Commonwealth v. Ennels

167 A.3d 716, 2017 Pa. Super. 217, 2017 WL 2954227, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 510
Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided July 11, 2017·No. Com. v. Ennels, J. No. 1895 MDA 2016·Published·Cited by 59 cases

Opinions

OPINION BY

MOULTON, J.:

The Commonwealth appeals from the October 19, 2016 order entered by the Berks County Court of Common Pleas granting Appellee John Lamonte Ennels’ motion to suppress the results of a war-rantless blood test.1 On appeal, the Commonwealth makes two arguments: (1) that the ban on warrantless blood tests set out in Birchfield v. North Dakota, — U.S. -, 136 S.Ct. 2160, 195 L.Ed.2d 560 (2016), does not apply to those suspected of driving under the influence (“DUI”) of controlled substances, as opposed to alcohol; and (2) that, in any event, Ennels’ consent to the test was not tainted by an inaccurate warning of the consequences of refusal. Because we disagree with both contentions, we affirm.

The trial court set forth the following facts:

1. On or about Saturday, March 12, 2016, Reading Police Officer Marco Rodriguez responded to the 1098 block of Penn Street in the City of Reading for a reported vehicle accident.
2. At that time, police were advised via dispatch that one of the vehicles involved in the accident was attempting to leave the scene.
3. Officer Contreras[2] initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle that was reportedly leaving the scene.
4. The driver of that vehicle was identified to be .,. Ennels.
5. Officer Rodriguez parked his patrol car in front of [Ennels’] vehicle and Officer Contreras’ patrol car was parked behind [Ennels’] vehicle.
6. As per Officer Rodriguez’s testimony, he parked his car in front of [Ennels’] car “to prevent the vehicle from attempting to leave again.”
7. At that time, the officer noted the overwhelming smell of marijuana emanating from the vehicle.
8. Officer Rodriguez asked [Ennels] to step out of the vehicle.
9. The vehicle was searched and a partially-smoked blunt of what was later determined to be marijuana was found inside the vehicle.
[718]*71810. As a result of the traffic stop, [En-nels] was arrested for DUI and transported to St. Joseph’s Medical Center.
11. [Ennels’] vehicle was towed from the scene of the accident because he was taken into custody, officers determined that [Ennels’] license was suspended, and there were no available drivers to remove the vehicle from the scene of the accident.
12. At approximately 20:27 hours, Officer'Rodriguez asked [Ennels] to submit to a blood draw and read the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation DL-26 form to [Ennels].
13. [Ennels] signed the DL-26 form in the presence of Officer Rodriguez.
14. The DL-26 form was admitted into evidence as Commonwealth Exhibit 2.
15. [Ennels] submitted to chemical blood testing at 20:43 hours.
16. At that time, [Ennels] did not express any hesitation or concern with the DL-26 warnings.
17. After [Ennels’] blood was drawn, he was transported home by Officer Contreras.

Findings of Fact arid Conclusions of Law in Disposition of Defendant’s Omnibus Pretrial Motion, 10/19/16, at 2-3 (“Suppression Op.”).

On March 12, 2016, Ennels was charged with DUI (controlled substance) and DUI (general impairment).3 On August 1, 2016, Ennels filed a motion to suppress the results of the blood test. On September 2, 2016, the trial court conducted a hearing and, on October 19, 2016, it granted the motion. The Commonwealth filed a timely notice of appeal.

The Commonwealth raises the following issues on appeal:

A. Did the trial court err in suppressing evidence of [Ennels’] blood test results pursuant to Birchfield v. North Dakota, — U.S. -, 136 S.Ct. 2160, 195 L.Ed.2d 560 (2016) in a drug-related DUI prosecution, where blood testing is the only available method in Pennsylvania to determine whether a suspect is driving under the influence of a controlled substance, and thus the Pennsylvania implied consent statute is wholly enforceable?
B. Did the trial court err in suppressing evidence of [Ennels’] blood test results pursuant to Birchfield v. North Dakota, — U.S. -, 136 S.Ct. 2160, 195 L.Ed.2d 560 (2016) in a drug-related DUI prosecution, where the potential penalties listed on the DL-26 form prpp-erly reflected the penalties related to drug-related DUI convictions, rendering the consent to the blood draw voluntary?

Cmwlth’s Br. at 4 (unnecessary capitalization omitted).

When reviewing the grant of a suppression motion, we must determine whether the record supports the trial court’s factual findings and “whether the legal conclusions drawn from those facts are correct.” Commonwealth v. Brown, 64 A.3d 1101, 1104 (Pa.Super. 2013) (quoting Commonwealth v. Cauley, 10 A.3d 321, 325 (Pa.Super. 2010)). We may only consider evidence presented at the suppression hearing. In re L.J., 622 Pa. 126, 79 A.3d 1073, 1085-87 (2013). In addition, because the defendant prevailed on this issue before the suppression court, we consider only the defendant’s evidence and so much of the Commonwealth’s evidence “as re[719] mains uncontradicted when read in the context of the record as a whole.” Brown, 64 A.3d at 1104 (quoting Cauley, 10 A.3d at 326). We may reverse only if the legal conclusions drawn from the facts are in error. Id.

The trial court granted Ennels’ motion to suppress the results of the blood test based on Birchñeld. Noting that (1) Birchñeld held that “implied consent laws that impose criminal penalties on drivers who refuse to submit to blood tests violate the Fourth Amendment,” Suppression Op., Cond. of Law, ¶ 10, (2) the police did not obtain a warrant prior to administration of the blood test, id. ¶ 11, and (3) the DL-26 form informed /Ennels that he could be subject to enhanced penalties if he refused the test, id. ¶¶ 13-15, the trial court concluded that Ennels’ “consent was not given freely, specifically, unequivocally, and voluntarily” and suppressed the results. Id. ¶ 18.

I. Birchñeld and Drug-Related DUI Prosecutions

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Commonwealth v. Ennels, 167 A.3d 716, 2017 Pa. Super. 217, 2017 WL 2954227, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 510 (Pa. Ct. App. 2017).

167 A.3d 716 (Commonwealth v. Ennels) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Com. v. Larosa, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Haines v. Harry
M.D. Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Navarro, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Cernick, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2022
Com. v. Kenney, E.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2021
Com. v. Haines, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2021
Com. v. Haywood, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2020
Com. v. Antill, C.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2020
Commonwealth v. Kenney
210 A.3d 1077 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019)
Com. v. Herder, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019
Commonwealth v. Geary
209 A.3d 439 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019)
Commonwealth v. Coleman
204 A.3d 1003 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019)
Com. v. Hand, T.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018
Com. v. Ott, A.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018
Com. v. Smith, R.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018
Com. v. Kulka, S.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018
Com. v. Elinsky, N.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018
Commonwealth v. McCleary
193 A.3d 387 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018)
Com. v. McElroy, M.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018
Com. v. Letendre, P.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018