City of Roseburg v. Dykstra

854 P.2d 985, 121 Or. App. 317, 1993 Ore. App. LEXIS 1028
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 23, 1993
Docket91CRO320MI; CA A73494
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 854 P.2d 985 (City of Roseburg v. Dykstra) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Roseburg v. Dykstra, 854 P.2d 985, 121 Or. App. 317, 1993 Ore. App. LEXIS 1028 (Or. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinions

[319]*319EDMONDS, J.

Defendant appeals from a conviction for driving while under the influence of intoxicants.1 ORS 813.010. He assigns error to the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress the Intoxilyzer test result. We affirm.

At the hearing on the motion to suppress, counsel for the parties stipulated that the only facts relevant to the motion were that defendant was afforded an opportunity to consult with counsel before taking the test, but that counsel was not allowed to be present while the test was being performed. No witnesses or other evidence were adduced. Based on the stipulated facts, defendant argues that he was denied his right to counsel at a critical stage of the proceeding, because his lawyer was not permitted to be present when the test was performed. The state argues that the trial court correctly denied the motion to suppress, because Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution requires only that a defendant be afforded a reasonable opportunity to consult with counsel before taking the test and that that opportunity was realized.

In State v. Trenary, 114 Or App 608, 836 P2d 739 (1992), aff’d on other grounds 316 Or 172, 850 P2d 356 (1993), we decided this issue. There, the defendant was not allowed to call his attorney because, according to the arresting officer, he did not ask to consult with counsel but wanted counsel to be present at the test. Because the officer did not wish to postpone the test until the attorney arrived, he did not permit the defendant to call his attorney. We analyzed the issue under section 11:

“Defendant did not have the right to have his lawyer present during the breath test. However, a suspect’s decision whether to take or refuse to take a breath test ‘is to be an informed one.’ Accordingly, defendant did have the right to try to call his attorney before deciding whether to take the test.” 114 Or App at 613. (Citations omitted.)

[320]*320Our holding in State v. Trenary, supra, is consistent with our decision in State v. Gardner, 52 Or App 663, 629 P2d 412, rev den 291 Or 419 (1981), in which we considered whether the right to consult with counsel under the Sixth Amendment included the right to have counsel monitor and be a witness to the administration of an Intoxilyzer test. We said:

“We also hold that counsel need not be present during administration of the breath test itself. In discussing the administration of scientific tests used in criminal investigation, such as fingerprinting and blood samples, the Supreme Court in United States v. Wade, [388 US 218,227-28, 87 S Ct 1926, 18 L Ed 2d 1149 (1967)], stated:
“ ‘Knowledge of the techniques of science and technology is sufficiently available, and the variables in techniques few enough, that the accused has the opportunity for a meaningful confrontation of the Government’s case at trial through the ordinary processes of cross-examination of the Government’s expert witnesses and the presentation of the evidence of his own experts. The denial of a right to have his counsel present at such analyses does not, therefore violate the Sixth Amendment; they are not critical stages since there is minimal risk that his counsel’s absence at such stages might derogate from his right to a fair trial.’
“See also, United States v. Ash, 413 US 300, 315, 93 S Ct 2568, 37 L E[d] 2d 619 (1983) (counsel not required at post-indictment photographic display); Gilbert v. California, 388 US 263, 267, 87 S Ct 1951,18 L Ed 2d 1178 (1967) (counsel not required at taking of handwriting exemplars from accused). We think that the same rationale applies to the administration of a breath test. A meaningful challenge to the evidentiary use of the test or the accuracy of its result is not dependent on counsel’s presence during the test. The officer administering the test can be cross-examined at trial. Defendant can request her own test and introduce the results at trial. Finally, defendant can challenge the accuracy of the test and the meaning of its results with her own expert witnesses. We hold that the statutory scheme does not violate defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel.” 52 Or App at 668.

The dissent would hold that defendant is entitled under section 11 to have counsel present during an Intox-ilyzer test even though he had the opportunity to consult with [321]*321counsel before taking the test, because “[i]f an arrested person’s right to counsel attaches before that person submits to a breath test, that right must continue to exist at the time of the test.” 121 Or App at 325. The dissent says that result is dictated by several precedents including State v. Spencer, 305 Or 59, 750 P2d 147 (1988), and State v. Sparklin, 296 Or 85, 672 P2d 1182 (1983).

In Spencer, the court modified its holding in State v. Newton, 291 Or 788, 636 P2d 393 (1981), which held that the right to seek the advice of counsel attaches only after a formal charge is filed. It said:

“In the present decision, however, we do not rely on the Newton ‘restriction of liberty’ theory, but on the denial of defendant’s right to counsel under the Oregon Constitution. We hold that defendant demonstrated an adequate causal relationship — if any need to be shown — by testifying that he requested an opportunity to call his attorney and that he ‘would have liked to have had’ that attorney’s advice before deciding whether to take the breath test.” 305 Or at 75-76.

Here, unlike in Spencer, defendant’s invocation of the right to consult with counsel was honored by the police. It was only after defendant had finished the consultation with his attorney and had elected to take the test that the attorney was excluded from observing the administration of the test.

The Spencer court, in quoting State v. Sparklin, supra, 296 Or at 92 n 9, said:

“There can be no question that the right to an attorney during the investigative stage is at least as important as the right to counsel during the trial itself. Where once the primary confrontation between state and individual occurred at the trial, now ‘the point at which the individual first confronts the amassed power of the state has moved back in the process from trial to the police stage.’ ” 305 Or at 73. (Citation omitted.)

From that language, the dissent concludes that the right to have counsel includes the right to have counsel present at the Intoxilyzer test to insure fairness. The logical extension of that conclusion is that section 11 guarantees the right of a defendant to have his attorney monitor every investigatory action by the police in the course of their investigation.

[322]*322That cannot be what the framers of the constitution intended. It would mean that the right to have counsel present would exist whenever the police seized blood, hair, semen, saliva, fingerprints, a handwriting exemplar or other evidence from a defendant. The resulting repetitive interruptions in the investigation would effectively stymie every police investigation.

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Bluebook (online)
854 P.2d 985, 121 Or. App. 317, 1993 Ore. App. LEXIS 1028, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-roseburg-v-dykstra-orctapp-1993.