Opinion ID: 2508539
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Implied Consent under K.S.A. 8-1001

Text: In Jones' petition for review, and again at oral argument, he offhandedly asserted that the implied consent provisions of K.S.A. 8-1001 could not supply the necessary consent for PBT testing in the instant case. The State filed no response to the petition but summarily disagreed with Jones' assertion at oral arguments. Although neither side briefed the issue, we will address it. See State v. Coleman, 271 Kan. 733, 735, 26 P.3d 613 (2001) (newly asserted theory involves only a question of law arising on proved or admitted facts and which is finally determinative of the case). K.S.A. 8-1001, states in relevant part at subsection (a): Any person who operates or attempts to operate a vehicle within this state is deemed to have given consent, subject to the provisions of this act, to submit to one or more tests of the person's blood, breath, urine or other bodily substance to determine the presence of alcohol or drugs. The testing deemed consented to herein shall include all quantitative and qualitative tests for alcohol and drugs. (Emphasis added.) The PBT is a general test for alcohol; accordingly, at first blush the implied consent provisions from 8-1001 would appear to apply to Jones' situation. For a number of reasons, however, we hold that they do not. We begin our analysis with a review of State v. Gray, 270 Kan. at 798, where we stated: It must be recognized that the tests which may be requested under K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 8-1012 [PBT] and K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 8-1001 [implied consent] are completely separate in purpose, usage, and legal effect. We then proceeded to discuss a number of the fundamental differences between the two. We recognized that on the one hand: The applicable portions of K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 8-1012 state that if a person submits to the test when requested, the results of a PBT `shall be used for the purpose of assisting law enforcement officers in determining whether an arrest should be made and whether to request the tests authorized by K.S.A. 8-1001 and amendments thereto. A law enforcement officer may arrest a person based in whole or in part upon the results of a preliminary screening test.' K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 8-1012 additionally states: `Refusal to take and complete the test as requested is a traffic infraction.' [subject to fine] The recent case of Gross v. Kansas Dept. of Revenue, 26 Kan. App. 2d 847, Syl. ¶ 2, 994 P.2d 666 (2000), discusses the usage of a PBT as `an unobtrusive test given in conjunction with other field sobriety tests to determine probable cause to arrest for driving under the influence.' The results of a PBT have greatly limited application in that they are `not admissible in any civil or criminal action except to aid the court or hearing officer in determining a challenge to the validity of the arrest or the validity of the request to submit to a test pursuant to K.S.A. 8-1001 and amendments thereto.' K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 8-1012. 270 Kan. at 798-99. We recognized that on the other hand, however, [t]he extensive provisions of K.S.A. 8-1001 et seq. allow the evidentiary testing of individuals who have been arrested for DUI or involved in a vehicle accident. The Kansas Implied Consent statutes require that the person to be tested be given the oral and written notices set forth in K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 8-1001(f)(1). After compliance with statutory requirements, if a test is administered with results over the specified legal limit, or if a test is refused, a person's driving privileges are subject to suspension and restrictions as provided in K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 8-1002 and K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 8-1014. Test results are admissible in evidence at any trial, as are test refusals. [See K.S.A. 8-1005]. Pursuant to K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 8-1013(h) and (i), the definitions of `test failure' and `test refusal' clearly do not include the PBT for purposes of evidentiary alcohol testing under the implied consent statutes. 270 Kan. at 799. In addition to the differences discussed by the Gray court, we observe two others of significance, both of which concern pretesting requirements in the two statutes. First, we examine pretest warnings. K.S.A. 8-1001(f) states in relevant part: Before a test or tests are administered under this section, the person shall be given oral and written notice that: (A) Kansas law requires the person to submit to and complete one or more tests of breath, blood or urine to determine if the person is under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or both. Subsection (f) then lists eight additional required elements of the oral and written warnings. See K.S.A. 8-1001(f)(B)-(I). By contrast, K.S.A. 8-1012 requires only a three-part, oral warning before the PBT administration: At the time the test is requested, the person shall be given oral notice that: (1) There is no right to consult with an attorney regarding whether to submit to testing; (2) refusal to submit to testing is a traffic infraction; and (3) further testing may be required after the preliminary screening test. We acknowledge that two of these pre-PBT warnings are similar to those in K.S.A. 8-1001, i.e., K.S.A. 8-1001(f)(C) (no right to consult with an attorney regarding whether to submit to testing) and K.S.A. 8-1001(f)(D) (refusal to submit to testing carries a consequence). Nevertheless, the additional seven elements in the warnings of 8-1001, some of which are discussed in Gray, evidence that the legislature meant for the two tests to be markedly different, i.e, separate in purpose, usage, and legal effect. 270 Kan. at 798. Second, we examine additional law enforcement predicates to testing under the statutes. K.S.A. 8-1001(b) requires the establishment of two of those listed, stating in relevant part: A law enforcement officer shall request a person to submit to a test or tests deemed consented to under subsection (a)[implied consent provision] if [First] the officer has reasonable grounds to believe the person was operating or attempting to operate a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or both, or to believe that the person was driving a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in K.S.A. 8-2,128, and amendments thereto, or was under the age of 21 years while having alcohol or drugs in such person's system, and [Second] one of the following conditions exists: (1) the person has been arrested or otherwise taken into custody for any offense involving operation or attempted operation of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or both, or for a violation of K.S.A. 8-1567a, and amendments thereto, or involving driving a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in K.S.A. 8-2,128, and amendments thereto, while having alcohol or other drugs in such person's system, in violation of a state statute or a city ordinance; or (2) the person has been involved in a vehicle accident or collision resulting in property damage, personal injury or death. By contrast, K.S.A. 8-1012 provides that only one of three possible predicates to PBT testing need be established, i.e., if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person: (a) Has alcohol in the person's body; (b) has committed a traffic infraction; or (c) has been involved in a vehicle accident or collision. These marked differences between the statutes further evidence that the legislature meant for the tests to be completely separate in purpose, usage, and legal effect. Gray, 270 Kan. at 798. Finally, and most persuasive, is the language in K.S.A. 8-1001(b), which provides that if a law enforcement officer can establish two of the listed predicates, then the officer shall request a person to submit to a test or tests deemed consented to under subsection (a).  (Emphasis added.) By contrast, 8-1012 contains no implied consent language. Accordingly, if an officer establishes only the minimum of one of the predicates for testing listed in 8-1012, he or she cannot request that the vehicle operator be tested via the implied consent provisions contained in 8-1001(a); application of the implied consent provisions requires meeting two predicates in 8-1001(b). We conclude that because of the substantial differences discussed in Gray and here, the clear language of 8-1001(b), and the absence of implied consent language in 8-1012, the implied consent provisions of K.S.A. 8-1001 do not apply to the administration of PBT's. We also observe that without the PBT results, the State did not meet the predicates from 8-1001 that would permit the subsequent blood test. The State met the requirement of a vehicle accident resulting in personal injury but failed to meet the other, i.e., the officer had no reasonable grounds to believe the person was operating or attempting to operate a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or both. The officer had performed no field sobriety tests and had made no observations suggesting alcohol use such as Jones' physical characteristics or confession to alcohol consumption. Contrast State v. Chacon-Bringuez, 28 Kan. App. 2d 625, 18 P.3d 970, rev. denied 271 Kan. 1038 (2001) (In addition to PBT results showing breath sample over legal limit, odor of alcohol was on defendant's breath, eyes were bloodshot and watery, he confessed to alcohol consumption, 9 beers were left in 12-pack box in the truck, and defendant had problems performing field sobriety tests.). Here, the officer's reasonable grounds to believe were based entirely upon the PBT, which we hold was involuntarily performed by Jones. Accordingly, under both the express and implied consent scenarios in the instant case, the results of the PBT were not admissible. Whether characterized as the result of failure to meet the requirements for testing under K.S.A. 8-1001 or as fruit of the poisonous tree, the subsequent blood test results were also inadmissible. Without this evidence, the conviction cannot stand. The decisions of the Court of Appeals and the district court are reversed.