Opinion ID: 1894401
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Reasonable Grounds to Test.

Text: Owens' initial contention is that the police officers did not have the statutory reasonable grounds to request a blood test. He first asserts that the request for a preliminary breath test was based on secondhand knowledge, implicitly arguing that the preliminary breath test itself should not have been given. Next, he argues the preliminary test results were not reasonable grounds for further testing because they showed a blood-alcohol level below the legal limit. We disagree that these facts show a lack of reasonable grounds to test. First, reasonable grounds to request the preliminary test, as required by section 321B.3, [1] did exist. The reasonable grounds test is met when the facts and circumstances known to the officer at the time action was required would have warranted a prudent person's belief that an offense had been committed. Crosser v. Iowa Dep't of Pub. Safety, 240 N.W.2d 682, 685 (Iowa 1976). Further, it is well established that when police officers are acting in concert, the knowledge of one is presumed shared by all. Schubert, 346 N.W.2d at 32; accord State v. Thornton, 300 N.W.2d 94, 97 (Iowa 1981). Hence, in Owens' case, the requesting officer is presumed to have had knowledge of the alcohol odor on Owens' breath, even though he knew of it only through another officer. Such knowledge, together with the fact that Owens was involved in a fatal motor vehicle collision, certainly gave the requesting officer reasonable grounds to believe that Owens had violated Iowa Code section 321.281 and was therefore eligible for a preliminary test. See Iowa Code § 321B.3. And even without this knowledge, the officer had authority under the statute to request a preliminary test: such a request is proper when the operator has been involved in a motor vehicle collision resulting in... death, id. Next, it is clear that the officers had statutory authority to request further testing. Under section 321B.4(1), a blood test may be requested if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe the driver was violating section 321.281 and, among other possibilities, the driver was involved in a collision resulting in death. In Owens' case, the latter condition was unquestionably satisfied. The reasonable grounds test was also satisfied. At the time the officer requested the blood test, he knew not only that Owens had had alcohol on his breath, but also that a preliminary breath test showed a blood-alcohol level of .08, which is slightly below the legal limit of .10. That the level was somewhat below the limit is not significant here. The preliminary breath test is for screening only, Iowa Code § 321B.3, and is not an accurate measure of blood-alcohol concentration, State v. Deshaw, 404 N.W.2d 156, 158 (Iowa 1987). We agree with the State that inaccuracy can cut both waysthe results may be too low or too high. That the test result was less than the legal limit does not automatically eliminate any reasonable grounds for believing Owens was driving while intoxicated. If, as in this case, the preliminary results showed the presence of alcohol, a prudent person would be warranted in requesting a more accurate test. This is especially true when, as here, the preliminary results were only slightly below the legal limit. We hold that the request for a blood test here was clearly warranted by the facts and circumstances known to the requesting officer.