Opinion ID: 901115
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admission of Blood Test Result

Text: [¶ 16.] The state may require an individual to submit to a test of bodily fluids as long as it acts within constitutional limitations. In determining whether the taking of a blood sample violated the Fourth Amendment, we look first to the United States Supreme Court's seminal decision in Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 16 L.Ed.2d 908 (1966). State v. Hanson, 1999 SD 9, ¶ 28, 588 N.W.2d 885, 891. In Schmerber, the Court narrowly limited its holding to the facts of the case. 384 U.S. at 772, 86 S.Ct. at 1836, 16 L.Ed.2d at 920. Under the Schmerber standard, we have held that law enforcement may seize a blood sample only if it is taken (1) incident to a lawful arrest; (2) by a reliable and accepted method for obtaining the sample; (3) in a reasonable, medically approved manner; and (4) where there is probable cause to believe the evidence sought exists. Hanson, 1999 SD 9, ¶ 28, 588 N.W.2d at 891. [¶ 17.] Here, there is no dispute about the second and third factors. The questions are whether the Fourth Amendment was violated when the draw was taken without an arrest and whether the officer had probable cause to seize the blood evidence. We begin by examining whether the officer had probable cause. [¶ 18.] The trial court concluded that the officer had probable cause, relying on the following circumstances: emergency room, late night, on a weekend, three hours ... post accident, one almost incoherent suspect who smells strongly of alcohol, one suspect dead as a result of a two vehicle, high speed fatality accident on a public highway resulting from an unsuccessful passing maneuver, suspect one alive, taken directly from the scene to the ER via ambulance, any alcohol in suspect one's blood is dissipating, tick, tick, tick[.] [¶ 19.] The defendant argues that probable cause did not exist because the trooper himself did not believe he had probable cause and the defendant was not placed under arrest at the time. He further contends that no one had seen him driving and the information available to Fox at the time (per his initial report) was that Finley owned the vehicle and that she had been the driver. [¶ 20.] Probable cause is a question of law; the trial court must measure it against an objective standard. State v. Lamont, 2001 SD 92, ¶ 21, 631 N.W.2d 603, 610 (citations omitted). Fox's subjective beliefs or ideas about who was driving or whether he had probable cause are individual factors to be considered in the totality of circumstances. The conditions justifying an officer's actions need not be the circumstances forming the officer's state of mind at the time the action is taken. Scott v. United States, 436 U.S. 128, 138, 98 S.Ct. 1717, 1723, 56 L.Ed.2d 168, 178 (1978). [A]s long as the circumstances, viewed objectively, justify [the] action, probable cause may be found. Id. Here, Engesser was found outside the driver's side door, Finley was inside the vehicle, and the passenger door could not be opened. In addition, Engesser's breath smelled of an alcoholic beverage. Engesser has shown no error in the trial court's determination that the objective circumstances amounted to probable cause to believe that a crime may have been committed and that the blood test would uncover relevant evidence of the crime. [¶ 21.] The next question is whether the blood draw was incident to arrest or, more to the point, whether a formal arrest is necessary in all circumstances. As a threshold matter, we have never held that a decision to make an arrest must come before a blood sample is taken. In fact, we have specifically found that there is no such requirement. Nguyen, 1997 SD 47 at ¶ 20, 563 N.W.2d at 125; see also Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 110-11, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 2564-65, 65 L.Ed.2d 633, 645-46 (1980). Nonetheless, a blood draw done seven months before an arrest is not incident to that arrest. [¶ 22.] Schmerber was undeniably couched in terms of a search incident to arrest. The Court stated that its holding was based solely on the specific facts presented in the case, one of which was that the defendant was under arrest at the time of the search. Schmerber, 384 U.S. at 772, 86 S.Ct. at 1836, 16 L.Ed.2d at 920. However, the holding in Schmerber did not turn solely on the existence of a valid prior arrest. Rather, the Court relied heavily on the evanescent nature of blood alcohol and the danger that important evidence would be forever lost, creating exigent circumstances under which the blood draw was appropriate. 384 U.S. at 770-771, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 1835-1836, 16 L.Ed.2d at 919-920. This reading of Schmerber is reinforced by the Court's subsequent decision in Winston v. Lee, which noted that the blood test in Schmerber fell within the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement. 470 U.S. 753, 759, 105 S.Ct. 1611, 1616, 84 L.Ed.2d 662, 668 (1985). But we are not limited to Schmerber's holding. Later Supreme Court decisions make it clear that formal arrest is not always required. [¶ 23.] Seven years after the Court decided Schmerber, it handed down Cupp v. Murphy, 412 U.S. 291, 93 S.Ct. 2000, 36 L.Ed.2d 900 (1973). In Cupp, a husband was brought to the station house for questioning after his wife was strangled. During questioning, the officers noted a dark stain on the husband's fingernails. Knowing that evidence of strangulation can often be found under the perpetrator's fingernails, the officers took scrapings from the husband's fingernails over his protest, without arrest and without a warrant. Id. at 292, 93 S.Ct. at 2002, 36 L.Ed.2d at 903-04. The Court found no violation of the Fourth Amendment and held that a warrantless body search may be conducted despite failure to formally arrest the suspect, when (1) the character of the search is highly unintrusive; (2) the evidence sought will be forever lost absent the search; and (3) sufficient probable cause exists to support a formal arrest. Id. at 296, 93 S.Ct. at 2004, 36 L.Ed.2d at 906. We find Cupp to be controlling. [¶ 24.] Although the search in Cupp was arguably less intrusive than the taking of a blood sample, blood tests are [] commonplace in these days of periodic physical examination and experience [] teaches that the quantity of blood extracted is minimal, and that for most people the procedure involves virtually no risk, trauma, or pain. Schmerber, 384 U.S. at 771, 86 S.Ct. at 1836, 16 L.Ed.2d at 920. As in Schmerber, the defendant here is not one of the few who on grounds of fear, concern for health, or religious scruple might prefer some other means of testing[.] Id. Engesser was already in the hospital being treated for serious injuries and the record indicates that other blood tests were being done. This blood seizure here meets the first prong of Cupp. [¶ 25.] We have consistently acknowledged the highly evanescent nature of blood alcohol. It is undeniable that the simple passage of time obliterates this valuable evidence. Lacking a blood draw within a relatively short time, law enforcement officers cannot confirm the driver's level of impairment at the time he or she was driving. Three hours had already elapsed since the accident when Engesser's blood was drawn. The more time that went by the less likely the evidence could be obtained at all. Evidence of Engesser's intoxication would have been forever lost without the blood draw. [¶ 26.] Finally, we come again to the issue of probable cause. As noted above, it is not the subjective beliefs of the officer but rather the objective circumstances from which we determine the existence of probable cause. At the time the blood was drawn, the following facts existed: (1) Engesser was found lying approximately 10 feet from the driver's side door of the Corvette. (2) Emergency crews used the Jaws of Life to extricate Finley from the passenger side of the vehicle. (3) Finley was deceased. (4) The nurse who attended Engesser at the scene noticed an odor of alcoholic beverage coming from him. (5) Fox noted a strong odor of alcohol beverage coming from Engesser. (6) The car had been traveling at an extremely high rate of speed. Considering these facts, we conclude that there was probable cause to arrest Engesser. The determinative question in this case is not whether there was an actual arrest, but rather whether the trooper had probable cause to arrest the defendant. He did and therefore this search was reasonable. [3] [¶ 27.] In this case, to insist on a requirement of a formal arrest makes little sense. Throughout his brief, Engesser strenuously asserts that he was incoherent at the time Fox ordered the blood draw. Had the trooper gone through with the formalities of arrest, Engesser may not have even known he was under arrest. In addition, requiring Fox to perform the ritual of formal arrest at a time when the suspect was still incoherent would have done nothing to increase Engesser's protection under the Fourth Amendment. [¶ 28.] When there are exigent circumstances such as those in this case, and where the police officer has both probable cause on which to believe the test will produce evidence of an offense and probable cause to arrest the subject, it does not violate the Constitution if blood is drawn without a prior or immediate subsequent arrest. [4] [¶ 29.] In summary, for an involuntary, warrantless blood draw to be constitutional, either the search must be incident to arrest or the officer must have: (1) probable cause to arrest; (2) probable cause to believe that the evidence sought will be obtained; and (3) exigent circumstances justifying the intrusion. In any case, the remaining requirements of Schmerber that the test be taken by a reliable and acceptable method and in a reasonable, medically approved manner must be strictly observed.