Court Opinion

ID: 9648980
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 14:39:53.958472+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:06.815085
License: Public Domain

OSBORNE, Judge.
I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion. It is my opinion that the statutory scheme which the legislature attempted to effect by the enactment of KRS 186.560 and 186.565 is in violation of sections 10 and 11 of the Constitution of this Commonwealth.
KRS 186.560 provides that the Department: “Shall forthwith revoke the license of any operator of a motor vehicle upon receiving record of his conviction of any of the following offenses.” The offenses enumerated are manslaughter, driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, and other offenses more or less connected with the operation of an automobile.
*16KRS 186.565 provides that any person who operates a motor vehicle in this Commonwealth is deemed to have given his consent to a chemical test of his blood, breath, etc. The statute further provides the method of administering the test and subsection three provides: “If a person under arrest refuses upon the request of a law enforcement officer to submit to a chemical test designated by the law enforcement agency as provided in subsection (1) of this section, none shall be given, but the Department of Public Safety * * * shall revoke the license or permit of the person refusing to take the test for a period of not more than six months * *
In summary, the effect of the two above-quoted statutes is: 1. Provide for the revocation of the license of one convicted in court of driving while intoxicated. 2. Provide for a blood-alcohol test to be taken on the “implied” consent of the operator of a vehicle. If one does not give his consent then his license is revoked for a period of six months. It is the obvious intent and purpose of this statute to obtain evidence through means of the blood-alcohol test to be introduced at the trial of the accused if he is charged with any of the offenses under KRS 186.560, including driving while intoxicated.
It is patently clear under sections 10 and 11 of the Constitution that the results of such tests would not be admissible in evidence in a criminal prosecution unless the accused consented to the test. See Sullivan v. Brawner, 237 Ky. 730, 36 S.W.2d 364, and McManus v. Commonwealth, 264 Ky. 240, 94 S.W.2d 609, the latter case specifically holding that evidence obtained as the result of a physical examination is inadmissible unless acquired with the specific approval of the accused.
In Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 16 L.Ed.2d 908 (1966), the Supreme Court of the United States had this question before it, viz., the rights of one required to take a blood-alcohol test as measured by the fourth and fifth amendments to the United States Constitution. In that case the court held the accused could be required to take the test as it did not violate the fifth amendment, since the fifth amendment only protected an accused from being compelled to testify against himself.1
Section 11 of the Constitution of this Commonwealth is broader than the fifth amendment in that it provides: “He cannot be compelled to give evidence against himself nor can he be deprived of his life, liberty or property, unless by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land.”
As above pointed out, we have gone further in construing section 11 than the Supreme Court has in construing the fifth amendment in that we have held that this not only prohibits the compelling of matters of testimonial or communicative nature but also prohibits physical evidence concerning the body of the accused taken without his permission.
From the foregoing there appears to be no doubt but what the evidence obtained by virtue of the blood test is inadmissible in this jurisdiction not only in a criminal proceeding but a civil one as well. See Hovious v. Riley, Ky., 403 S.W.2d 17 (1966). The evidence which the blood test is designed to procure is inadmissible in evidence because it is obtained in violation of sections 10 and 11 of the Constitution of this Commonwealth, unless obtained by the consent of the accused. Therefore, the crux of this entire controversy rests in whether or not evidence obtained under duress, viz., a statute which would take one’s privilege of driving an automobile away unless he consented to the test is evidence legally obtained. To me there can be but one answer to the proposition. Any attempt upon the part of the legislature to *17compel a person to give up his constitutional rights in exchange for what has become a common privilege (the right to drive an automobile) is unlawful, arbitrary and unconstitutional. If the legislature be permitted what has been attempted here then it might well provide that any person who wishes to connect utilities to his home impliedly consents that the officers may search the home anytime day or night that they will without a warrant. It was never intended in the framework of our government that the citizen would have to trade the ordinary everyday commonly accepted privileges in exchange for retention of his constitutional rights. A citizen has a right to operate a motor vehicle provided he can meet the license requirements. Call it inherent, constitutional, personal or whatever you will, he cannot be required to give up his right against self-incrimination in exchange for it. To me this violates every known constitutional concept and principle.
I fully realize and appreciate that there are those who in this modern day and age may sincerely feel that the Commonwealth is justified in taking away the constitutional right of the citizen against self-incrimination in its earnest effort to apprehend and convict those who drive while under influence of intoxicants. In order to justify this legislative act one must hold this concept. I simply do not agree with it. I believe the right against self-incrimination is so inherent and so deeply imbedded in our constitutional concept of free government that to take it away under these circumstances is to make a grave mistake.
Appellant in his brief before this court does not specifically contend that the act is unconstitutional under sections 10 and 11, however, I believe his attack upon the act is broad enough to encompass all applicable sections of both the State and Federal Constitutions.
It is my further opinion that the statute in question is invalid because of its failure to provide for a meaningful hearing prior to the revocation of the license, therefore, denying to the accused due process of law under both our Federal and State Constitutions.
The Supreme Court of the United States in Bell v. Burson, Director of the Georgia Department of Public Safety, 402 U.S. 535, 91 S.Ct. 1586, 29 L.Ed.2d 90, decided May 24, 1971, in considering the constitutionality of state financial responsibility laws stated:
“Once licenses are issued, as in petitioner’s case, their continued possession may become essential in the pursuit of a livelihood. Suspension of issued licenses thus involves state action that adjudicates important interests of the licensees. In such cases the licenses are not to be taken away without that procedural due process required by the Fourteenth Amendment. Sniadach v. Family Finance Corp., 395 U.S. 337, 89 S.Ct. 1820, 23 L.Ed.2d 349 (1969); Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254, 90 S.Ct. 1011, 25 L.Ed. 2d 287 (1970). This is but an application of the general proposition that relevant constitutional restraints limit state power to terminate an entitlement whether the entitlement is denominated a 'right’ or a 'privilege.’ Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 83 S.Ct. 1790, 10 L. Ed.2d 965.” (Emphasis added).
In the case before us the appellant got no notice of hearing before the suspension letter of September 4, 1969, which contained a threat of fine and imprisonment and in fact the Department would not hold hearings until after appellant agreed to surrender his drivers license. In my judgment this in no way can be considered due process. I do not agree with the majority that a post-suspension hearing can in any way supply due process when a citizen’s license has already been revoked. In this instance the appellant was found not guilty of driving while intoxicated by a court of competent jurisdiction. However, his license was nevertheless revoked, not because he was driving while intoxicated for this fact had been judicially determined, *18but, because of refusal to submit his body for the extraction of blood which under the Constitution in our previous cases would not have been admissible in evidence at the judicial hearing unless freely and voluntarily consented to. I do not believe that administrative officers should be permitted to reverse or ignore judicial proceedings as was the case here.
In summary, I would point out that many rights not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution have been deemed to be so elementary to our way of life that they have been labeled basic rights. Such is the right to travel from state to state, United States v. Guest, 383 U.S. 745, 86 S.Ct. 1170, 16 L.Ed.2d 239. Such, also, is the right to marry, Loving v. Virginia, 388 U. S. 1, 87 S.Ct. 1817, 18 L.Ed.2d 1010. I would place among these rights the right to use the highways in an automobile and I would not require the citizen to give up the right against self-incrimination in order to enjoy it.
For the foregoing reasons, I respectfully dissent.

. The fifth amendment to the Constitution of the United States in this regard provides : “No person shall he * * * compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.”