Commonwealth v. Renninger

682 A.2d 356, 452 Pa. Super. 421, 1996 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2523
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 8, 1996
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 682 A.2d 356 (Commonwealth v. Renninger) 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. Renninger, 682 A.2d 356, 452 Pa. Super. 421, 1996 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2523 (Pa. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

TAMILIA, Judge:

The Commonwealth presents this appeal from the June 27,1995 Order granting appel-lee’s oral motion for judgment of acquittal following his cspviction for driving under the influence of alcohol.1 The Order was prem[357]*357ised on the fact that the blood alcohol test relied upon by the Commonwealth analyzed only the supernatant of appellee’s blood, rather than his whole blood, and the Commonwealth failed, at trial, to provide a formula for converting the alcohol content of the supernatant into the alcohol content of appel-lee’s whole blood. As set forth by the trial court, the facts of this case are as follows.

At the hearing on the Defendant’s Omnibus Pretrial Motion Trooper Curtis Cooke of the Pennsylvania State Police testified that on August 2,1994, he was assigned to the Crime Unit of the Selinsgrove Barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police. While Trooper Cooke was working in the barracks the Defendant presented himself at the barracks to file a complaint.
While Trooper Cooke was speaking with the Defendant, Trooper Cooke detected a strong odor of a [sic] alcoholic beverage about the person of the Defendant. Trooper Cooke also observed that the Defendant’s eyes were glassy and bloodshot. When the Defendant left the barracks Trooper Cooke observed the Defendant walk toward a pickup truck parked in the parking lot, but could not determine if the Defendant was driving this vehicle, or if someone else in the vehicle was operating the vehicle. Based upon his observations of the Defendant and his uncertainty as to whether the Defendant was operating the pickup truck, Trooper Cooke broadcast a radio message to the State Police cruisers on patrol, giving a description of the vehicle, the Defendant’s name, Trooper Cooke’s observations regarding the smell of alcohol, the appearance of the Defendant’s eyes, and Trooper Cooke’s concerns that the Defendant may be operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
Trooper Ricky Goodling testified that while on routine patrol as a member of the Pennsylvania State Police on August 2, 1994, he heard the radio broadcast of Trooper Cooke. Trooper Goodling testified that he had recalled seeing the vehicle that was the subject of the radio broadcast parked at the barracks previously. After the radio call from Trooper Cooke, Trooper Goodling parked some distance to the east of the barracks along U.S. Route 522, which is the highway upon which the Sel-insgrove Barracks is located. While parked there monitoring traffic he observed the Defendant’s vehicle traveling east toward Selinsgrove on U.S. Route 522. Trooper Goodling pulled out behind the Defendant’s vehicle and followed it for approximately two (2) to three (3) miles. While following the Defendant’s vehicle he observed it crossed the center line of the highway one (1) time by approximately one-half Qh) a tire width.
The Defendant turned off U.S. Route 522 onto Broad Street in Selinsgrove, and then turned and stopped his vehicle. Trooper Goodling testified that he did nothing to indicate to the Defendant that he should stop, and that the Defendant pulled into the parking lot and the parking stall, stopping his vehicle, completely on the Defendant’s own.
Trooper Goodling approached the Defendant’s vehicle. The Defendant, who was driving the pickup truck, rolled down the driver’s window before Trooper Goodling approached. When Trooper Goodling approached the Defendant he detected an odor of alcoholic beverage about the Defendant’s person. Trooper Goodling asked the Defendant to exit his vehicle and perform a preliminary breath test on a device which the Pennsylvania State Police, Sel-insgrove Barracks, maintains in the police cruisers. The test results were a .13, above the legal .10 blood alcohol limit. 75 Pa.C.S.A. Sec. 3731(a)(4) and (5). We acknowledge that such a preliminary breath test may be used only to establish probable cause to arrest.
[358]*358Trooper Goodling did not ask the Defendant to perform any field sobriety tests. He decided not to arrest the Defendant for driving under the influence of alcohol, given that the Defendant pulled into the parking lot safely, parked his vehicle, and indicated that he would leave his vehicle there and would call his wife to come and pick him up. Trooper Goodling radioed to the barracks as to what had transpired and left the Weis Market[’]s parking lot.
After Trooper Goodling’s radio call, Trooper Cook [sic] left the barracks and proceeded east on U.S. route 522, in the same direction in which- the Defendant had traveled to arrive at' the Weis Market parking lot. As Trooper Cooke proceeded he observed the Defendant operating his pickup truck in the opposite direction. This transpired approximately ten (10) minutes after the Defendant left Trooper Cooke at the barracks. Trooper Cooke, who was caught in traffic, made a radio broadcast advising those troopers on routine patrol that he observed the subject pickup truck traveling west on U.S. route 522 toward Kreamer, Pennsylvania. Trooper Cooke’s observation of the Defendant traveling west on U.S. Route 522 occurred approximately five (5) minutes after Trooper Cooke had received the radio call from Trooper Goodling.
Trooper Ryan Maxwell of the Pennsylvania State Police testified that while on routine patrol on August 2, 1994, he heard the initial radio broadcast by Trooper Cooke, the subsequent broadcast by Trooper Goodling, and the second radio broadcast from Trooper Cooke concerning Trooper Cooke’s observation of the Defendant traveling west on U.S. Route 522. Trooper Maxwell, who was also traveling west on U.S. route 522 toward Kreamer, parked his cruiser in a position where he could observe traffic traveling west on U.S. Route 522 toward Kreamer. He then observed the Defendant’s vehicle traveling west on U.S. Route 522, activated his emergency lights, and subsequently stopped the Defendant.
Trooper Maxwell approached the Defendant and asked the Defendant for his license, registration, and insurance cards. He detected an odor of alcohol on the Defendant’s breath and observed that the Defendant’s eyes were bloodshot. When Trooper Maxwell asked the Defendant for his cards the Defendant stated, “I knew I shouldn’t have done it,” or words to the effect.
Trooper Maxwell placed the Defendant under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol.

(Slip Op., Woelfel, J., 6/27/95, pp. 1-4.)

Following his arrest, appellee was transported to Evangelical Community Hospital and blood alcohol testing was conducted which, the parties stipulated at trial, revealed a blood alcohol content of .167 per cent. On December 22, 1994, appellee filed his omnibus pretrial motion, seeking, inter alia, suppression of the blood alcohol test results on the basis that the testing machine utilized, the DuPont ACA-IV, analyzed only supernatant, rather than whole blood. On January 20, 1995, a hearing on appellee’s motion was held and the court took judicial notice of two provisions of the Pennsylvania Bulletin in which the Department of Health published its certification of Evangelical Community Hospital as a laboratory approved to conduct blood alcohol testing pursuant to the Vehicle Code (N.T., 1/20/95, p. 69).2

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Bluebook (online)
682 A.2d 356, 452 Pa. Super. 421, 1996 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2523, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-renninger-pasuperct-1996.