Court Opinion

ID: 9569623
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:15:49.92109+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:03:38.751145
License: Public Domain

*1130BENCH, Judge
(concurring and dissenting):
I concur with the conclusion that the blood test was erroneously admitted into evidence but I reserve judgment on the constitutional basis for the conclusion.
The blood test would be admissible if appellant actually or impliedly consented. Actual consent is clearly absent. The narrow question before us is whether the test was admissible under Utah’s implied consent statute. Utah Code Ann. § 41-6-44.-10 (1986).
The arrest of a motorist is the triggering mechanism of our implied consent statute. State v. Cruz, 21 Utah 2d 406, 446 P.2d 307 (1968). Other jurisdictions have also so ruled. See Lerblance, Implied Consent To Intoxication Tests: A Flawed Concept, 53 St. John’s L.Rev. 39, 42 n. 9 (1978). The State contends the legislature attempted to delete the requirement of arrest by changing “arresting officer” to “peace officer.” Yet, the statute still contemplates that motorists do not become subject to the implied consent law until after a formal arrest. Utah Code Ann. § 41-6-44.10(2) (1986) imposes sanctions where the motorist “has been placed under arrest and has thereafter been requested by a peace officer to submit to any one or more of the chemical tests provided....” The only exceptions to the arrest requirement are where the motorist is “dead, unconscious, or in any other condition rendering him incapable of refusing to submit to any such chemical test_” Utah Code Ann. § 41-6-44.10(3) (1986).
At the time the test was administered in the instant case, appellant was neither under arrest nor in a condition rendering him incapable of refusing the test. The test was therefore erroneously admitted under the implied consent statute. Because the issue may be decided on grounds of statutory construction, discussion of constitutional considerations is inappropriate. State v. Wood, 648 P.2d 71 (Utah 1982), and cases cited therein.
While I concur in the conclusion concerning the blood test, I believe the case should be remanded for a new trial. I therefore dissent from the result reached in the majority opinion.
Utah Code Ann. § 41-6-44(1) (1986) provides for alternative means of proving a person guilty of driving while intoxicated. The prosecution may prove, by chemical test, the person had a blood-alcohol content of .08% or greater. Alternatively, the prosecution may prove, by independent evidence, the person was under the influence of alcohol or any drug “to a degree which renders the person incapable of safely driving a vehicle.” See Kehl v. Schwendiman, 735 P.2d 413, 415 (Utah App.1987).
As intimated by the majority, the trial judge in the instant case made no finding as to the sufficiency of independent evidence. At the conclusion of the State’s case, appellant moved to suppress all evidence related to the blood test. The court took the matter under advisement and requested both parties to prepare and submit briefs on the motion. The State then suggested rather than wait for the court’s ruling on the motion, appellant should proceed to present his case. In response, appellant explained that only if the court denied his motion would he then call expert witnesses to refute the State’s claim of sufficient independent evidence. The court thereupon continued the balance of the trial to January 30, 1986. In a minute entry dated December 19, 1985, the date of trial, the court recorded:
Prosecution evidence was presented. Attorneys will submit briefs by January 24, 1986 for Judge to determine admissability [sic] of certain evidence presented. Court’s determination of admissability [sic] will determine whether or not defense evidence needs to be presented. Further hearing and/or disposition scheduled for January 30, 1986.
In a decision dated January 23, 1986, the court denied appellant’s motion to exclude and admitted the blood test result into evidence. When trial reconvened on January 30, appellant, in light of the court's ruling, offered no evidence. The court then found the allegations in the petition to be true and entered judgment against appellant.
*1131The trial court clearly reserved any finding whether sufficient evidence existed, independent of the blood test, to find appellant in violation of section 41-6-44(1). In its findings and decree, the court determined appellant was under the influence of alcohol based solely on a blood alcohol level of .18%.
The majority opinion, in light of the trial court’s failure to do so, proceeds to make its own finding of sufficient independent evidence to affirm the judgment. However, it is not the function of this Court to make findings of fact. Rucker v. Dalton, 598 P.2d 1336 (Utah 1979). Nor is it the function of “an appellate court to decide disputed questions of fact in the first instance and then choose between affirmance and reversal by testing its factual conclusion against that which the trial court might have or ... must have reached for it to issue the judgment it did.” Nicpon v. Nicpon, 9 Mich.App. 373, 157 N.W.2d 464, 467 (1968). (Emphasis in original.) Rather, the function of this Court is to review the record to determine whether substantial evidence exists to support the trial court’s findings. Reimschiissel v. Russell, 649 P.2d 26 (Utah 1982).
The judgment in the instant case was based solely on the blood test. As the trial court failed to make a finding of sufficient independent evidence of intoxication, I would remand the case for a new trial.