Opinion ID: 2054629
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: What Constitutes A Refusal

Text: We now turn our attention to the merits of MVA's question of what constitutes a refusal to take a blood alcohol concentration test under Section 16-205.1 of the Transportation Article. While the Circuit Court emphasized the time constraints of the testing procedure in determining whether a refusal occurred, we will decide the issue based upon what constitutes a refusal to take the test, which, in this case did not occur. Section 16-205.1(a)(2) sets forth the general testing policy applicable to individuals who are suspected of driving or attempting to drive while intoxicated: Any person who drives or attempts to drive a motor vehicle on a highway or on any private property that is used by the public in general in this State is deemed to have consented, subject to the provisions of §§ 10-302 through 10-309, inclusive, of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, to take a test if the person should be detained on suspicion of driving or attempting to drive while intoxicated, while under the influence of alcohol, while so far under the influence of any drug, any combination of drugs, or a combination of one or more drugs and alcohol that the person could not drive a vehicle safely, while under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance, in violation of an alcohol restriction, or in violation of § 16-813 of this title. Md.Code, § 16-205.1(a)(2) of the Transp. Art. (1977,1999 Repl.Vol.). [6] Section 10-303(a) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article imposes time limitations on obtaining blood alcohol concentration test results from suspected drunk drivers: (a) Alcohol concentration. (1) A specimen of breath or 1 specimen of blood may be taken for the purpose of a test for determining alcohol concentration. (2) For the purpose of a test for determining alcohol concentration, the specimen of breath or blood shall be taken within 2 hours after the person accused is apprehended. We have consistently recognized that the statutory provisions enacted to enforce the State's fight against drunken driving, namely Md.Code ... § 10-302 to -309 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article and § 16-205.1 of the Transportation Article, were enacted for the protection of the public and not primarily for the protection of the accused. Motor Vehicle Admin. v. Shrader, 324 Md. 454, 464, 597 A.2d 939, 943 (1991); see State v. Moon, 291 Md. 463, 477, 436 A.2d 420, 427 (1981), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1207, 105 S.Ct. 1170, 84 L.Ed.2d 321 (1985). The DR-15 Form, which Officer Mondini read to Atterbeary and which Atterbeary later read for himself, advises individuals suspected of driving while intoxicated of the consequences of refusing to submit to testing for blood alcohol concentration. There is an automatic 120-day suspension for a test refusal. See Md.Code § 16-205.1(b) of the Transp. Art. If an individual submits to the test and the result is an alcohol concentration in excess of the statutory limit, the suspension for a first offense is forty-five days, or ninety days for a second or subsequent offense. [7] See id. The language of the statute, which allows suspects to withdraw initial refusals to take the test, reflects the legislative policy in favor of obtaining test results: (g) Withdrawal of initial refusal to take test; subsequent consent. (1) An initial refusal to take a test that is withdrawn as provided in this subsection is not a refusal to take a test for the purposes of this section. (2) A person who initially refuses to take a test may withdraw the initial refusal and subsequently consent to take the test if the subsequent consent: (i) Is unequivocal; (ii) Does not substantially interfere with the timely and efficacious administration of the test; and (iii) Is given by the person: 1. Before the delay in testing would materially affect the outcome of the test; and 2. A. For the purpose of a test for determining alcohol concentration, within 2 hours of the person's apprehension;... Md.Code, § 16-205.1(g) of the Transp. Art.; see Embrey v. Motor Vehicle Admin., 339 Md. 691, 697, 664 A.2d 911, 914 (1995)(quoting Motor Vehicle Admin. v. Vermeersch, 331 Md. 188, 194, 626 A.2d 972, 975 (1993)). A person, nevertheless, cannot be compelled to submit to a chemical test for intoxication. See Md.Code, § 10-309, Cts. & Jud. Proc. Art. [8] Although Section 16-205.1 does not specifically provide that an individual suspected of or arrested for drunk driving has a right to confer with counsel prior to deciding whether to submit to a breathalyzer test, we have held: the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as Article 24 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, requires that a person under detention for drunk driving must, on request, be permitted a reasonable opportunity to communicate with counsel before submitting to a chemical sobriety test, as long as such attempted communication will not substantially interfere with the timely and efficacious administration of the testing process. Sites v. State, 300 Md. 702, 717-18, 481 A.2d 192, 200 (1984). The limited right to confer or attempt to confer with counsel prior to deciding whether to submit to a breathalyzer test as announced in Sites was not meant to give suspected drunk drivers the ability to postpone administration of the test in order to achieve more favorable results. See Sites, 300 Md. at 714, 481 A.2d at 198 (quoting People v. Gursey, 22 N.Y.2d 224, 292 N.Y.S.2d 416, 239 N.E.2d 351, 353 (1968))(The privilege of consulting with counsel concerning the exercise of legal rights, should not, however, extend so far as to palpably impair or nullify the statutory procedure requiring drivers to choose between taking the test or losing their licenses.). Rather, we explicitly stated: if counsel cannot be contacted within a reasonable time, the arrestee may be required to make a decision regarding testing without the advice of counsel. We emphasize that in no event can the right to communicate with counsel be permitted to delay the test for an unreasonable time since, to be sure, that would impair the accuracy of the test and defeat the purpose of the statute. Id. at 718, 481 A.2d at 200. Thus, our decision in Sites only recognized a due process right so that an individual who requests to consult with counsel for the purpose of receiving advice as to whether to submit to a breathalyzer test, must be permitted a reasonable opportunity to do so. See id. at 712, 481 A.2d at 197 (explaining that prior to being formally charged, there can be no attachment of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel)(citing Webster v. State, 299 Md. 581, 474 A.2d 1305 (1984)); see also Darrikhuma v. State, 81 Md.App. 560, 571, 568 A.2d 1150, 1155 (1990)(explaining that under the holdings of Sites and Brosan v. Cochran, infra, 307 Md. 662, 516 A.2d 970 (1986), a person arrested for drunk driving has a right to consult with an attorney prior to formulating a decision on whether or not to take a breathalyzer test if that person makes such a request to consult with an attorney )(emphasis in original). Accordingly, [w]e recognized in Sites neither a right of counsel in the Fifth nor Sixth Amendment sense, but rather a deprivation of the right of due process by the unnecessary denial of a specific request for counsel. McAvoy 314 Md. at 519, 551 A.2d at 880. In order to protect the licensee's due process right, the right to consult with counsel prior to deciding whether to submit to a breathalyzer test must be meaningful and comport with traditional notions of essential fairness. While there still exists an unrelenting desire to rid our highways of the drunk driver menace, Willis v. State, 302 Md. 363, 370, 488 A.2d 171, 175 (1985), a default refusal to submit to the test cannot be permitted to stand on these facts. There is no bright line rule which will effectively ensure that the due process right to communicate with counsel prior to submitting to a breathalyzer test as recognized in Sites is heeded in all circumstances without risking being overbroad or under-inclusive. Instead, determining whether an individual has been denied his or her due process right to communicate with counsel prior to submitting to a breathalyzer test requires a case-by-case analysis of the facts and circumstances involved. See Sites, 300 Md. at 718, 481 A.2d at 200. We have provided some guidance as to what types of communication would be considered an exercise of the Sites due process right to communicate with counsel. For example, in Brosan v. Cochran, 307 Md. 662, 516 A.2d 970 (1986), we held that an individual who timely requests to consult with an attorney and have the attorney administer an independent breathalyzer test may do so in order to make an informed decision as to whether to submit to the test administered by the police. Brosan, 307 Md. at 673-74, 516 A.2d at 976. We further commented that the Sites due process right may encompass telephonic contact and / or face-to-face consultation. See id. at 669, 516 A.2d at 974. The due process right, however, does not confer upon suspects the right to be informed that they can have a preliminary test performed by a non-law enforcement person prior to deciding whether to submit to the official test administered by the police. See Darrikhuma, 81 Md.App. at 572-74, 568 A.2d at 1155-57. Nevertheless, we note that in requesting to confer with counsel, a suspected drunk driver may seek advice upon any aspect of the DR-15 Form, which in addition to advising individuals of the consequences of a test refusal, sets forth the sanctions for having a blood alcohol concentration in excess of the statutory limit, explains the administrative review process, and advises of the potential disqualification of a suspected drunk driver's Commercial Driver's License for a test refusal. In our analysis of the case at bar, the determinative question is whether Officer Mondini's conclusion that Atterbeary's unwillingness to sign the form and his repeated requests for an attorney constituted a refusal to submit to the test, is correct. At the hearing before the ALJ, Officer Mondini testified that Atterbeary initially said he would take the breathalyzer test. Atterbeary, however, thereafter asked to speak to an attorney after he read the DR-15 Form. When the officer asked for Atterbeary's attorney's name and telephone number, Atterbeary stated he did not have an attorney at the moment. Officer Mondini continued to ask Atterbeary to sign the form, and each time Atterbeary asked to speak with a lawyer. As indicated in the record, approximately twenty minutes elapsed from the time Atterbeary orally stated that he would submit to the breathalyzer test to the point in time where Officer Mondini determined that Atterbeary's refusal to sign the form constituted a refusal to take the test. Atterbeary challenges this determination-he states that he never refused to take the breathalyzer test. As in every case, the MVA bears the burden of proving that Atterbeary refused to take the breathalyzer test through his conduct. See Borbon v. Motor Vehicle Admin., 345 Md. 267, 280, 691 A.2d 1328, 1334 (1997). A refusal of a breathalyzer or other chemical analysis test is complete at the moment it is communicated to the officer. Motor Vehicle Admin. v. Gaddy, 335 Md. 342, 348, 643 A.2d 442, 445 (1994). In the present case, the officer equated Atterbeary's unwillingness to sign the form with a refusal to take the test. Atterbeary's decision to refrain from signing the form before having the opportunity to consult with an attorney, however, did not change the fact that he had orally agreed to submit to the test before reading the DR-15 Form for himself, and consent is implied in the statute. The statute itself contains no language imposing an express written consent requirement. There is absolutely no language reflecting any intent on the part of the Legislature to mandate that a driver must signify consent on a written form. Rather, individuals who drive in Maryland are deemed to have consented ... to take a test if the person should be detained on suspicion of driving or attempting to drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Md.Code, § 16-205.1(a)(2) of the Transp. Art. The MVA advocates that an individual's consent or refusal to submit to the breathalyzer test must be reduced to writing for the purpose of providing evidentiary proof. Although a written statement may serve as strong evidence of the drunk driving suspect's willingness or unwillingness to submit to the test and potentially makes easier the MVA's ability to make a prima facie case before an ALJ, we decline to impose such a requirement. In the context of a valid waiver of the privilege against self-incrimination in custodial interrogations, which are subject to closer scrutiny than the present case because of constitutional mandate, the Supreme Court has clearly stated that the Miranda decision did not hold that an express statement is indispensable to a finding of waiver. North Carolina v. Butler, 441 U.S. 369, 373, 99 S.Ct. 1755, 1757, 60 L.Ed.2d 286, 292 (1979)(An express written or oral statement of waiver of the right to remain silent or of the right to counsel is usually strong proof of the validity of that waiver, but is not inevitably either necessary or sufficient to establish waiver.) Thus, a person may waive his or her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination after orally receiving his or her Miranda warnings and orally indicating a willingness to make a statement. See In re Fletcher, 251 Md. 520, 526-29, 248 A.2d 364, 368-69 (1968)(finding a knowing and intelligent waiver where defendant orally received his Miranda warnings and orally waived his privilege against self-incrimination and his right to retain appointed counsel); State v. Purvey, 129 Md.App. 1, 17-19, 740 A.2d 54, 63-64 (1999)(finding that for a valid waiver of the privilege against self-incrimination it is unnecessary to reduce the waiver of rights and subsequent statement to writing). Both parties agree that Atterbeary orally agreed to submit to the breathalyzer test. Once Atterbeary requested to read the DR-15 Form and stated that he wanted to consult with counsel, Officer Mondini never asked Atterbeary if he still wished to take the test; the officer only asked Atterbeary to sign the form. Similarly, no attempts were made to administer the test to Atterbeary. Based on this record, it would appear that any refusal to obtain breathalyzer test results was due to the officer's haste in concluding for himself that Atterbeary had withdrawn his initial consent and now refused to submit based on his invocation of the Sites right to counsel, rather than from either an express or implied refusal on the part of Atterbeary. In rendering his decision, the ALJ determined that Atterbeary had refused to take the test because he asked for an attorney in response to all questions put to him: Licensee asked for an attorney. When asked for name & phone number he said he did not have one at the moment. I conclude Licensee did not have an attorney to call. Thereafter licensee kept answering he wanted to talk with an attorney to all questions. I conclude therefore he refused to take the test. In so doing, the ALJ failed to acknowledge that Atterbeary had declared that he would submit to the test. Instead, the ALJ concluded that based on Atterbeary's repeated requests to speak with an attorney that he thereby refused to take the breathalyzer test. Logical reasoning simply cannot be strained in order to support such a leap, for when an individual chooses to exercise his or her right to contact counsel under Sites, the decision to do so is, at that point, neither necessarily a conditional nor a per se refusal to submit to the breathalyzer test. As noted earlier at supra page 85, the DR-15 Form addresses many matters in addition to the consent to take the test. Atterbeary's request to speak to an attorney, without more, may not logically or exclusively be construed to relate only to the testing reference in the form advisement and, thus, be interpreted as an implied refusal of consent to be tested or a withdrawal of consent. The exercise of the Sites right may be treated separately and distinctly from the assessment of whether an individual has refused to submit to a breathalyzer test. [9] Therefore, on the facts and circumstances of this case, there was insufficient evidence to conclude that Atterbeary refused to submit to the breathalyzer test.