Opinion ID: 1232231
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: STATE v. STRAKA

Text: In the first case before us defendant Donald Straka was arrested for driving while intoxicated and then taken to the Monroe Police Department where he underwent physical sobriety tests. Straka then agreed to submit to breath alcohol analysis performed on a DataMaster machine. The test results showed readings of .18 percent and .17 percent breath alcohol content. Straka moved to suppress the breath testing results, arguing, among other things, [1] that the breath test results should have been suppressed on the grounds that the state toxicologist failed to properly promulgate written procedures and protocols for evaluation and certification of the DataMaster machines, and failed to properly promulgate written procedures for the formulation, testing and use of the simulator solution used in the machines, contrary to applicable court rules and the Washington Administrative Code (Code). A suppression hearing was held in Evergreen District Court on January 31, 1990. The court was presented with testimony of Dr. Vidmantas Raisys, who was then the state toxicologist, and testimony of employees of the state toxicology lab and the Washington State Patrol, including Sergeant Rod Gullberg of the Washington State Patrol, who is attached to the breath testing section of the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab and directs the DataMaster testing program. Essentially this is a representative case. The parties submitted the relevant issues to the trial court on a stipulated record from another case. The aim of the parties has been to present a complete record for purposes of deciding the issues, which have been the subject of considerable litigation. Breath alcohol analysis is currently tested using BAC Verifier DataMaster II machines. According to the testimony in the stipulated record, when the State Patrol receives a DataMaster machine from the manufacturer, a written protocol approved by the state toxicologist must be followed before a DataMaster is put into the field. This evaluation process, developed largely by the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, involves testing all the major functions of the DataMaster machines, including, among numerous tests, tests of the acetone detector, the radio-frequency interference detector, and the mouth alcohol detector. Results of the evaluation are recorded on a 4-page form. The evaluation procedure has been approved by the state toxicologist. After evaluation of the machines, and before they are placed in the field, the DataMaster machines undergo a certification procedure. The state toxicologist has approved the certification procedure, which is also in written form, although it was not prior to 1987. The first certification procedure was developed by the breath testing section of the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, and was approved by the state toxicologist. A second and third version do not contain any substantive changes in the procedure. The certification procedure involves tests of the DataMaster conducted using solutions of water and alcohol at known values  if the known strengths of the solutions are reproduced within acceptable limits, the machine is properly functioning. DataMaster machines in the field are recertified after repair or replacement of certain parts of the machines. In addition to the evaluation and certification procedures, the state toxicologist has approved three successive versions of a written protocol for preparing the simulator solution used in breath testing. The DataMaster breath alcohol analysis includes running a simulator test between two breath measurements, in order to determine if the machine is in proper working order and correctly analyzing a subject's breath samples. In simple terms, the subject blows into a mouthpiece on the machine, then vapor from the simulator solution is tested, then the subject blows a second time. [2] The machine measures the alcohol content of these three samples. Accuracy and reliability are thus tested in at least two ways  the correlation between the two breath analyses, and the calibration check which the simulator test provides. The simulator solution is prepared and tested by employees at the state toxicology laboratory. The solution is made by mixing ethyl alcohol and water in known concentration. The sole procedure used at the lab to check the ethanol concentration of the simulator solution is gas chromatography. While the first two written protocols simply directed that the ethanol concentration be determined after mixing, the third directs that this procedure be accomplished through gas chromatography. After mixing and testing, the solution is placed into individual jars, sealed, and sent to the field for use in the DataMaster machines. The protocols for evaluation and certification of the machines, and preparation and testing of the simulator solution were not promulgated through formal rulemaking under the administrative procedure act, and they are not set out in the Washington Administrative Code. Additional testimony is recounted in the analysis below. The trial court denied Straka's motion to suppress the breath test results, adhering to its prior decision (in the case in which the stipulated record was made) where it concluded that the state toxicologist has met the statutory requirement that he approve methods for testing breath for alcohol content. The court also concluded that adherence to the protocols for evaluation and certification of the DataMaster machines, and adherence to the protocol for preparing and testing the simulator solution, when coupled with strict compliance with applicable WAC's, produces scientifically reliable results in the field. Straka was convicted, and appealed. The RALJ appeal was certified by a judge of the Snohomish County Superior Court to this court, which accepted direct review. In this case we must decide whether RCW 46.61.506(3) requires the state toxicologist to promulgate through formal administrative rulemaking methods for evaluating and certifying DataMaster machines, and for preparing and testing the simulator solution used in breath testing; and whether the written protocols approved by the state toxicologist are rules within the meaning of the administrative procedure act and therefore must be published in the Washington Administrative Code. RCW 46.61.506(3) provides: Analysis of the person's blood or breath to be considered valid under the provisions of this section or RCW 46.61.502 or 46.61.504 shall have been performed according to methods approved by the state toxicologist and by an individual possessing a valid permit issued by the state toxicologist for this purpose. The state toxicologist is directed to approve satisfactory techniques or methods, to supervise the examination of individuals to ascertain their qualifications and competence to conduct such analyses, and to issue permits which shall be subject to termination or revocation at the discretion of the state toxicologist. The state toxicologist has approved the DataMaster as a device for the measurement of a person's breath for alcohol concentration. WAC 448-12-210. [3] In State v. Ford, 110 Wn.2d 827, 755 P.2d 806 (1988), this court held that the state toxicologist's approval of the DataMaster was not arbitrary or capricious, and therefore was valid. Defendant maintains that the approval upheld in Ford relates only to the technique for measuring the breath, i.e., the DataMaster, but that the methods by which the technique is to be utilized must be provided through formal rulemaking pursuant to the administrative procedure act and must be set out in the Washington Administrative Code. Defendant reasons that evaluation and certification procedures and procedures for mixing and testing the simulator solution are methods which must be published in the Code. Defendant contends that lack of written standards promulgated through formal rulemaking and set out in the Code makes it impossible to determine what procedures must be followed to ensure accuracy and integrity of breath alcohol analysis, and to determine whether those procedures have been followed. We do not agree that the statute mandates formal rulemaking as defendant contends. The statute does require the state toxicologist's approval of satisfactory techniques or methods of breath analysis, but does not direct that approval of procedures for evaluation and certification of the machines and preparation and testing of the simulator solution occur through formal administrative rulemaking. Moreover, the approved procedures do not constitute rules within the meaning of the Washington administrative procedure act, and therefore they need not be published in the Code. RCW 34.05.210 (former RCW 34.04.050) requires that rules be published in the Washington Administrative Code. RCW 34.05.010(15) (in relevant part the same as former RCW 34.04.010(2)) defines rule: Rule means any agency order, directive, or regulation of general applicability (a) the violation of which subjects a person to a penalty or administrative sanction; (b) which establishes, alters, or revokes any procedure, practice, or requirement relating to agency hearings; (c) which establishes, alters, or revokes any qualification or requirement relating to the enjoyment of benefits or privileges conferred by law; (d) which establishes, alters, or revokes any qualifications or standards for the issuance, suspension, or revocation of license to pursue any commercial activity, trade, or profession; or (e) which establishes, alters, or revokes any mandatory standards for any product or material which must be met before distribution or sale.... Two of the categories of rules in RCW 34.05.010(15) are argued by defendant, (c) and (e). Clearly (a), (b), and (d) are not implicated. [1] Initially defendant argues that rule be broadly defined in light of the expression of legislative intent that the Act be interpreted consistently with the federal administrative procedure act and decisions in other states, that the Washington Act be interpreted to provide public and legislative access to agency decisionmaking, and that the Act be construed consistently with prior Washington court decisions. RCW 34.05.001 (Laws of 1988, ch. 288, § 18 effective July 1, 1989). These principles do not dictate, however, that the definition of rule set out in RCW 34.05.010(15) be ignored in favor of some other definition, such as that set out in the federal act (5 U.S.C. § 551(4)) (federal definition of rule differing markedly from state definition). [2] Also, defendant's reliance on the reference to directive found in our state's definition of rule as meaning anything directive in nature fails to consider the fact that one of the five categories in the definition must be involved, regardless of whether a directive is at issue. Defendant explains that the argument relating to subsection (c) of the definition of rule found in Washington's Act is that a person's privilege to drive in this state is conditioned upon consenting to a breath or blood test upon request by a law enforcement officer, RCW 46.20.308(1), and this consent is in turn conditioned upon the state's compliance with RCW 46.61.506(3). Therefore, the argument goes, suspension of a driver's license (the privilege to drive) relates back to the operation of the breath test machine, i.e., the methods for testing are thus related to a privilege conferred by law as contemplated by RCW 34.05.010(15)(c). [3] We do not agree with this reasoning. The methods by which the breath testing is accomplished do not establish, alter, or revoke the requirement that a person consents to a breath test by exercising the privilege to drive. [4] As to RCW 34.05.010(15)(e), defendant argues that the simulator solution must meet a mandatory standard established by the recipe protocol before the solution is distributed to the police throughout the state, and therefore that protocol establishes a mandatory standard for a product or material which must be met before distribution, as contemplated by subsection (e). Again, we do not agree with this reasoning. As the State notes, if defendant's argument were accepted, an agency which adopted a certain letterhead for agency stationery which was sent out to branch offices would have to publish the standards for the stationery in the Code. This is clearly not within the intended scope of the subsection. [4] The standards in the protocol must be met to comply with the state toxicologist's approved methods for breath testing, but they are not mandatory standards in the sense of subsection (e). Subsection (e) is concerned with ensuring that certain action is taken before distribution of a product or material. In marked contrast, the simulator protocol relates to accuracy of breath testing and admissibility of test results in a DWI prosecution, i.e., evidentiary concerns. [5] We conclude that the protocols are not rules which must be published in the Washington Administrative Code. [6] We also agree with the trial court that adherence to the protocols for evaluation and certification and the protocol for preparing and testing the simulator solution, when coupled with compliance with applicable WAC's, produces scientifically reliable results. In State v. Ford, 110 Wn.2d 827, 833, 755 P.2d 806 (1988), we said that [t]he ultimate concern of the judiciary is that the methods approved result in an accurate test, competently administered, so that a defendant is assured that the test results do in fact reflect a reliable and accurate measure of his or her breath content. When the protocols at issue here and existing Code provisions are followed, there is sufficient assurance of accuracy and reliability of the test results to allow for general admissibility of test results. These results are still subject to challenge in any particular case as explained later in this opinion. The state toxicologist has directed that a simulator be attached to each DataMaster, providing an external standard which tests to ensure that the DataMasters operate correctly and are calibrated correctly. WAC 448-12-210. The simulator test must be run in each case between two breath measurements. WAC 448-12-210. In WAC 448-12-220 the breath test is defined. It requires that the subject blow twice into the instrument, with the two breath samples constituting one test. An accurate test is presumed if the results of each measurement are within plus or minus 10 percent of the average of the two measurements. WAC 448-12-230 sets out the procedure approved by the state toxicologist for performing the breath test. The subject must have had nothing to eat or drink for at least 15 minutes before the test, and must not have any foreign substances (other than dental work) in the mouth at the beginning of the 15-minute period. The operator is then to follow the instructions displayed on the DataMaster. WAC 448-12-230 further provides that [t]he temperature of the solution in the simulator must be 34 Centigrade, plus or minus .2 Centigrade, prior to the time the test is given. The reading from the simulator test must be between .090 and .110 inclusive. Defendant argues that this description does not satisfy the statement in WAC 448-12-210 that the simulator to be attached to each DataMaster will provide a known external standard as defined in WAC 448-12-230. [7] The phrase as defined in means whatever definition is actually set out in WAC 448-12-230. The WAC defines the external standard in terms of the reading it is to produce on the DataMaster. Because the recipe for the simulator solution is set out in a protocol approved by the state toxicologist, a manner of approval wholly consistent with the statutory directive in RCW 46.61.506(3), the requirement that the reading from the simulator test be between .090 and .110 inclusive does in fact define the known external standard which must be satisfied to assure accuracy of the DataMaster when the simulator solution is prepared as approved by the state toxicologist. Therefore, contrary to defendant's contention, there is no necessary definition lacking from the Code which is declared to be in the Code. Other WAC's detail qualification, training and review of instructors and operators. See WAC 448-12-240 through XXX-XX-XXX. Correlating procedures under these WAC's and the approved protocols, the testimony in the record establishes that accuracy and reliability in general are assured if both the WAC's and the protocols are followed. The state toxicologist testified that if two breath measurements are taken with the simulator solution run between them, as required, the results should be good. [5] Sergeant Gullberg emphasized the importance of the breath testing procedure: I think that accuracy and proper working order of the instrument is best evaluated at the time of the test in question. Not at some prior date. And I think that the breath test protocol that we have that the instrument goes through, and it conducts testing on a particular individual, is adequate to insure accuracy and precision and proper working order.... Blank tests, duplicate breath tests, external standard tests, internal standard tests, 15 minute observation. That gives me confidence that at that time, that's an accurate result of their breath alcohol concentration. Verbatim Report of Proceedings, at 105. The simulator test is of particular significance in certification of the DataMaster machine, and in the machine's self-testing of calibration which it goes through each time a breath alcohol analysis is performed in accordance with procedures in the WAC's. [T]he simulator is a device that contains a glass jar and the top portion has a thermometer, a motor and heating elements and ports. The purpose of it is to simulate a breath alcohol sample. And it contains a solution of alcohol and water that has been prepared. The solution is heated to a certain temperature and thermostatically regulated to stay at that certain temperature. And then it can produce a known vapor alcohol concentration and it can be used as a calibrating device and as a testing device when you are testing a breath test, any type of breath test instrument. Simulators are typically the standard for testing the calibration. The solutions are received from the state toxicology laboratory, and are used for certification purposes, they prepare and test [the] solutions then provide [them] to us [the State Patrol]. Verbatim Report of Proceedings, at 89. Obviously, the simulator solution is key to simulator testing. As noted, the three successive protocols identified in the record have all been approved by the state toxicologist. A scientist working at the state toxicology lab, Matthew Friel, testified that mixing the simulator solution was the easiest part of his job, requiring the educational level of a high school chemistry student. Friel testified that the lack of more detailed instructions as to the manner of mixing the water and ethanol, and the type of water used in the lab in Seattle (distilled or tap) did not result in any problems so far as mixing a proper solution is concerned. He testified that the sole procedure used at the lab to check the ethanol concentration of the simulator solution is gas chromatography, which is a very standard technique that has been used in many laboratories throughout the country. Verbatim Report of Proceedings, at 15. While the first two written protocols simply directed that the ethanol concentration be determined after mixing, the third directs that this procedure be accomplished through gas chromatography. Exhibits 20, 21, 22. The record does not contain any evidence that the methods approved by the state toxicologist for preparing the simulator solution, if followed by those working at the toxicology lab, will yield inaccurate testing results. Friel, after working at the lab for 1 1/2 years, testified that the analysis of the simulator solution was the most rigidly controlled procedure that he had worked with in 20 years. Verbatim Report of Proceedings, at 15. Dr. Raisys testified that there were certain practices, such as using clean jars, that he expected his employees, the forensic toxicologists, to do because they are trained and experienced, which are not in and of themselves included in the protocols. The record tends to show that the state toxicologist has sometimes approved methods after their implementation by the State Patrol and has sometimes lacked detailed knowledge of each step in each of the evaluation and certification procedures. While the former state toxicologist (who has since resigned) may have attempted to initially delegate authority to others and may have relied upon the scientific expertise of those in the State Patrol, this record establishes that the methods required to be approved by the state toxicologist have in fact been approved by the state toxicologist. RCW 46.61.506(3) requires that the state toxicologist approve the methods of breath analysis, but it does not require that he design the procedures. The record also supports the conclusion that breath testing is not less reliable because the procedures are not set out in the Code. In this regard, we disagree with defendant's claim that it is impossible to tell what procedures must be followed and whether there has been compliance with those procedures if they are not set out in the Code. While detailed WAC's might provide a standard for comparing procedures actually employed with those required, ability to ascertain compliance or noncompliance does not require that they be there. As evidenced by detailed defense questioning contained in this record about the certification and evaluation procedures used with regard to specific DataMaster machines, defendant has been able to obtain the protocols and records necessary to ascertain compliance. [6] [8] Defendant is not denied due process as a result of the manner in which the breath testing methods have been approved. This follows from this court's long-standing requirement that when relying on results of machine tests for breath alcohol, the State must establish that the machine was in proper working order, that if chemicals were used in testing they were correct and correctly used, that the operator was qualified and performed the test correctly, and the results are accurate. This foundational requirement was first set out in State v. Baker, 56 Wn.2d 846, 355 P.2d 806 (1960). See State v. Brayman, 110 Wn.2d 183, 191-92, 751 P.2d 294 (1988) (reaffirming foundational requirement and describing WAC's where these requirements have been set forth); State v. Franco, 96 Wn.2d 816, 828, 639 P.2d 1320 (1982). Breath test evidence alone is not conclusive evidence of the per se offense. Brayman, at 191. The defendant believes that unless the approved methods for evaluation, certification, and preparation of the simulator solution are published in the Code the State cannot possibly meet this burden. We do not agree. The State may meet its burden regardless of whether the approved methods are set out in the Code. The evidentiary burden is the same, regardless. If the State satisfies its initial burden, the test results are admissible. A defendant still has the opportunity to attack the test results. Defendant may introduce evidence refuting the accuracy and reliability of the test reading. Brayman, at 192; Franco, at 828. As noted above, the procedures for evaluating and certifying the DataMasters approved by the state toxicologist are known to (or discoverable by) the defense, as is apparent from the record in this case. The same is true of the protocol setting out the procedures for mixing the simulator solution. If defendant presents refuting evidence, resolution of the issue of the reliability and accuracy of the test results is for the trier of fact. Cf. Bremerton v. Osborne, 66 Wn.2d 281, 282, 401 P.2d 973 (1965) (challenges to qualifications of operator of Breathalyzer and the sufficiency of the checking and testing procedures go to the weight rather than the admissibility of the evidence). [9] Finally, we address defendant's reliance on State v. Watson, 51 Wn. App. 947, 756 P.2d 177 (1988). There, the Court of Appeals held that breath test results were not admissible due to noncompliance with WAC 448-12-015, requiring checking and calibrating Breathalyzer machines at least once every 3 months. Breathalyzer machines were used to test breath for many years before DataMaster machines were approved for this purpose. The court's conclusion was rooted in State v. Peterson, 100 Wn.2d 788, 791, 674 P.2d 1251 (1984), where this court held that the Legislature, in enacting a statute defining the DWI crime in terms of a Breathalyzer reading, created a presumption that Breathalyzer machines would function properly for 3 months if the maintenance requirements in the WAC were followed. The court in Watson also relied upon State v. Ryan, 43 Wn. App. 488, 490, 717 P.2d 1390 (1986), where the court held in reliance on Peterson that for Baker's foundational requirement to be satisfied the directives of the WAC had to be followed. In Watson, the question was not whether the maintenance procedure had to be set out in the Code, but instead was whether the State could meet the Baker requirement absent compliance with the existing WAC, which the Court of Appeals reasoned was the only way to meet the foundational requirement. Watson is thus clearly distinguishable. For the reasons set out above, the trial court's ruling denying Straka's motion to suppress results of the breath test is affirmed.