Court Opinion

ID: 9698090
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:41:33.981252+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:38.195435
License: Public Domain

ZAPPALA, Justice,
concurring.
I agree with the majority that under the federal constitution, the evidence would not be suppressed. As the majority notes, the Appellant did not challenge the search and seizure under Article I, § 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. Lest this crucial point be overlooked because of the extensive discussion of state precedent, I write separately because I believe a different result would follow if the issue had been raised under our state constitution.
In Commonwealth v. Kohl, 532 Pa. 152, 165, 615 A.2d 308, 314 (1992), we stated
Article I, section 8 has an identity and vitality that is separate and distinct from that of the Fourth Amendment. The decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court are not dispositive of questions regarding the rights guaranteed to citizens of *186the Commonwealth under the Pennsylvania Constitution. A state may provide through its constitution a basis for the rights and liberties of its citizens independent from that provided by the Federal Constitution.
See also, Commonwealth v. Edmunds, 526 Pa. 374, 586 A.2d 887 (1991).
The protection provided by Article I, § 8 extends to areas where an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Commonwealth v. DeJohn, 486 Pa. 32, 403 A.2d 1283 (1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1032, 100 S.Ct. 704, 62 L.Ed.2d 668 (1980). We recognize that the right to privacy extends to medical records of patients. In Re June 1979 Allegheny County Investigating Grand Jury, 490 Pa. 143, 415 A.2d 73 (1980). Since an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in his medical records, the protection provided by Article I, § 8 encompasses this privacy interest.
“Generally, a search or seizure is not reasonable unless it is conducted pursuant to a search warrant issued by a magistrate upon a showing of probable cause.” Kohl, 532 Pa. at 166, 615 A.2d at 315. The implied consent provision of 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1547(a)(1) dispenses with the need to obtain a warrant to conduct chemical tests to determine blood alcohol content when a police officer has reasonable grounds to believe a person has been operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances.1 In instances where probable cause has been established, the absence of a warrant requirement under the implied consent provision does not render a test for- blood alcohol content unreasonable under Article I, § 8. Id.
A police officer may request that emergency room personnel take blood samples for testing from a person who requires medical treatment when probable cause exists to believe that the person was operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3755(a). When such a request is made, the hospital personnel have an affirmative duty to *187obtain the blood samples and to transmit them for blood alcohol content testing. The test results are released upon request of the person tested, his attorney, his physician, or governmental officials or agencies. When a police officer fails to follow this procedure and fails to request that blood samples be drawn, the statute does not authorize the officer to obtain medical records of a person suspected of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
In the instant case, the police officer did not request that blood samples be taken from the Appellant for chemical testing pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3755(a).2 Hospital personnel had taken blood for medical purposes. The hospital released blood test results after the police officer submitted a written request for the results.
The police officer did not follow the statutory procedure to obtain blood samples from the Appellant or to determine the blood alcohol content of the samples. Instead, the officer conducted a warrantless search and seizure of the Appellant’s medical records. The implied consent provision of 75 Pa. C.S.A. § 1547(a)(1) does not eliminate the need to obtain a warrant to seize medical records, but only to request and conduct chemical tests. The reason for this is obvious. Due to the evanescent nature of the evidence of blood alcohol content, there is an immediate need to obtain samples of blood for testing. When blood samples have been drawn for medical purposes and the results of blood alcohol content tests are part of a patient’s medical record, the evidence will not have dissipated during the time that application for a search warrant is being made. Thus, in this case, the warrantless search was unreasonable and violated Article I, § 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
FLAHERTY and CAPPY, JJ., join this concurring opinion.

. "Reasonable grounds” is not defined in the implied consent statute, but has been construed as the equivalent of probable cause. Kohl, supra, citing Commonwealth v. Quarles, 229 Pa.Super. 363, 324 A.2d 452 (1974) (plurality opinion).

. The trial judge’s opinion states that "... the trooper proceeded to the hospital and demanded that a blood sample be drawn to determine whether the defendant was driving under the influence.” (Slip opinion at 2.) The briefs of the Appellant and the Commonwealth indicate, however, that the trooper testified that he went to the hospital with the intention of requesting Appellant submit to a blood test, but did not do so when he learned that samples had been taken for medical purposes.