City of Jamestown v. Hanson

2015 ND 249, 870 N.W.2d 195, 2015 N.D. LEXIS 262, 2015 WL 5935492
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 13, 2015
Docket20150005
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2015 ND 249 (City of Jamestown v. Hanson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Jamestown v. Hanson, 2015 ND 249, 870 N.W.2d 195, 2015 N.D. LEXIS 262, 2015 WL 5935492 (N.D. 2015).

Opinion

KAPSNER, Justice.

[¶ 1] A jury found Jason Hanson guilty of driving under the influencé of alcohol. He appeals from the criminal judgment and the district court’s denial of his motion for a new trial. We affirm the judgment.

I

[¶ 2] A Jamestown police officer pulled Hanson’s vehicle to the side of the road after the officer observed the vehicle make a slow, wide turn and' cross the street’s center line. The officer asked Hanson to perform field sobriety tests, and Hanson agreed". After Hanson performed the tests, the officer placed him under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol. The officer then transported Hanson to the Stutsman County Correctional Center. At the correctional center, the officer read Hanson the implied consent advisory and requested Hanson submit to an Intoxilyzer 8000 breath test. Hanson indicated he believed he had no choice in the matter, and he submitted a breath sample. The City then charged Hanson with driving with a blood-alcohol content of at least .08% by volume and • driving under the influence.

[¶ 3] Before trial, Hanson moved to suppress evidence of the Intoxilyzer test on grounds that the implied consent advisory coerced him into consenting. The district court denied his motion. During trial, the City called a forensic scientist employed by the state crime lab. Over Hanson’s foundation and hearsay objections, the forensic scientist testified re *197 garding the Intoxilyzer 8000 testing procedures. The City then handed the forensic scientist a record of Hanson’s Intoxilyzer test and asked her whether she thought it was a valid 'test. The forensic scientist responded that she could not be sure because she was not present when the test was performed, but if the test record was accurate, she would consider the test valid.

[¶ 4] The City then offered ' the test record into evidence. Hanson objected claiming the City had laid an insufficient foundation for .the test record. Hanson argued the City did not submit documents showing that the methods, devices, or individual who administered the Intoxilyzer test had been approved by. the-state crime lab director or the director’s designee pursuant to the requirements of N.D.C.C. § 39-20-07. The court sustained Hanson’s objection, refused to admit the test record, and acquitted Hanson of the driving with a blood-alcohol content of .08% or greater charge. The case was submitted to the jury, and the jury found Hanson guilty of driving under the influence. Hanson subsequently moved for a new trial. The court denied his motion, and-he appeals.

II

[¶ 5] Hanson raises two. issues on appeal. He argues the district court erred when it denied his motion to suppress evidence, and the court erred when it allowed the forensic scientist to testify regarding. Intoxilyzer 8000 testing methods and the results of Hanson’s Intoxilyzer test. •

[¶ 6] “A district court’s denial of a motion for a new trial is reviewed under the abuse-of-discretion standard.” Estate of Gassmann, 2015 ND 188, ¶ 23, 867 N.W.2d 325 (citing Rittenour v. Gibson, 2003 ND 14, ¶ 13, 656 N.W.2d 691). A district court’s admission of evidence is also reviewed for an abuse.of discretion. S.L.W. v. Huss, 2014 ND 169, ¶8, 852 N.W.2d 367. “A court abuses its discretion when it acts in an arbitrary, unreasonable, or unconscionable manner, when it misinterprets or misapplies the law, or when its decision is not the product of a rational mental process leading to a reasoned determination.” Id.

III

[¶ 7] Hanson' argues the district court erred when it denied his motion to suppress evidence regarding the Intoxilyzer 8000 test because the officer’s reading of the implied consent advisory coerced him into submitting to the test. “This Court has previously'determined, in the context of post-arrest chemical tests, that the state’s implied consent statute, which criminalizes refusal, is not coercive merely by the reading of the advisory.” State v. Nagel, 2014 ND 224, ¶ 12, 857 N.W.2d 374. See also State v. Beylund, 2015 ND 27, ¶ 1, 861 N.W.2d 172; State v. Smith, 2014 ND 152, ¶ 21, 849 N.W.2d 599; McCoy v. N.D. Dep’t of Transp., 2014 ND 119, ¶ 24, 848 N.W.2d 659. Because an officer’s reading of the advisory doe's not, by itself, constitute coercion, and Hanson has not presented any evidence indicating his consent was otherwise coerced,- we find the district court’s denial of Hanson’s motion to suppress was not in error.-

IV

' [¶ 8] Hanson asserts the district court erred when it allowed the state crime lab’s forensic scientist to testify regarding the Intoxilyzer 8000 test. In support of his assertion, he offers two arguments: (1) the court erred- when it allowed the forensic scientist to testify regarding the test and its validity because the prosecution did not fulfill the requirements of N.D.G.C. § 39-20-07(5), and (2) the court erred when it *198 allowed the forensic scientist to testify from the Intoxilyzer test record because the record was not admitted into evidence.

A

[¶ 9] Hanson argues that admission of the forensic scientist’s testimony was in error because the City did not meet the requirements of N.D.C.C. § 39-20-07(5). “The admission of blood alcohol test results into evidence is governed by N.D.C.C. § 39-20-07.” Painte v. Dir., Dep’t of Transp., 2013 ND 95, ¶ 19, 832 N.W.2d 319 (citing Schlosser v. North Dakota Dep’t of Transp., 2009 ND 173, ¶ 9, 775 N.W.2d 695). The statute provides:

The results of the chemical analysis must be received in evidence when it is shown that the sample was properly obtained and the test was fairly administered, and if the test is shown to have been performed according to methods and with devices approved by the director of the state crime laboratory or the director’s designee, and by an individual possessing a certificate of qualification to administer the test issued by the director of the state crime laboratory or the director’s designee.

N.D.C.C. § 39-20-07(5). “To use this ‘shortcut’ provided in N.D.C.C. § 39-20-07, the documents and testimony must demonstrate ‘scrupulous compliance’ with the methods approved by the director of the state crime laboratory or the director’s designee.” Painte, at ¶ 20. When scrupulous compliance cannot be shown, expert testimony must be introduced to establish the test was administered fairly. Id.

[¶ 10] Hanson argues “[t]he City never put in evidence documents to show the requirements of N.D.C.C. § 39-20-07(5).” In support of his argument, he cites Frank v. Dir., N.D. Dep’t of Transp., 2014 ND 158, 849 N.W.2d 248. In Frank, this Court held an administrative hearing officer erred when he admitted Intoxilyzer test results because a proper foundation for the results was not laid. Id. at ¶ 1. Hanson relies on the same argument put forth in Frank: the requirements of N.D.C.C. § 39-20-07 were not met because the prosecution failed to show that the director of the state crime laboratory or the director’s designee approved the testing methods, device, and test operator. However, Hanson’s reliance on Frank

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Bluebook (online)
2015 ND 249, 870 N.W.2d 195, 2015 N.D. LEXIS 262, 2015 WL 5935492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-jamestown-v-hanson-nd-2015.