Commonwealth v. Brozik

527 A.2d 161, 364 Pa. Super. 80, 1987 Pa. Super. LEXIS 8205
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 29, 1987
DocketNo. 1540
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 527 A.2d 161 (Commonwealth v. Brozik) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Brozik, 527 A.2d 161, 364 Pa. Super. 80, 1987 Pa. Super. LEXIS 8205 (Pa. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

HESTER, Judge:

This appeal from judgment of sentence follows Gary Lynn Brozik’s convictions by jury of homicide by vehicle, homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, failure to report accident to police, reckless driving, failure to drive vehicle at safe speed and driving without a license. Following the denial of post-verdict motions, the court sen[82]*82tenced appellant to three and one-half to seven years imprisonment for homicide by vehicle while under the influence, and imposed no additional penalty for the other convictions. This appeal followed.

The facts of the case are as follows. On August 10,1985, at approximately 8:20 P.M., twelve year old Christian Joseph was riding his bicycle on Oliver Street in Uniontown. As he turned left into an alley, appellant's automobile struck him and sent him flying. Appellant never stopped his vehicle. Four days later, Christian Joseph died as a result of traumatic head injury.

Uniontown Police Sergeant Earl Wright and Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Howard Judy sought appellant at his residence in Lemonwood Acres Housing Project. Earlier that day, both policemen had unsuccessfully pursued appellant for reckless driving and speeding. In one incident, appellant sped away from a traffic light upon the approach of Trooper Judy, and eluded Judy in the ensuing chase. In the other incident, police officer Wright pursued appellant for speeding, but subsequently abandoned the chase.

A third officer, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Robert Allan, had also pursued appellant about three hours before the fatal accident. Trooper Allan had pulled his vehicle across appellant’s path, but appellant’s automobile jumped the sidewalk, scattering a group of pedestrians, and struck the front of the patrol car before speeding away. Trooper Allan recognized appellant as Gary Brozik.

Fifteen minutes after the Brozik vehicle struck Christian Joseph, Trooper Judy did indeed find appellant in Lemon-wood Acres with the aid of a group of neighbors standing outside. Appellant was knocking at the front door of his house, his clothing was disheveled, his trousers were urine-soaked, his speech was slurred, and his eyes were glassy and bloodshot. Judy placed appellant under arrest.

Appellant asserts that the trial court erred in permitting the introduction into evidence of the blood alcohol examination. The following facts are pertinent to this issue. Following appellant’s arrest at approximately 8:35 P.M., Troop[83]*83er Judy transported appellant to the Uniontown barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police. In keeping with departmental policy, appellant was not permitted to ingest anything. The police attempted to administer an intoxilyzer test to appellant, but when the machine malfunctioned, they took appellant to Uniontown Hospital for a blood test at approximately 10:00 P.M. A blood sample was drawn which indicated a blood alcohol content of .15%.

At the supplemental suppression hearing on December 18, 1985, the parties stipulated as follows:

[T]hat on August 10, 1985, at approximately 10:30 p.m., blood was drawn from the defendant, Mr. Brozik, at the Uniontown Hospital by medical personnel there. That blood was immediately turned over to Trooper Robert Allan, who then refrigerated the blood and kept it refrigerated until August 12, a Monday, at approximately 4:30 p.m. — or no later than 4:30 p.m. on Monday, that blood was transported to the lab at Greensburg.

Notes of Testimony (N.T.), 12/18/85, at 3. The parties further stipulated that the Greensburg laboratory had been closed on Sunday, August 11, 1985. Id. at 4.

Appellant argued in post-verdict motions, and argues here, that a blood alcohol test, as opposed to a breathalyzer test, is appropriate only when a defendant is transported to a hospital for the treatment of injuries. Since appellant did not sustain injuries, he asserts that upon the malfunction of the intoxilyzer at the Uniontown barracks, it was incumbent upon police to transport him to another state police barracks for the administration of a breathalyzer test, not to the hospital for a blood test. Second, appellant claims that since the blood sample was not transported to a laboratory within twenty-four hours, the test results were not admissible into evidence.

Appellant’s arguments are premised upon 75 Pa.C.S. § 3755(a).

§ 3755. Reports by emergency room personnel

(a) General rule. — If, as a result of a motor vehicle accident, the person who drove, operated or was in actual [84]*84physical control of the movement of any involved motor vehicle requires medical treatment in an emergency room of a hospital and if probable cause exists to believe a violation of section 3731 (relating to driving under influence of alcohol or controlled substance) was involved, the emergency room physician or his designee shall promptly take blood samples from those persons and transmit them within 24 hours for testing to the Department of Health or a clinical laboratory licensed and approved by the Department of Health and specifically designated for this purpose. This section shall be applicable to all injured occupants who were capable of motor vehicle operation if the operator or person in actual physical control of the movement of the motor vehicle cannot be determined. Test results shall be released upon request of the person tested, his attorney, his physician or governmental officials or agencies.

Thus, appellant contends, blood tests are authorized by the legislature only when a defendant is injured and requires treatment at a hospital.

The trial court determined that the conduct of police in obtaining a blood sample is governed by 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547(a), which states:

§ 1547. Chemical testing to determine amount of alcohol or controlled substance

(a) General rule. — Any person who drives, operates or is in actual physical control of the movement of a motor vehicle in this Commonwealth shall be deemed to have given consent to one or more chemical tests of breath, blood or urine for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content of blood or the presence of a controlled substance if a police officer has reasonable grounds to believe the person to have been driving, operating or in actual physical control of the movement of a motor vehicle:
(1) while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance or both; or
[85]*85(2) which was involved in an accident in which the operator or passenger of any vehicle involved or a pedestrian required treatment at a medical facility or was killed.

We agree with the trial court that there is nothing in section 1547 to indicate the legislature intended to establish a preference among the means of testing. Nor is there any reference in either section 1547 or 3755(a) that blood testing may be used only if a driver suspected of intoxication requires emergency room treatment.

While it is true that section 1547(g) of the former Motor Vehicle Code, captioned “Blood test in lieu of breath test,” supports the contention that a breath test was to be preferred to other testing, there is no such provision in the present Motor Vehicle Code, amended December 12, 1982.

We hold, based upon our reading of 75 Pa.C.S.

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Bluebook (online)
527 A.2d 161, 364 Pa. Super. 80, 1987 Pa. Super. LEXIS 8205, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-brozik-pasuperct-1987.