Opinion ID: 1209502
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: relevancy of refusal evidence

Text: This case presents a question of first impression concerning the validity of Washington's implied consent law, RCW 46.20.308, and its counterpart, RCW 46.61.517 (enacted July 1, 1983), which purport to authorize the admission into evidence of a defendant's refusal to submit to a blood alcohol content test. RCW 46.20.308(1) provided that an arresting officer shall warn the driver that his refusal to take the test may be used against him in any subsequent criminal trial. The evidentiary counterpart, RCW 46.61.517 read as follows: The refusal of a person to submit to a test of the alcoholic content of his blood under RCW 46.20.308 is admissible into evidence at a subsequent criminal trial without any comment and with a jury instruction, where applicable, that there shall be no speculation as to the reason for the refusal and that no inference is to be drawn from the refusal. [1] This provision prohibits the State from arguing that guilt can be inferred from the defendant's refusal or that the defendant's refusal can give rise to an inference that he had conscious doubts as to whether or not the test would vindicate his sobriety. [T]here shall be no speculation as to the reason for the refusal and ... no inference is to be drawn from the refusal [to take the test]. This statutory scheme appears to be peculiar to Washington. In nearly all other jurisdictions, refusal evidence is either inadmissible or is admissible as probative of the defendant's guilt or innocence. See Annot., Admissibility in Criminal Case of Evidence That Accused Refused To Take Test of Intoxication, 26 A.L.R.4th 1112 (1983). The United States Supreme Court has held that it is constitutionally permissible to use refusal evidence to infer guilt under state implied consent laws. South Dakota v. Neville, 459 U.S. 553, 74 L.Ed.2d 748, 103 S.Ct. 916 (1983). Nonetheless, by RCW 46.61.517, the Washington Legislature has prohibited this application of refusal evidence. Washington's no speculation, no inference provision was part of amendments to the implied consent law made as an apparent reaction to State v. Parker, 16 Wn. App. 632, 558 P.2d 1361 (1976), review denied, 88 Wn.2d 1012 (1977). In Parker, the Court of Appeals interpreted the evidentiary provisions of a prior implied consent law which made no mention of whether the refusal to take a chemical test was admissible in a subsequent criminal trial. The court held that had the statute intended evidentiary use of the right of refusal, it is logical that the arresting officer would be required to inform him that his refusal could be used as evidence in a criminal proceeding as well as the consequential loss of the privilege to drive. Since the statute does not require such warning, we conclude that the legislation did not contemplate the additional consequence. Parker, at 635. The court continued at page 636: We have grave doubts of the probative value of refusal evidence where defendant is exercising a right granted by statute. Inasmuch as there is such a statutory right of refusal, we hold that the State may not use such evidence in a criminal proceeding as establishing an inference of guilt. Subsequent to the Parker decision, the Legislature enacted the 1983 amendments to provide for evidentiary use of the right of refusal. The amendments did not, however, follow the rule announced in Neville permitting an inference of guilt from refusal evidence. Rather, the Legislature provided that a refusal is admissible without any comment and with the no inference jury instruction. The next case to address the admissibility issue was Seattle v. Boulanger, 37 Wn. App. 357, 680 P.2d 67 (1984). Boulanger, like Parker, dealt with the statutory scheme which did not address the evidentiary consequences of refusal. The trial court ruled that the defendant's refusal was inadmissible, but allowed testimony that the defendant had been afforded an opportunity to submit to a Breathalyzer test. The Court of Appeals reversed, finding the evidence not relevant and unfairly prejudicial: The evidence is not relevant. The City has no affirmative duty to establish that the defendant was afforded an opportunity to prove his sobriety. Moreover, any arguable probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice to the defendant. ER 403. A defendant may have valid reasons for refusing a test, reasons which do not reflect consciousness of guilt; it is probable that the jury will ascribe undue weight to the refusal. (Citation omitted.) Boulanger, at 359. The Boulanger court further indicated that the record was inadequate to make a determination as to whether the error was harmless and whether a limiting instruction could have cured the error. Boulanger, at 360. The respondents argue that the analysis of Boulanger continues to apply to the amended statute. The respondents contend that, because the statute prohibits use of refusal evidence to infer guilt, such evidence is irrelevant to the State's case and thus inadmissible under Rules of Evidence 401, 402 and 403. ER 401 defines relevant evidence as evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. Relevant evidence is admissible, except as limited by constitutional requirements, statute, or court rule. Evidence which is not relevant is not admissible. ER 402. [1] The admission of refusal evidence for the sole purpose of explaining why no Breathalyzer test was given is not probative of the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of guilt. Such evidence neither proves nor disproves the accusation that the defendant was affected by alcohol. Where a defendant has refused a Breathalyzer, or one has not been offered, the State is foreclosed from establishing culpability by blood alcohol content. Rather, the State must prove that defendant was under the influence of intoxicants and must rely largely upon evidence of the driver's behavior, results of field sobriety tests, the driver's admissions and the officer's expert opinion as to the defendant's sobriety. The State contends that the probative value of refusal evidence, under Washington's implied consent law, lies in the fact that it allows the jury to consider the refusal as background information to show that all normal police procedures were followed. The State argues that, because the Breathalyzer is such an accepted component of a driving while under the influence trial, evidence of a refusal of that test is relevant to negate any contemplation on the part of the jury that the defendant was not afforded an opportunity to take the test and, thus, is unable to establish his innocence. Further, the State contends that a total absence of evidence on the Breathalyzer will lead the jury to speculate on police or prosecutorial impropriety. This contention was addressed in a different context in Kirkland v. O'Connor, 40 Wn. App. 521, 698 P.2d 1128 (1985). In O'Connor the defendant was not offered a Breathalyzer test. At trial the district court judge sua sponte instructed the jury that it was not to draw any conclusions or inferences whatsoever from the absence of a Breathalyzer test result, nor was it to speculate on the reasons for the absence of a test result. In response to objections, the court stated the instruction was based on its experience that juries had in some cases speculated why there was no evidence of a Breathalyzer test result. The Court of Appeals reversed the defendant's conviction, ruling that an apprehension of widespread public knowledge about Breathalyzers did not justify an instruction which prohibited inferences or speculation on the absence of Breathalyzer evidence. It would seem to follow that public awareness alone does not make evidence of failure to offer the test, or refusal to take the test relevant to the State's case in chief. Since the refusal evidence is only germane to the tangential point of public awareness, it should not be admitted in the first instance. The State's argument concerning normal procedures and public awareness also fails because the same provision which prohibits an inference of guilt also arguably prohibits the prosecutor from commenting on the refusal in order to make such an argument, and specifically prohibits the jury from drawing the inference that normal procedures were followed from the fact of refusal. If the jury must be told that, in effect, it can attach no probative value to the evidence of refusal and no argument can be made concerning the evidence, then clearly nothing exists to outweigh the obvious prejudice of the admission of such a refusal. ER 403 requires a balancing of any unfair prejudice of the refusal evidence against its probative value. After establishing the admissibility of such evidence, RCW 46.61.517 proceeds within the same sentence to destroy any probative value of such evidence by withdrawing the same from the jury's consideration and prohibiting any inference to be drawn therefrom. Apparently, only Michigan has a statutory implied consent scheme even remotely similar to Washington's in evidentiary use of refusals to submit to a Breathalyzer. In People v. Duke, 136 Mich. App. 798, 357 N.W.2d 775 (1984), the court had occasion to interpret the 1980 amendments to the Michigan implied consent laws. The amended statute as it relates to admissibility of refusals provides: (8) If a jury instruction regarding a defendant's refusal to submit to a chemical test under this section is requested by the prosecution or the defendant, the jury instruction shall be given as follows: `Evidence was admitted in this case which, if believed by the jury, could prove that the defendant had exercised his or her right to refuse a chemical test. You are instructed that such a refusal is within the statutory rights of the defendant and is not evidence of his guilt. You are not to consider such a refusal in determining the guilt or innocence of the defendant.' Duke, at 801-02. The court interpreted this provision to imply admissibility of evidence of refusal and yet remove the refusal from consideration as to guilt or innocence. Duke, at 802. The court acknowledged that Neville holds that refusal evidence can be admitted as probative of guilt, but also noted that Michigan does not permit its admission for the purpose of guilt or innocence. The court went on to hold: Logically then, evidence of the refusal may not be admitted to prove the elements of the crime. The most obvious examples of circumstances where such evidence could be admitted are: a. Where the defendant denies being given an opportunity to take a Breathalyzer test, b. Where the defendant claims that he took the test and the results were exculpatory, c. Where the defendant challenges the competency of any of the testing done by the officer, or d. Where the defendant challenges the credibility of the officer. Evidence of refusal to take the test is proper in situations such as the above where the defendant opens the controversy by a showing of lack of credibility or competence of the police officer and it is necessary to rebut defendant's evidence. We then decide that, until such time as the Legislature or Supreme Court clarifies the purpose of MCL 257.625a(8); MSA 9.2325(1)(8), evidence of refusal to take the tests provided by statute should not be admitted in the case in chief as it is not evidence of guilt or innocence or an essential element of the prosecutor's case. If evidence of refusal comes into the case by inadvertence or is required to rebut the evidence of the defendant and is admitted, then the instruction set forth in the act is mandated if requested by either party. Under the rule just set forth the disparity between implied admission of evidence of refusal and the instruction which limits admissibility only to relevant matters not bearing on guilt or innocence is harmonized. We believe that to be the intent of the Legislature. (Italics ours.) Duke, at 803-04. The interpretation given the Michigan statute by the court in Duke may also be applied to the Washington provision. The statute prohibits the jury from drawing inferences from refusals. The State concedes that this prohibition prevents the use of refusal evidence as an inference of guilt or innocence. Not being probative of the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of guilt, refusal evidence is not properly a part of the State's case in chief. Admissibility of a refusal to submit to a Breathalyzer is proper in situations where the defendant opens the controversy by contending there was a lack of credibility or competence on the part of the police (failure to adhere to normal procedures). The refusal is relevant under circumstances where it can qualify or disprove contentions raised by the defendant. See State v. Demos, 94 Wn.2d 733, 619 P.2d 968 (1980). This interpretation of RCW 46.61.517 requires that the language of the provision is admissible be read as permissive language and as not mandating admissibility in all cases. This interpretation also avoids any conflict with ER 401 and 403 which would require invalidation of the statute. See State v. Ryan, 103 Wn.2d 165, 691 P.2d 197 (1984).