Court Opinion

ID: 9627514
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 08:46:59.697006+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:46.415168
License: Public Domain

BURKE, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent.
Today the court recognizes that “[a] positive Intoximeter test result is the single most important piece of evidence against a defendant accused of driving while intoxicated,” and holds that “due process requires that the defendant be given an opportunity to challenge” the reliability of such evidence by obtaining an independent test.
Dale Gundersen was arrested because he appeared to be too intoxicated to drive. Thereafter, he was tested and the test results showed him to have a blood alcohol content of .26. It is generally accepted that a person with a blood alcohol content between .15 and .20 is “obviously intoxicated.” 1 Given these circumstances, it is questionable whether Gundersen was cognizant enough to understand a hurried recitation of his “rights,” and difficult to accept that he “waived” those rights.
In the area of confessions, the state must show — by a preponderance of the evidence — the voluntariness of a confession. Sprague v. State, 590 P.2d 410, 413 (Alaska 1979); Schade v. State, 512 P.2d 907, 916-17 (Alaska 1973). Primary indicium of voluntariness are the defendant’s capacities to understand both his rights and the consequences of waiving those rights. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1612, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966); see also Zinermon v. Burch, — U.S. -, -, 110 S.Ct. 975, 987-88, 108 L.Ed.2d 100 (1990) (procedural due process violated where state officials allowed a mentally incompetent patient to sign an “informed consent” form for hospital admission). This court, and the court of appeals, have recognized the principle that an accused may be intoxicated to such an extent that a knowing and intelligent waiver is precluded. Sprague, 590 P.2d at 414; Hampton v. State, 569 P.2d 138, 141-43 (Alaska 1977); Thessen v. State, 454 P.2d 341, 345 *679(Alaska 1969); Van Cleve v. State, 649 P.2d 972, 976 (Alaska App.1982).
In cases where the defendant’s intoxication is merely incidental to the underlying crime, the majority’s case-by-case review for involuntariness is appropriate. See Phillips v. State, 625 P.2d 816, 817 n. 5 (Alaska 1980). In cases where intoxication is an essential element of the crime charged, such as driving while intoxicated, the probability of an involuntary waiver of the accused’s due process rights is high. The burden on the state to preserve a breath sample is, on the other hand, minimal. I would, therefore, as a prophylactic rule, require the state to take and preserve a breath sample for the defendant’s later use. Whether the sample ultimately proves exculpatory, or inculpatory, is inap-posite. What is important is the state’s respect for the individual’s capacity to understand and appreciate the nature of the due process rights afforded an accused.

. New York Public Library Desk Reference, 650 (1989).