Opinion ID: 2615850
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Use of used ampoules to impeach the testing officer's credibility.

Text: The defendants also contend the used ampoules have evidentiary value independent of the retesting procedures in that they can be examined for evidence that the original test was improperly administered. Specifically they claim food particles in the ampoule would show the testing officer did not inspect the defendants' mouths for food before administering the test, as required by this court's decision in State v. Baker, supra . Furthermore, the size of the ampoule could be checked once again to corroborate or refute the testing officer's testimony that the ampoule conformed to certain size specifications. The used ampoules are thus claimed to be material evidence useful to the defense in impeaching the credibility of the officer who administered the original Breathalyzer test. The test result, as noted above, may be introduced only to create a presumption, which is rebuttable, that a defendant was intoxicated at the time he was arrested. See RCW 46.61.506. In State v. Wright this court held the State is required to preserve all potentially material and favorable evidence as protection afforded to an accused by due process. Used Breathalyzer test ampoules, defendants claim, meet the test of potential materiality and favorableness, and must therefore be preserved under the rationale of that case. We cannot agree that used ampoules are material in a sense that rises to constitutional significance, and therefore hold that due process does not require that they be preserved. The United States Supreme Court set out a test for the materiality of nondisclosed evidence in United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 49 L.Ed.2d 342, 96 S.Ct. 2392 (1976). The court held constitutional error is committed by nondisclosure only if the evidence creates a reasonable doubt which did not otherwise exist. United States v. Agurs, supra at 112. This definition of constitutionally material evidence is a refinement of the court's earlier holding that suppression of material evidence which is favorable to the accused violates due process. Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 10 L.Ed.2d 215, 83 S.Ct. 1194 (1963). We do not believe that the proposed use of the ampoules in this case  to impeach the credibility of the officer who administered the original test  is a means of raising a reasonable doubt which did not otherwise exist within the meaning of the rule set out above. The testing officer must attest to the proper completion of each of the numerous steps in administering the test. He or she must attest to having checked the subject's mouth for food and having checked the ampoule for proper size specifications, in addition to numerous other procedures required by WAC 448-12-020 and judicial rule. See, e.g., State v. Baker, supra . The officer may testify and be cross-examined regarding the care taken at each step in the procedure. In sum, the defendant has adequate opportunity at trial to impeach the credibility of the officer without access to the used ampoule. Furthermore, the chain of logic between the credibility of the officer with regard to the proper performance of the test (the results of which can, at most, create a rebuttable presumption), and the innocence or guilt of the defendant is a long one. The crucial issue, the defendant's guilt or innocence of the charge of driving while intoxicated, is subject to proof of a much more direct nature. We conclude that the used Breathalyzer test ampoules are not material evidence in a constitutional sense and nondisclosure of the ampoules caused by routine destruction and disposal is not constitutional error. [3] This result was reached by a federal district court in Edwards v. Oklahoma, 429 F. Supp. 668 (W.D. Okla. 1976). The court there rejected the due process argument of the leading case requiring retention of used ampoules, People v. Hitch, supra . The federal court argued the constitutional rule requiring retention of evidence is focused on actual harm caused to a defendant by nondisclosure of material evidence. Materiality within the scope of constitutional protection is determined not by speculation about whether the evidence may possibly yield favorable evidence at trial, but rather by the reality of the prejudice to the defendant caused by nondisclosure. Edwards v. Oklahoma, supra at 671. Our holding here is a refinement of the rule stated in State v. Wright, supra . In Wright the evidence which was destroyed was the totality of the direct evidence in the case. All else was circumstantial. The destroyed evidence thus related directly to the defendant's ability to determine the facts and make a defense which could prove his innocence or create a reasonable doubt as to his guilt. The substantial prejudice to the defendant caused by the destruction of the evidence in that case is obvious. Under the standard set out in the Agurs case, the evidence was material in a constitutional sense. By contrast, destruction of used Breathalyzer test ampoules, as noted above, does not interfere with the defendant's ability to determine the facts or raise a defense of nonintoxication. Testimony to be gained from the ampoules is only tangential to the question of innocence or guilt. The ampoules are therefore not material in a constitutional sense. We note that the courts of nine other states [3] have reached the conclusion that disposal of used ampoules does not violate due process. Persons arrested and asked to take a Breathalyzer test are uniformly offered the opportunity to obtain their own best evidence for use at any trial resulting from the conduct leading to their arrest. They have the right to obtain an independent test of their blood alcohol content administered by a qualified person of their own choosing. RCW 46.61.506(5). They are informed of this right when asked to take the test. Although we do not believe failure to obtain an independent test could amount to a waiver of any recognized constitutional right to due process, the statutory requirement demonstrates an important protection of the subject's right to fundamental fairness which is built into our implied consent procedure. Moreover, the exercise of this right would yield test results contemporaneous with those obtained by the State, which could have considerable force in rebutting the State's evidence. Washington's procedure cannot be said to be fundamentally unfair. In view of the disposition we make of this matter we do not reach the question of an appropriate remedy for unconstitutional destruction of material evidence. The superior court orders denying defendants' motions to suppress or dismiss are affirmed; the district court order dismissing certain prosecutions is reversed. The cases are remanded for further proceedings. WRIGHT, C.J., ROSELLINI, HAMILTON, STAFFORD, UTTER, DOLLIVER, and HICKS, JJ., and RYAN, J. Pro Tem., concur. Reconsideration denied December 28, 1978.