Commonwealth v. Cavey

11 Pa. D. & C.4th 545, 1991 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 241
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Chester County
DecidedJune 10, 1991
Docketno. 91-02641
StatusPublished

This text of 11 Pa. D. & C.4th 545 (Commonwealth v. Cavey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Chester County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Cavey, 11 Pa. D. & C.4th 545, 1991 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 241 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1991).

Opinion

SMITH, J.,

This case is before this court on appeal from the Department of Transportation’s one-year suspension of Terri Cavey’s driver’s license. A hearing was held May 9, 1991.

The transcript of the hearing reveals that Officer Soule had reasonable grounds to believe that Mrs. Cavey was driving under the influence on December 7, 1990. He placed Mrs. Cavey under arrest and issued the implied consent warning for chemical tests of her blood. Mrs. Cavey agreed to take a breath test, so Officer Soule transported her to the Media Police Department. The first test was administered without any problems and indicated a reading of 0.18 percent. Pursuant to 67 Pa. Code §77.24(1), Officer Soule attempted to administer a second breath test to Mrs. Cavey, but the test was aborted because she failed to supply sufficient air. [546]*546The printout tape read, “test refused.” The officer advised Mrs. Cavey that if she did not give the proper amount of air it would be considered a refusal and her license would be suspended for one year. The officer gave her several chances to complete the test but she still failed to supply enough air. Officer Soule advised Mrs. Cavey that he would take her to Riddle Memorial Hospital for a blood test. Mrs. Cavey’s husband told Officer Soule that his wife would not go to the hospital for a blood test; Mrs. Cavey was silent. At this point the officer processed her and the Department of Transportation suspended her license for one year.

Mrs. Cavey’s appeal raises the question of whether the refusal of an operator of a motor vehicle to submit to a second breath test to determine blood alcohol content, as required by 67 Pa. Code §77.24, violates section 1547 of our Vehicle Code,1 which requires the operator of a motor vehicle to submit to one or more chemical tests, and therefore warrants suspension of the operator’s license. After due, deliberation, we find that section 77.24, the Department of Transportation regulation requiring two breath tests, is invalid. Consequently, the Department of Transportation may not suspend a person’s driver’s license for refusal to submit to a second breath test after she has already successfully completed one breath test.2

Before the Department of Transportation promulgated 67 Pa. Code §77.24, the Supreme Court of our Commonwealth held that it was unconstitutional for a policeman to require the operator of a motor [547]*547vehicle to submit to a second breath test after a valid result was already obtained, without reasonable grounds for the request. Commonwealth, Dept. of Transportation v. McFarren, 514 Pa. 411, 525 A.2d 1185 (1987). The Supreme Court in McFarren reasoned that requesting a driver to take a second breath test, without reasonable grounds, violated Article 1, section 8 of the Constitution of our Commonwealth and Article 4 of the U.S. Constitution, which grants citizens the right to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures.3 Id. In addition, the court in McFarren held that it is not reasonable to demand a second chemical test solely for the purpose of securing more evidence to guarantee a conviction. Applying McFarren to the present case, it is clear that Officer Soule’s request was unreasonable, as he had no other reason to give Mrs. Cavey a second test except to confirm .the accuracy of the first one.

However, following the promulgation of section 77.24 in 1984, the Commonwealth Court has consistently held that McFarren is no longer applicable. See, e.g.,Bush v. Commonwealth, 112 Pa. Commw. 510, 535 A.2d 754 (1988); Commonwealth, Dept. of Transportation v. Schraf 135 Pa. Commw. 246, 581 A.2d 249 (1990). In Bush, which presented a fact situation identical to the case before us, the court held that a driver’s refusal to submit to a second breath test is a violation of section 1547 of the Vehicle Code and will result in the suspension of that person’s license. Bush v. Commonwealth, supra. The court in Bush held that McFarren was inapplicable because it concerned an incident which [548]*548occurred prior to 67 Pa. Code §77.24. The court in Bush further held that the provision requiring two consecutive actual breath tests was reasonable as a matter of law. A more recent case, Schraf, affirms the reasoning of Bush. Schraf at n.-1. In Schraf the driver submitted to a total of four breath tests; in the first, a reading of 0.139 percent was obtained, the second was inadequate, the third produced a reading of 0.158 percent, and the fourth was also inadequate. Because section 77.24 plainly requires the completion of two consecutive actual breath tests, the officer deemed the driver to have refused consent and her license was suspended. The Commonwealth Court affirmed the suspension.

If we were to apply Bush, Schraf, and other post-section 77.24 cases to the present case (since the incident in question took place after section 77.24 was in effect) we would be forced to conclude that Mrs. Cavey refused to consent to a breath test for the purpose of section 1547 of the Motor Vehicle Code and the suspension of her license must be upheld. This would clearly be an injustice, as Mrs. Cavey did in fact consent to one breath test and a valid result was obtained. We believe that a regulation which demands such a result is unreasonable. In addition, in light the Supreme Court’s opinion in McFarren, such a regulation is unconstitutional.

Title 67 Pa. Code §77.24 is not reasonable because -it penalizes the class of persons which it was designed to protect.4 While there is no legislative [549]*549history on section 77.24, it appears that it was adopted in order to protect drivers suspected of driving under the influence from being convicted on the basis of an inaccurate test result. Requiring two consecutive actual tests is one way to ensure the accuracy of the readings. Another factor in concluding that the requirement is for the driver’s benefit is that only the lower of the two readings may be used as evidence. 67 Pa. Code §77.24(b)(2). The second test may not be used for the purpose of gaining additional evidence to secure a conviction. See id.; see also, McFarren. In effect, the second breath test is a right, designed, to protect the driver. The driver should be allowed to waive this right (accepting the consequence that the first reading, if above 0.10 percent, may be used to convict her) without being penalized by having her license suspended for one year. Section 77.24, however, demands that a driver who refuses to submit to a second breath test after she has already consented to one successful test will have her license suspended for one year. This regulation, which penalizes the person whom it is supposed to protect, is not reasonable and is therefore invalid.

Section 77.24 is also invalid because it is uncon-, stitutional. In McFarren the Supreme Court held that requiring a driver to submit to a second breath test without reasonable grounds violates the constitutional right to be secure from unreasonable [550]*550searches and seizures. McFarren, supra.

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Related

Commonwealth v. Funk
385 A.2d 995 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1978)
Bortz Coal Co. v. Commonwealth
279 A.2d 388 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1971)
COM., DEPT. OF TRANSP. v. Schraf
581 A.2d 249 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1990)
Com., Dept. of Transp. v. McFarren
525 A.2d 1185 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1987)
Bush v. Commonwealth
535 A.2d 754 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)
Uniontown Area School District v. Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission
313 A.2d 156 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1973)

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Bluebook (online)
11 Pa. D. & C.4th 545, 1991 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-cavey-pactcomplcheste-1991.