Court Opinion

ID: 9530206
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:58:16.675065+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:01.871418
License: Public Domain

STEWART, Justice
(concurring):
I concur with the main opinion, but in view of the comments made in the dissenting opinion, which in my view rest upon a misunderstanding of this Court’s decision in Holman v. Cox, Utah, 598 P.2d 1331 (1979), and the possibility that that misunderstanding will create confusion and add to the number of appeals in driver’s license revocation proceedings, I think it appropriate to clarify one point.
The dissenting opinion is of the view that Holman v. Cox, supra, adopted a subjective test with respect to an arrested driver’s understanding of his legal obligations under the Implied Consent Statute. In Holman this Court squarely held that a refusal to take a blood test was to be based on an objective standard, and not on what the driver states that he actually intended. As stated in Holman:
Obviously the arresting officer cannot know the subjective state of mind of the person arrested and whether he in fact intended his response to a request to take a blood test to be the equivalent of a refusal that would result in license revocation. The test must be objective; oth*386erwise the whole statutory scheme could be subverted by one who equivocates or remains silent, and later protests that it was his unexpressed intent to take the tests. However, the behavior of the driver must clearly indicate, judged objectively, that the driver intended to refuse to take the test. [598 P.2d at 1338.] [Emphasis added.]
The Court took pains in Holman to make clear that an arresting officer must explain the duty of an arrestee to take a blood test upon request, notwithstanding a Miranda warning. Contrary to the understanding of the dissent in this case, we did not hold that a driver must subjectively understand the Implied Consent Statute and the Miranda warning. When there is apparent confusion arising from a failure of an arrestee to understand the demand for a blood test and the rights accorded under a Miranda warning, the officer must give a clear explanation of the duties and rights of the arrestee. An officer properly discharges his duty if he gives an explanation that a person of reasonable intelligence, who is in command of his senses, would understand.
Obviously the more inebriated a driver, the more unable he is likely to be in understanding the instructions given by an officer. We certainly do not intend to give the most culpable drivers a ready-made excuse to avoid the sanctions of the Implied Consent Statute. Notwithstanding the degree of sobriety of the arrested driver, an officer must state fully and accurately the driver’s legal duty under the Implied Consent Statute and the consequence of refusing to take a blood test, and, if the officer contemplates the filing of a criminal action, he should also explain the driver’s rights under Miranda if any of the driver’s statements are to be admissible in evidence.
The dissenting opinion misconstrues Holman in stating that an “arresting officer and any arrestee for drunk driving must arrive at a clear understanding that the arrestee (who likely is drunk) was not confused.” That was clearly not the holding in Holman. Holman held that it is necessary that a trial court make findings, based on an objective test, that the rights and duties of an arrestee were clearly explained by the arresting officer. We did not there, and do not here, hold that the district court must make findings that the arrestee in fact understood his rights and duties. It is only necessary, as stated in Holman, 598 P.2d at 1335, that “additional findings [be made] with respect to the issue of the clarity with which the appellant was instructed as to his obligations and rights.”