaggerated." Little v. State, 300 Md. 485, 504, 479 A.2d 903, 912 (1984). The General Assembly, however, has attempted to meet the considerable challenge created by this problem by enacting a series of measures to rid our highways of the drunk driver menace. These measures, some of which are decades old, are primarily designed to enhance the ability of prosecutors to deal effectively with the drunk driver problem. State v. Werkheiser, 299 Md. 529, 533, 474 A.2d 898, 900 (1984). In this case, the central focus of our inquiry shall be on § 10-303 of the Courts Article, which provides that "[t]he specimen of breath or blood shall be taken within two hours after the person accused is apprehended."

As an initial matter we note that many jurisdictions have enacted implied consent laws that contain an express time limit within which a chemical test for intoxication must be administered. In some jurisdictions, the triggering event is the offense or violation, ⁵ the arrest of the accused, ⁶ the driving, ⁷ the event to be proved, ⁸ or a combination thereof. In other jurisdictions, the test must be administered within a "reasonable time" after the offense. ⁹ Maryland, however, is evidently the sole jurisdiction that uses the term "apprehended" as the determinative event that initiates the running of the chemical test clock. ¹⁰ Because the General Assembly has not defined "apprehended" as that term is used in § 10-303, our task is to determine its meaning.

Willis argues that an accused is "apprehended" under § 10-303 when a police officer first becomes aware of the accused's inebriated condition and decides to restrain the accused, if necessary, for further investigation. Under this interpretation Willis contends that she was apprehended when Officer Cook formulated the intent to detain her while she was in the ambulance at the accident scene, which was prior to 2:37 a.m. Because the blood test administered at 4:50 p.m. was not within two hours of her apprehension, Willis maintains that the test results are inadmissible under the § 10-309 exclusionary rule. The State of course disagrees with this view. According to the State, Willis was apprehended under § 10-303 when Officer Cook detained her at the hospital at 3:00 a.m. and advised Willis of her rights. Prior to this time Willis was not "apprehended" because she was not under police control or custody. The State therefore reasons that the test was administered within two hours after Willis was apprehended. Based upon our examination of the facts, we believe the State has the sound position.

Section 10-303 simply states that "[t]he specimen of breath or...