Opinion ID: 2061983
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Blood Alcohol Concentration Evidence

Text: Rains contends the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress the results of blood tests showing his blood alcohol concentration to be above the legal limit established for intoxication. See Iowa Code § 321J.2(1)(b). He argues that the State did not follow the procedures mandated by Iowa's implied consent law in obtaining the blood samples and that, therefore, the results of the tests should be suppressed. The State counters that because it did not request the hospital or any of its personnel to take the blood samples, it was not required to follow the procedures provided in our implied consent statute. The State contends its use of a general search warrant under chapter 808 to obtain the samples was valid and that the district court did not err in overruling Rains' motion to dismiss. Ordinarily, we review the district court's decision to admit evidence for an abuse of discretion. State v. Kjos, 524 N.W.2d 195, 196 (Iowa 1994) (citing State v. Howard, 509 N.W.2d 764, 768 (Iowa 1993)). To the extent admission of certain evidence turns on the interpretation of a statute, however, our review is for errors of law. Id. (citing State v. Jones, 490 N.W.2d 787, 789 (Iowa 1992)). Here, Rains based his objection to admission of the blood test results on chapter 321J. Therefore, we review the trial court's ruling to determine whether it was based on an erroneous interpretation of that statute. Our review of any alleged constitutional violations is de novo. State v. Stanford, 474 N.W.2d 573, 575 (Iowa 1991). Iowa's implied consent statute is codified in chapter 321J. [T]he statute establishes the basic principle that a driver impliedly agrees to submit to a test in return for the privilege of using the public highways. State v. Hitchens, 294 N.W.2d 686, 687 (Iowa 1980); Iowa Code § 321J.6. If the driver withdraws that consent by refusing an appropriate request to submit to a test by a peace officer, the state has the power to revoke the operating license of the driver. Iowa Code § 321J.9(1). There are exceptions found in chapter 321J under which chemical tests can be administered in spite of a person's refusal to submit to testing or in the face of an inability of officers to obtain consent for a test. Under section 321J.10(1), a person who officers have reasonable grounds to believe was operating while intoxicated and who was involved in an accident resulting in death or personal injury likely to cause death can be subjected to chemical testing. Section 321J.7 provides for testing when the person to be tested is incapable of giving consent. In that situation the person is deemed not to have withdrawn the implied consent to test. Testing may proceed upon certification by a licensed physician that the person is incapable of consent or refusal. The parties stipulated for purposes of the motion to suppress that there was no certification by a licensed physician that Rains was incapable of consent pursuant to section 321J.7. The parties also stipulated that Rains had not been charged with involuntary manslaughter, or homicide or serious injury by a vehicle which would have enabled admission of the results under section 321J.10(1). Therefore, the test results are not admissible under either exception discussed above. In addition, the parties stipulated that the samples obtained by the State were drawn by the hospital for treatment purposes, not for purposes of the search warrant. Although we have considered many issues involving chapter 321J, we have never addressed the precise issue set before us in this matter. We are asked to determine whether the State can properly utilize a warrant issued under chapter 808, our general statute governing the issuance of warrants, to obtain samples of blood withdrawn for treatment purposes by a hospital. We have previously held that our implied consent statute prohibits the taking of a blood sample pursuant to a warrant after a driver has refused police requests to submit to testing. Hitchens, 294 N.W.2d at 687. Our holding in Hitchens, however, was premised on the fact that the driver had refused consent and that the State directed hospital personnel to obtain the appropriate blood samples to facilitate testing. Here, hospital personnel testified that Rains' blood was drawn in order for the hospital to conduct its own blood alcohol concentration tests and other diagnostic tests in conjunction with Rains' treatment. It was only after the hospital withdrew the blood samples from Rains that the State produced a warrant to obtain a portion of the samples for its own testing. The defendant relies on a footnote in State v. Stanford to support his position that a general search warrant cannot be used in place of the implied consent procedures outlined in chapter 321J. The footnote provides in pertinent part: A person who refuses to submit a requested specimen, prior to arrest, and who does not come under the purview of Iowa Code sections 321J.7( dead or unconscious) and 321J.10 (person involved in accident resulting in death or personal injury likely to cause death) is not amenable to a warrant directing production of a specimen but rather is subject to the administrative penalty of suspension of license or driving privileges. Stanford, 474 N.W.2d at 575 n.1 (emphasis added). Rains' reliance on our footnote in Stanford is misplaced. He takes this language to mean that once a specimen is produced it cannot be obtained from the holder of that specimen, whether it be a hospital, laboratory or the defendant himself. However, the more accurate meaning to be drawn from this language is that a person cannot be required to submit a blood, urine or breath specimen via a warrant except in strictly circumscribed situations such as under section 321J.10. This interpretation of the language in question is in accord with our implied consent statute. See Iowa Code § 321J.9 (providing that refusal to submit to testing requires revocation of license and not providing for forced production of a sample). The warrant in question here did not request production of a specimen by Rains; rather, it requested production by the hospital of a specimen already obtained from Rains. Therefore, our footnote in Stanford does not support defendant's argument. The defendant also cites State v. Green, 470 N.W.2d 15, 18-19 (Iowa 1991), for the proposition that there must be strict compliance with the requirements of section 321J.7 before blood tests are allowed at the direction of the State when the driver is incapable of consent. While we find no reason to disagree with this pronouncement from Green, we find it to be inapplicable here. The State made no attempt to comply with section 321J.7 because it did not request the hospital to draw the samples. The samples drawn from Rains were taken at the direction of medical personnel, for diagnostic and treatment purposes. The State obtained the blood samples via an alternative route, a warrant issued under chapter 808. In State v. Oakley, 469 N.W.2d 681 (Iowa 1991), we considered the admissibility of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) test results obtained from a blood sample authorized by the defendant which he intended to submit for independent analysis. Oakley refused to submit to a BAC test at the request of an officer, but authorized withdrawal of blood for purposes of independent testing. The sheriff retained the sample without having it analyzed. Three months after his arrest, Oakley requested return of the blood sample. The county attorney then obtained a search warrant, seized the sample and had it tested. The results showed a BAC of more than twice the legal limit. Oakley moved to suppress the blood test evidence. We granted discretionary review of a trial court ruling sustaining Oakley's motion. Oakley, 469 N.W.2d at 682. Oakley argued on appeal that because the State did not follow the procedures set forth in Iowa Code section 321J.10, it was barred from using the results of the test. Id. We held that [t]he provision for a search warrant in section 321J.10 does not limit the State's authority to obtain a search warrant under the general search warrant provisions of Iowa Code chapter 808. Id. at 682-83. We further noted that section 321J.10(2) expressly provides that search warrants may be obtained either under the limited circumstances of section 321J.10(3) or in accordance with chapter 808. Id. at 683. We concluded that the legislature did not intend for chapter 321J to preempt chapter 808. Id. Courts in several other jurisdictions which have considered this issue have concluded that implied consent statutes do not control the admissibility of blood alcohol evidence taken by a physician for medical purposes when the defendant was not under arrest. See Nelson v. State, 650 P.2d 426, 427 (Alaska.Ct.App.1982); State v. Pitchford, 10 Kan. App.2d 293, 697 P.2d 896, 898 (1985); State v. Waring, 779 S.W.2d 736, 740-41 (Mo.Ct.App. 1989); Commonwealth v. Hipp, 380 Pa.Super. 345, 551 A.2d 1086, 1093 (1988); State v. Vandergrift, 535 N.W.2d 428, 430 (S.D.1995); State v. Smith, 84 Wash.App. 813, 929 P.2d 1191, 1194 (1997). Rains argues that our decision in Oakley is inapplicable based on factual distinctions between the two cases, specifically because Oakley voluntarily submitted to a blood test and left the sample with the sheriff for independent testing, thereby destroying any expectation of privacy he might have had. Rains contends that he does have an expectation of privacy in the blood samples at issue here. However, we find that despite the fact that Rains did not consent to the drawing of his blood by hospital personnel, his lack of consent is immaterial to the seizure of the sample by warrant in this instance. Extraction of blood without a person's consent constitutes an unreasonable search only when done at government direction. See, e.g., Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 767, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 1834, 16 L.Ed.2d 908, 917 (1966); Turner v. State, 258 Ark. 425, 527 S.W.2d 580, 587 (1975) (concluding that because the doctor who withdrew a blood sample from the defendant did not act at the direction of, or by prearrangement with, any police officer, the taking of the sample did not constitute an unreasonable search and seizure); Commonwealth v. Russo, 30 Mass.App.Ct. 923, 567 N.E.2d 1255, 1258 (1991) (finding that drawing of blood by medical personnel in connection with defendant's treatment did not implicate the protection against unreasonable search and seizure of the Fourth Amendment). Here, the blood was drawn at the direction of hospital personnel for treatment and diagnostic purposes only, so Rains' expectation of privacy argument under the Fourth Amendment is unavailing. In his brief before this court, Rains argues that the physician-patient privilege established by Iowa Code section 622.10 provides him with an expectation of privacy and sufficiently distinguishes his case from our decision in Oakley. We have previously decided that the results of blood tests taken by a physician for treatment purposes are inadmissible under the physician-patient privilege. State v. Henneberry, 558 N.W.2d 708, 711 (Iowa 1997). We do not decide whether the physician-patient privilege is a distinguishing factor in this situation, nor whether the privilege would be applicable to the untested blood samples seized by the State. We decline to decide these matters because the defendant failed to preserve error on the issue of physician-patient privilege. Rains did not raise the issue in his motion to suppress the blood test results, the matter was not litigated at trial, and the issue is only mentioned tangentially in his brief before this court. It is elementary that we do not consider issues not presented to or decided by the district court. State v. Gogg, 561 N.W.2d 360, 368 (Iowa 1997) (citing State v. Halliburton, 539 N.W.2d 339, 342 (Iowa 1995)). During the proceedings before the district court, defendant relied only on the argument that chapter 321J, our implied consent statute, preempts chapter 808's provisions for general search warrants. The defendant did not preserve error on the applicability of the physician-patient privilege and we therefore refuse to consider that issue. We affirm the decision of the district court to overrule Rains' motion to suppress and to admit the results of the BAC tests as evidence.