Commonwealth v. Brackin

59 Pa. D. & C.2d 58, 1972 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 250
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County
DecidedAugust 3, 1972
Docketno. 598 of 1970
StatusPublished

This text of 59 Pa. D. & C.2d 58 (Commonwealth v. Brackin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Brackin, 59 Pa. D. & C.2d 58, 1972 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 250 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1972).

Opinions

BECKERT, J.,

We have before us for disposition, defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence resulting from a breathalyzer test administered him pursuant to the Act of December 22, 1969, P. L. 392, sec. 1, 75 PS §624.1, he having been indicted for operating a motor vehicle while under the [59]*59influence of intoxicating liquor in violation of the Act of April 29, 1959, P. L. 58, sec. 1037, 75 PS §1037. Defendant contends that this evidence should be suppressed and held inadmissible at trial, because of the failure of the police officer to advise him of his right to have a physician of his own choosing then and there administer a breath or blood chemical test, in addition to the breathalyzer test which they performed. In order that the court, rather than a single judge, decide this question in this county, the matter was placed on the argument list and argued before the court en banc.

The act authorizing the use of a breathalyzer provides that any person who operates a motor vehicle or tractor, in this Commonwealth, shall be deemed to have given his consent to a chemical test of his breath for the purpose of determining alcoholic content of his blood. Subsection (g) of the aforesaid act provides that the person tested shall be permitted to have a physician of his own choosing then and there administer a breath or blood chemical test in addition, and the results of such test shall also be admissible in evidence. The act further provides that if any person is placed under arrest and charged with the operation of a motor vehicle or tractor while under the influence of intoxicating liquor and is thereafter requested to submit to a chemical test and refuses to do so, the test shall not be given, but the secretary may suspend his license or permit to operate a motor vehicle or tractor with or without a hearing. The act further provides in subsection (h) that the refusal to submit to a chemical test may be admitted into evidence as a factor to be considered in determining innocence or guilt.

This question has been the subject matter of other decisions at the nisi prius level. The question has not [60]*60been resolved by the appellate courts in this Commonwealth. The Commonwealth Court in Commonwealth v. Gallagher, 3 Com. Ct. 371 (1971), held that the failure to advise of this right was not an impediment to a suspension of operator’s privileges, where appellant had refused to take the breathalyzer test and thereupon had his operator’s privileges suspended under and pursuant to this act. This decision, however, does not answer the question before us, because the Gallagher court was dealing with a license suspension casé, rather than a criminal case wherein the burden of proof is different. Furthermore, Gallagher was based to some extent upon the proposition that the right to operate a motor vehicle is a privilege, rather than a constitutionally protected property right. This doctrine is rather difficult, at the present time, to preach in view of the language in Bell v. Burson, 402 U.S. 535 (1971).

Without any hesitancy on our part, we can find that the taking of defendant’s breath for the purpose of the breathalyzer test does not constitute a violation of defendant’s protection against self-incrimination as spelled out in the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The taking of blood from a defendant for the purpose of a determination of the blood alcohol content is not such protective activity. See Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 16 L. Ed. 2d 908, 86 S. Ct. 1826 (1966); Commonwealth v. Tanchyn, 200 Pa. Superior Ct. 148 (1963); Commonwealth v. Statti, 166 Pa. Superior Ct. 577 (1950), and Commonwealth v. Bozzo, 13 Bucks 181 (1963). Therefore, it would follow that the taking of his breath would not constitute such testimonial evidence as to fall within the protections of the Fifth Amendment, any more than the taking of his clothes for chemical testing or his fingerprints would: Commonwealth v. [61]*61Aljoe, 420 Pa. 198 (1966) and Commonwealth v. Statti, supra.

With equal force, we can document our statement that the taking of defendant’s breath constitutes a search and seizure: Schmerber v. California, supra; and Commonwealth v. Irvin, 41 D. & C. 2d 301 (1966) on (taking of blood held to be search and seizure); Commonwealth v. Jefferson, 445 Pa. 1 (1971), (taking of fingerprints for evidential purposes); Commonwealth v. Aljoe, supra, (taking clothes for chemical analysis and evidentiary purposes); and State v. Swiderski, 94 N.J. Super. Ct. 14, 226 A.2d 728 (1967), which specifically held that a breathalyzer test to determine a subject’s intoxication constituted a search of his person.

Be that as it may, we cannot agree with the holding of Commonwealth v. Dierkes, 51 D. & C. 2d 389 (1970), that the duty of the arresting officer to advise defendant that he has a right to have a physician of his own choosing then and there administer a breath or blood test, in addition to the Commonwealth’s breathalyzer test, rises to the height of a constitutional right. The statement that this right is not one of constitutional stature should not be construed or interpreted as our holding that a defendant so situate as this defendant does not have the constitutional right to be examined by a doctor of his own choosing following his arrest. The refusal of a request by defendant for such an examination, whether it be of his breath, blood or any other type of examination, would most certainly be a denial of due process. See 78 A.L.R. 2d 905. We fail to see, however, how the failure to advise a defendant of that right could rise to constitutional dimensions.

To our way of thinking, a constitutional right means a right guaranteed to a citizen by the Constitution and is so guaranteed as to prevent legislative interfer[62]*62ence. The Constitution does not place a burden upon an arresting officer to advise a defendant of all of the possible defenses that he might have, or all of the possible trial stratagems that are open to him. Defenant, in the exercise of his own common sense, has the right to seek such aid as he believes to be helpful to him. The constitutional guarantee flowing to a defendant is that no officer of the law can constitutionally prevent or refuse defendant of the right and opportunity to avail himself of certain protections and defenses. The Constitution does not guarantee that police officers, or others in authority, must suggest to a defendant every possible avenue that may be of any benefit to him in the course of defending himself against the crime for which he has been charged. To state the above in slightly different language, there is an affirmative duty upon an officer of the law to advise those charged with crimes of rights guaranteed in the Constitution, such as the right to counsel, the right against self-incrimination and other fundamental rights specifically spelled out therein, but, beyond those specifically designated rights, there does not exist an affirmative duty to advise one charged with a crime as to purely statutory rights, unless the statute expressly requires it: People v. Kerrigan, 154 N.W. 2d 43, 45 (8 Mich. App. 216) (1967)).

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Related

Mapp v. Ohio
367 U.S. 643 (Supreme Court, 1961)
Escobedo v. Illinois
378 U.S. 478 (Supreme Court, 1964)
Schmerber v. California
384 U.S. 757 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Bell v. Burson
402 U.S. 535 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Commonwealth v. Gordon
246 A.2d 325 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1968)
People v. Kerrigan
154 N.W.2d 43 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1979)
Commonwealth v. Petrisko
275 A.2d 46 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1971)
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275 A.2d 852 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1971)
Commonwealth v. Aljoe
216 A.2d 50 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1966)
Commonwealth v. Clark
279 A.2d 41 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1971)
Commonwealth v. Fox
282 A.2d 341 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1971)
Commonwealth v. Nicholls
217 A.2d 768 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1966)
Commonwealth v. Harris
239 A.2d 290 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1968)
Commonwealth v. Jefferson
281 A.2d 852 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1971)
Commonwealth v. Burns
257 A.2d 74 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1969)
Commonwealth v. Cockfield
190 A.2d 898 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1963)
Commonwealth v. Bosurgi
190 A.2d 304 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1963)
Commonwealth v. Jones
286 A.2d 892 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1971)
Commonwealth v. Smyser
211 A.2d 59 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1965)
Commonwealth v. Tanchyn
188 A.2d 824 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1963)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
59 Pa. D. & C.2d 58, 1972 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 250, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-brackin-pactcomplbucks-1972.