Commonwealth v. Jackson

8 Pa. D. & C.4th 376, 1990 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 111
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Warren County
DecidedNovember 9, 1990
Docketno. 290 of 1990
StatusPublished

This text of 8 Pa. D. & C.4th 376 (Commonwealth v. Jackson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Warren County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Jackson, 8 Pa. D. & C.4th 376, 1990 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 111 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1990).

Opinion

WOLFE, P.J.,

For disposition is defendant’s pretrial motion to suppress evidence, to wit, the blood alcohol content results of 0.126 percent after defendant’s blood was extracted and tested by the Warren General Hospital following a one-car accident on June 8, 1990.

The facts as disclosed by the suppression hearing are not in dispute.

On June 8, 1990, Officer Gerald Falconer of the Conewango Township Police Department investigated a one-car collision near the Warren State Hospital on North State Street in North Warren. He stated the accident occurred at approximately 12:03 a.m., and when he arrived at the scene the fire department was spraying a vehicle which was under conflagration with very extensive damage, in that it was determined by the markings on the roadway it had failed to negotiate a curve and struck a tree. The record is silent as to the vehicle striking the tree; [377]*377however, the preliminary hearing testimony of July 17, 1990, (transcript at 13) concludes the car was against a tree on the bank of the creek, and the back end of the car was sticking out into State Street and the whole hood of the car was on fire. The officer stated the deceased passenger was lying outside of the car with a Michelob bottle lying next to his foot on the roadway. He attempted to examine the interior of the car and thought there was another beer bottle on the inside of the vehicle but could not make that conclusion as there was a lot of steam and smoke coming from the vehicle. The officer determined defendant was the operator of the vehicle after he spoke to two doctors, psychiatrists who lived on the hospital grounds and had removed defendant from behind the steering wheel.

The officer contacted the Sheriff’s Department and requested it contact the hospital and advise the hospital he would be en route and would request a blood alcohol analysis. When the officer arrived defendant was in surgery, and it was impossible to talk to him.

On the issue of probable cause to obtain a blood alcohol result, the officer, in cross-examination, stated:

“Q: What at the scene did you rely on as the basis for that request?

“A: Mostly from the magnitude of the accident, the multiple violations and the way the accident occurred at such a high rate of speed, the loss of control of the vehicle, the erratic driving, there is a very — this is a very erratic accident the way this occurred. He went into a curve two or three times, in my opinion, as fast [sic] as he should have. He slid sideways across the road leaving side slip marks, not because he lost control, because the vehicle, itself, was sliding sideways. Very severe [378]*378impact would indicate the high rate of speed and just from past experience with these types of accidents.”

Dr. Albert Doyle, M.D., employed at the hospital, was on duty in the emergency room and testified he initially treated defendant upon his arrival, that he was not requested to perform a blood alcohol test, but he did a blood alcohol test because, in his opinion, this was a trauma case, and the hospital always does such a test when there is a car accident and there is violent trauma to a person. Dr. Doyle further testified the blood alcohol test was a standard procedure in trauma cases. This witness stated on August 4 he added an addendum to his medical chart at the request of his superior, Dr. McGill, who had called him and wanted the witness to put “some note on there stating why I ordered the blood alcohol level.” The witness concluded that he ordered blood extraction for medical reasons, and the police did not ask for it.

Dr. Charles MacKenzie, M.D., the surgeon, testified he attended defendant, and that he knew that the blood extraction had been made as it was part of the trauma profile on multiple-injury cases. This witness stated the blood results are useful in a question of a head injury before the patient is put to sleep for any changes that may occur to determine if they are due to trauma inside the head or from some chemical problem.

Witness Hope Weckerly testified as a medical technologist in the laboratory that Dr. Doyle orally requested a trauma panel which consists, inter alia, of blood alcohol content. She stated it was not unusual to receive verbal orders of this nature during the course of examination.

Dr. Douglas McGill, M.D., testified he is the Director of Emergency Services, and after receiving [379]*379a letter from Mr. Smith

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Bluebook (online)
8 Pa. D. & C.4th 376, 1990 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 111, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-jackson-pactcomplwarren-1990.