Opinion ID: 2762448
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Applicability of Section 2524(5)

Text: [¶8] “We review a trial court’s [action on] a motion in limine for an abuse of discretion and its legal conclusions de novo.” State v. Dube, 2014 ME 43, ¶ 8, 87 A.3d 1219. Statutory interpretation is a matter of law in which “our primary purpose is to give effect to the intent of the Legislature.” State v. Mourino, 2014 ME 131, ¶ 8, --- A.3d. --- (quotation marks omitted). “We seek to discern from the plain language of the statute the real purpose of the legislation . . . . If the statutory language is clear and unambiguous, we construe the statute in accordance with its plain meaning in the context of the whole statutory scheme.” Id. (quotation marks omitted). [¶9] Pursuant to section 2524(5), “[a]pproved breath-alcohol testing apparatus must have a stamp of approval affixed by the Department of Health and Human Services after periodic testing.” Citing cases in which we refused to admit into evidence the results of uncertified “ALERT” tests offered by the State,4 see, e.g., State v. Ifill, 560 A.2d 1075 (Me. 1989), the State maintains that the workplace breath-alcohol test is inadmissible because it lacks the Department 4 “[T]he ALERT test is an orange box that a person blows into and that registers ‘pass’ or ‘fail.’ Although the test does not register a precise number, a ‘fail’ reading indicates a blood alcohol content above .10%.” State v. Ifill, 560 A.2d 1075, 1075 (Me. 1989). 6 approval required by section 2524(5). Those decisions, however, are inapposite because they relate to the admissibility of breath tests administered by the State and (1) offered by the State to attempt to prove an element of the crime of operating under the influence, see, e.g., Ifill, 560 A.2d at 1077 (stating that the results of a state-administered portable ALERT test are inadmissible), or (2) offered by a defendant attempting to rebut the State’s evidence, see State v. McConvey, 459 A.2d 562, 569 (Me. 1983) (“Blood-alcohol test results may be admissible as rebuttal evidence provided the results are reliable.”). [¶10] We agree with Adams that the accuracy of the State’s evidence regarding the administration and the result of an intoxilyzer test may be challenged by evidence, including evidence of another demonstrably reliable blood or breath test result, that is not derived from a machine with a certificate as required by 29-A M.R.S. § 2524(5). A defendant is, thus, able to challenge the reliability of test results offered by the State by any appropriate means that is otherwise admissible in evidence—and the State may, of course, oppose its admission through evidence showing that the defendant’s evidence is unreliable. [¶11] We reach this conclusion after examining the overall statutory scheme. Section 2524(5) requires that when a defendant is tested, the police must use “breath-alcohol testing apparatus [with] a stamp of approval affixed by the Department.” As Adams points out, section 2524(5) is part of the Motor Vehicle 7 Code’s “Implied Consent” provisions that require a motorist to submit to blood-alcohol testing when requested by a police officer, and do not apply to independently administered breath tests offered by a defendant as rebuttal evidence. See Mourino, 2014 ME 131, ¶ 8, --- A.3d. --- (noting that we must “construe the statute . . . in the context of the whole statutory scheme” (quotation marks omitted)). The plain language of section 2524 is clear that it does not extend to tests other than those performed by the State pursuant to a defendant’s “implied consent” to submit to an officer’s request when “there is probable cause to believe a person has operated a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants . . . .” 29-A M.R.S. § 2521(1) (2013).