Court Opinion

ID: 9652448
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 17:23:48.276303+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:51.472019
License: Public Domain

HOFFMAN, Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. Because appellant was not properly warned of the consequences of failing to submit to chemical testing, his refusal clearly would have been insufficient to allow for the suspension of his license pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1547(b). The majority, nonetheless holds that the refusal is admissible as evidence of his intoxication in a criminal proceeding. In so holding, the majority draws a distinction between refusals that are sufficient for civil license suspension proceedings and refusals that are sufficient for criminal proceedings. In Commonwealth v. Hunsinger, 379 Pa.Super. 196, 549 A.2d 973 (1988), we refused to draw a distinction between refusals in civil license suspension proceedings, see 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1547(b), and refusals in criminal proceedings, see id. § 1547(e).
In Hunsinger, appellant argued that there should be a different standard for determining what actions or words constitute a refusal depending on whether the refusal was to be used in a civil proceeding (for license suspensions) or in a criminal trial. This Court disagreed and held that there was no reason to define refusal differently in a criminal proceeding. In this case, the suppression court, relying on Hunsinger, suppressed any reference to appellant’s alleged refusal to submit to chemical testing due to the improper warning. I agree with the suppression court’s analysis. Moreover, although I recognize that there is some support *271in the statute for the majority’s analysis, I have serious reservations about the workability of a rule premised on such a fine and tortured reading. It seems to me that the uniform rule suggested by Hunsinger, and followed by the suppression court, is a much more practical and fair reading of the statute, as it would be easier for police to follow, and would be more likely to ensure that refusals are knowing and intelligent. Because I agree with the suppression court, that there is no reason to treat the refusals differently depending on the type of proceeding, I would affirm the order below on the basis of the court’s opinion.