Opinion ID: 1281161
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Accuracy Inspection Report

Text: While we reverse the appellant's conviction because the circuit court erred by submitting the special interrogatories to the jury, we feel it is necessary to address another assignment of error raised by the appellant. The appellant also contends that the circuit court erred by admitting into evidence the intoxilyzer accuracy inspection report and the results of his intoxilyzer test. During his trial, the State offered the accuracy inspection report as foundational evidence to support the admission of the appellant's actual breath test results. The State presented the accuracy inspection report to establish that the intoxilyzer machine used to test the appellant's blood alcohol level had been checked for accuracy in compliance with the requirements of the West Virginia Division of Health. The appellant objected to the admission of the report asserting that it was hearsay. However, the circuit court allowed the accuracy inspection report to be admitted into evidence without testimony from its author or any other person. Specifically, the circuit court concluded that since the document was authentic pursuant to Rule 902 of the West Virginia Rules of Evidence, it was also reliable, and therefore admissible. The appellant now argues that the circuit court erred in its finding. According to the appellant, even though a document is authentic, it still must conform to the other evidentiary rules prior to its admission. The State concedes that the circuit court erred by concluding that a finding of authenticity can be equated with a finding of admissibility against a hearsay objection, and acknowledges this Court's statement in State v. Jenkins, 195 W.Va. 620, 625, 466 S.E.2d 471, 476 (1995): A trial judge's finding of authenticity does not guarantee admissibility. The trial judge also must evaluate whether the evidence is admissible pursuant to the rules of evidence governing relevancy, hearsay, privileges, or any other applicable rules of evidence. The State maintains, however, that the accuracy inspection report was admissible as a public record pursuant to Rule 803(8)(B) of the West Virginia Rules of Evidence so that the appellant's conviction should not be reversed. According to Rule 803(8)(B) of the West Virginia Rules of Evidence: The following are not excluded by the hearsay rule, even though the declarant is available as a witness: (8) Public records and reports. Records, reports, statements, or data compilations, in any form, of public offices or agencies, setting forth ... (B) matters observed pursuant to duty imposed by law as to which matters there was a duty to report, excluding, however, in criminal cases matters observed by police officers and other law enforcement personnel[.] According to the State, the accuracy inspection report falls squarely within the confines of W.Va.R.Evid. 803(8) because 64 C.S.R. § 10-7.1(f) requires that [t]he designated instrument shall have its accuracy checked in accordance with subsection 7.2 of this rule. Each law enforcement agency shall maintain a record of such accuracy checks including the type of test employed and the date of such accuracy checks. Further, 64 C.S.R. § 10-7.3(c) requires that the individual testing the intoxilyzer machine must be a certified breath test operator. Therefore, concludes the State, the Code of State Rules requires the accuracy test to be performed, thus making it a matter observed pursuant to duty imposed by law as stated in Rule 803(8)(B), and a record of such accuracy checks must be maintained, thus making it a matter of which there is a duty to report, as stated in Rule 803(8)(B). The appellant responds that Rule 803(8)(B) specifically excludes reports of matters observed by police officers and other law enforcement personnel. Because in the instant case, the accuracy inspection test was performed by D.W. DeBord, a sergeant in the Parkersburg division of the West Virginia State Police, the appellant concludes that the report would not be admissible. We agree with the State that the accuracy inspection report was admissible under W.Va.R.Evid. 803(8)(B) because we find that the law enforcement exclusion in Rule 803(8)(B) is not applicable to the instant circumstances. The State directs our attention to a leading evidentiary treatise on the Federal Rules of Evidence which explains: In adding the exclusionary clauses, Congress was responding to one dominant concern: that law enforcement officers would create dossiers purporting to describe accurately the actions of criminal defendants and that these dossiers would be offered in lieu of live testimony. Such evidence was thought to be unreliable and was barred in criminal cases if offered against the defendant. .... Under the predominant view, laboratory reports and the like are admissible, because the Rule is designed to exclude a different type of report, i.e., police-generated reports that are prepared under adversarial circumstances, which are subject to manipulation by authorities bent on convicting a particular criminal defendant. 3 Stephen A. Saltzburg, et al., Federal Rules of Evidence Manual 1684 (7th ed.1998). In addition, we are persuaded by the reasoning of the courts in United States v. Wilmer, 799 F.2d 495 (9th Cir.1986); Steiner v. State, 706 So.2d 1308 (Ala.Crim.App.1997); and State v. Ruiz, 120 N.M. 534, 903 P.2d 845 (N.M.Ct. App.1995). In Wilmer, the defendant was convicted of driving while intoxicated and his license was suspended based on events occurring at an air force base. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that evidence of the calibration certificate of the maintenance officer who calibrated the breathalyzer machine was admissible under Rule 803(8). The court rejected the defendant's challenge to the report's admissibility based on the law enforcement exclusion in Rule 803(8)(B). Specifically, the court recognized that the exclusionary provisions of Rule 803(8)(B) were intended to apply to observations made by law enforcement officials at the scene of a crime or the apprehension of the accused and not `records of routine, nonadversarial matters' made in a nonadversarial setting. Wilmer, 799 F.2d at 500-01 (citation omitted). Likewise, in Steiner, the defendant challenged the introduction into evidence of the logbook indicating that the Intoxilyzer 5000 machine was properly calibrated on the basis that the logbook fell within the law enforcement exception because the machine was tested by a State Trooper. The Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama rejected this challenge. The court reasoned: Other jurisdictions have applied the law enforcement exception only to matters observed or investigated by police in adversarial, investigative circumstances where those involved may well have a motivation to misrepresent in order to secure a conviction. Charles Gamble, McElroy's Alabama Evidence, § 266.01(5) (5th ed.1996) (citations omitted). The inspection of the calibration of the I-5000 is an administrative function that is not performed pursuant to the investigation of any particular person. Therefore, we hold that a certified copy of the logbook relating to the I-5000 is admissible under the business records exception to the rule against hearsay when offered to show that the device was inspected to insure that the device had been properly calibrated. Steiner, 706 So.2d at 1312. Finally, in Ruiz, the Court of Appeals of New Mexico found that a calibration log and intoxilyzer printout were admissible under Rule 803(8), and not excluded by the law enforcement exclusion in that rule. The Court explained: Courts in other jurisdictions have considered the law enforcement limitation on the business or public records exceptions. These courts generally have ruled that language patterned on Federal Rule of Evidence 803(8) does not prohibit introduction of records of a routine, intra-police, or machine maintenance nature, such as intoxilyzer calibration logs. Ward, 474 N.E.2d at 302; see United States v. Wilkinson, 804 F.Supp. 263, 266-67 (D.Utah 1992); Huggins, 659 P.2d at 616. In affirming the admission of certificates indicating routine breathalyzer inspections by police personnel, the Oregon Court of Appeals outlined the parameters of the law enforcement limitations and the hearsay rule: We conclude that, in adopting [Federal Rule of Evidence] 803(8)(B), Congress did not intend to change the common law rule allowing admission of public records of purely ministerial observations. Rather, Congress intended to prevent prosecutors from attempting to prove their cases through police officers' reports of their observations during the investigation of crime.