Court Opinion

ID: 9748732
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 16:11:25.670603+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:38.889824
License: Public Domain

HANNA, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. There was other competent and substantial evidence of the defendant’s blood alcohol level in excess of the legal limit. See Reinert v. Director of Revenue, 894 S.W.2d 162 (Mo. banc 1995). More importantly, I do not agree that the mechanical failure to check a box on a report is substantial evidence that the officer failed to perform the test in light of his unequivocal and unchallenged testimony that he did perform the required check, and the lack of any evidence that the simulator malfunctioned. See Hurley v. Director of Revenue, 982 S.W.2d 694 (Mo.App.1998); Anderson v. Director of Revenue, 969 S.W.2d 899 (Mo.App.1998); Bautista v. Director of Revenue, 843 S.W.2d 1 (Mo.App.1992); Young v. Director of Revenue, 835 S.W.2d 332 (Mo.App.1992); Shine v. Director of Revenue, 807 S.W.2d 160 (Mo.App.1991). The legislative intent requiring compliance with the Department of Health regulations is not to accord procedural protection to drunk drivers. Turcotte v. Director of Revenue, 829 S.W.2d 494, 496 (Mo.App.1992).
The trial court sustained the defendant’s objection to Officer Bridgeforth’s testimony that the defendant’s blood alcohol was .108 percent and, without explanation, entered its order that the director failed to meet his burden of proof based “on this breath test.” The court then reinstated Endsley’s driving privileges. The court’s formal order provided no further explanation.
In Reinert, where the driver objected to the maintenance report of the blood alcohol testing machine, the court excluded the results of the blood alcohol test and found the issues in favor of the driver. 894 S.W.2d at 164. However, just as the case before us, in Reinert, other evidence of the driver’s blood alcohol was received into evidence. The police officer that administered the test to Reinert testified, without objection, to the blood alcohol results. Id. Similarly, in the case before us, the 13-page record of the Driver’s License Bureau was received over the driver’s objection. The report contained numerous references to the blood alcohol test result, including the printout slip showing the .108 percent result. In Reinert, the Supreme Court held that the “trial court, therefore, should have considered the [other admitted] evidence.” Id. The Supreme Court found that it was irrelevant that the driver’s objection to the maintenance report was sustained where the result of the blood alcohol test was otherwise admitted and reversed the trial court’s reinstatement of driving privileges. Id.
Reinert also speaks to the second reason for my disagreement with the majority-that the officer’s failure to check a box was evidence that the officer failed to perform the test. In Reinert, the driver argued that even if the blood alcohol content was improperly excluded, the trial court’s decision must be affirmed because the reviewing “court must assume that all fact issues upon which no specific findings were made were found in accordance with the result reached.” Id. The driver argued that the trial court may have disbelieved the testimony of the officer thus, the director failed to bring forth sufficient evidence. Id. In the case before this court, the only evidence presented was Police Officer Bridge-forth’s testimony. Deference to the trial court’s findings is not required where the evidence is uncontroverted and, as it was before us, there is no conflict in the facts. Hawk v. Director of Revenue, 943 S.W.2d 18, 22 (Mo.App.1997). As in Reinert, Officer Bridgeforth was “unequivocal” in his testimony that he performed the particular test, and he was the sole witness at trial, a *168fact noted by the Reinert court. Reinert, 894 S.W.2d at 164. The trial court’s decision allowing evidence of the driver’s BAC, over objection, should not now be construed as a credibility call because a box was not checked on the maintenance report. It seems to me, more likely than not, that the trial court ruled the objection on procedural grounds, not whether it disbelieved Officer’s Bridgeforth’s testimony that he had checked the simulator temperature. In sum, it is too great of a stretch under the factual scenario here, to affirm pursuant to Rule 73.06(a)(3), that if there is no finding by the trial court, all fact issues shall be considered in accordance with the result reached. In doing so we speculate as to the basis of the trial court’s ruling in order to justify its ruling.
As this court noted in Young, “[a] court that favors the form or content of the official reports over witness testimony on the trial de novo so as to preclude evidence from the arresting officer as Young contends for invites error.” 835 S.W.2d at 335. This court continued “[t]o void a suspension at the trial de novo on flaws in literal procedural observances flouts the legislative purpose, ‘to expeditiously remove the most dangerous drunk drivers from Missouri roadways.’” Id. (quoting Collins v. Director of Revenue, 691 S.W.2d 246, 252 (Mo.banc 1985)). In Young, the police officer filled out the report on unofficial forms not prescribed by the division of health. 835 S.W.2d at 333-34. The Driver argued that in order for the chemical test to be valid it must be performed in accordance with the “methods, devises and standards” approved by the Missouri Department of Health as required by §577.026(1) and §577.037.4, RSMo. 1994. The court noted that to prove that the test results are invalid, there must be evidence of a malfunction. Id. at 335. Here, as in Young, there was no evidence of a machine malfunction or even a claim that the test results were invalid.1
The cases of Shine, 807 S.W.2d 160, Young, 835 S.W.2d 332, and Bautista, 843 S.W.2d 1, all stand for the proposition that failing to check a box on an official form will not invalidate the test results if there is evidence to support the test. In all three cases, the police officers used the incorrect forms and, thus, did not mechanically check the boxes on the official forms regarding the certification of the machine. After the blood alcohol test was administered in Shine, the officer failed to check the four boxes which certified that there was no deviation from the approved procedures, that the instrument was functioning properly, and that he was authorized to operate the instrument. 807 S.W.2d at 161. At trial, the defendant did not question the accuracy of the test, the qualifications of the officer, or the proper functioning of the machine. Id. at 162. However, the officer testified that he followed each of the steps set out in the checklist and even though he did not mechanically check the boxes on the form, he made the certifications that appeared on the checklist. Id. at 161. As in the case before us, the trial court expressed no findings showing “an affirmative opinion as to the officer’s credibility or the driver’s intoxicated state,” Id. at 163. The Eastern District court found the sum of the evidence sufficient to show that Shine may have been guilty of driving while intoxicated, and remanded the cause for a new trial. Id. at 163. Likewise, in Young, some of the boxes were not checked by the officer, but this court held that the prima facie proof of the director’s case is not confined to the reports and records available, but rather may be *169proved by all available evidence. 835 S.W.2d at 335. See also Bautista (ruling that the officer testified that she followed all of the necessary steps and such testimony eliminates any alleged deficiency for lack of boxes being checked.). 843 S.W.2d at 3.
My disagreement boils down to the fact that one cannot set up a credibility issue on the fact that an officer failed to check a box concerning the temperature of the solution used in the machine. Under these facts, an unchecked, box does not prove that the machine malfunctioned. It may prove that the officer forgot to check the box, or it may even prove that the temperature was not checked. It cannot be inferred, however, that the machine malfunctioned. See Thurman v. Director of Revenue, 745 S.W.2d 260, 262 (Mo.App.1988)(ruling that the fact that the breathalyzer had not been calibrated for three weeks before the driver’s arrest did not prove that it malfunctioned); Bradford v. Director of Revenue, 735 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Mo.App.1987)(finding that the wrong date on the breath analysis printout was not evidence of malfunction of the machine).
It should be noted that the driver neither argued here nor presented any evidence in the trial court that the unchecked box was evidence that the temperature test was not conducted or, more importantly, that it was evidence that the machine malfunctioned. Furthermore, as discussed supra, the trial court made no finding that the machine was not properly tested for temperature when it made its terse statement that the director failed to meet its burden. “Without findings of fact we cannot determine on the record before us whether the trial court’s action was supported by substantial evidence.” Frank v. Director of Revenue, 925 S.W.2d 477, 480(Mo.App.1996) (citing Thurman, 745 S.W.2d at 262.
Simply stated, the driver must rebut with evidence, and not merely point out an inconsistency. Anderson, 969 S.W.2d at 903; Hurley, 982 S.W.2d at 697. Finally, this court has no idea what the respondent’s contention is on this matter, as he has not filed a brief with us. Fitzgerald v. Director of Revenue, 922 S.W.2d 478, 479 n.3 (Mo.App.1996). While he has no legal obligation to file a brief with the court, the failure to present one’s position, leaves us to decide the case without the driver’s argument and authorities. Id. It is the majority that has fettered out this credibility issue and developed the argument that the trial court relied on an unchecked box to determine that the officer did not test the temperature. I believe that the unchecked box, in light of all factors, simply fails to meet the substantial evidence standard upon which a court may base a decision that the breathalyzer test was in accurate. It is a case where an officer failed to check one out of over 150 boxes provided on forms that comply with the Department of Health regulations. There must be some probative evidence that the failure to check a box definitely resulted from a malfunction of the test results, not simply that it may have.
Deference to the findings of the trial court is not required where the evidence is uncontroverted, and the case is virtually one of admitted facts or where the evidence is not in conflict. See Epperson v. Director of Revenue, 841 S.W.2d 252, 255 (Mo.App.1992). For example, in Hedrick v. Director of Revenue, there was evidence from the defendant on the issue of the officer’s probable cause to arrest. 839 S.W.2d 300, 302 (Mo.App. 1992). The driver testified that he did not believe that he was weaving between lanes at a high rate of speed. Id. There was also evidence from the arresting officer sustaining probable cause for the arrest. Id. at 301-02. The trial court found in the driver’s favor and ordered reinstatement of his license. This court reversed and ordered the trial court to reinstate the director’s order because the defendant’s evidence did not defeat any of the elements for which the director *170bore the burden. Id. at 303. See also Thurman, 745 S.W.2d at 262.
In Anderson, the trial court found in favor of the driver because the permit holder’s number on the Maintenance Report was not that of the permit number of the individual who completed the form. 969 S.W.2d at 901. The appellate court stated that the director satisfied its prima facie burden by proving that there was probable cause of the arrest, and that the alcohol concentration in the driver’s blood was .10 percent or greater. Id. at 901-02 (citing §302.505 and §302.530, RSMo 1994). The blood alcohol is established upon a showing that: “(1) the test was performed by following approved techniques and methods of the Division of Health; (2) the operator held a valid permit [the contested issue in Anderson]; and (3)the equipment and devises were approved by the Division.” Id. at 902 (quoting Sellenrick v. Director of Revenue, 826 S.W.2d 338, 340-41 (Mo.1992)). Once the director has shown that there was probable cause for the arrest and that the blood alcohol was .10 percent or greater, the burden shifts to the driver to rebut the state’s prima facie case by a preponderance of the evidence. Id. The court cautioned against submitting a case on the records alone, as was done in Anderson, because of the “risk of the inability to explain discrepancies.” Id. (citing Smith v. Director of Revenue, 948 S.W.2d 219, 222 (Mo.App.1997); Cannon v. Director of Revenue, 895 S.W.2d 302, 306 (Mo.App.1995)). The director in the case before us did just that by having the police officer explain that he tested the temperature, although he failed to check the box.
The challenge in Anderson, was that the state’s evidence failed because it did not meet the requirement of a maintenance check of the breath test machine within 35 days, because the permit number on the maintenance form was different than that of the Type II permit that the director submitted. 969 S.W.2d at 902. The trial court agreed that there was not enough evidence to prove that the machine had been properly maintained. Id. This court held that an incorrect permit number does not invalidate a maintenance check, Id. at 903. In order to do this, the driver must prove that the machine was not inspected by a Type II permit holder at least 35 days prior to the breath test. Id. In order to rebut the prima facie case, Anderson would have to offer proof that the machine had not been inspected within 35 days. Id. Thus, Anderson did not rebut the prima facie case of the director. Id. See also Bradford, 735 S.W.2d at 208 (recording the wrong date on the breathalyzer printout did not invalidate the test results.) Finally, in Hurley, the evidence showed that the records were incorrectly completed by the police officer in that the hour of the test was incorrect, and the lot number for the simulator solution was wrong. 982 S.W.2d at 696. The court held that evidence of inconsistencies did not rebut by a preponderance of the evidence that the machine malfunctioned. Id. at 697.
For these reasons, I would reverse the trial court’s decision.

. The respondent has never, at any point in the process, challenged the test results. The majority suggests that it is a fair inference, and it may be, that the tenor of counsel’s voir dire examination would suggest that he claims that the blood alcohol test result was skewed. However, there is nothing in the record that such a contention was made in the trial court-by way of argument or evidence-and, not having been favored with a brief from the driver on appeal, it is a tenuous inference that the majority clings to in order to sustain the reinstatement of driver’s privileges.