Disabatino v. State

808 A.2d 1216, 2002 Del. Super. LEXIS 21, 2002 WL 334895
CourtSuperior Court of Delaware
DecidedFebruary 27, 2002
DocketID No. 0006005759
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 808 A.2d 1216 (Disabatino v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Disabatino v. State, 808 A.2d 1216, 2002 Del. Super. LEXIS 21, 2002 WL 334895 (Del. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JURDEN, J.

The matter before the Court is an appeal of a decision of the Court of Common Pleas finding the Appellant, Pamela G. DiSabatino, guilty of Driving Under the Influence in violation of 21 Del. C. § 4177(a). For the reasons that follow, the decision of the Court of Common Pleas is AFFIRMED.

I. Procedural and Factual Background

At 12:12 a.m. on May 21, 2000, Delaware State Police Trooper Eric T. Huston was dispatched to investigate a reported motor vehicle collision at the intersection of Harmony Road and Delaware Route 2 in New Castle County. When Trooper Huston arrived at the scene at 12:22 a.m. he found DiSabatino standing beside a damaged 1989 gray Ford Mustang. Trooper Huston questioned DiSabatino about the accident and asked for her license, registration and insurance information. DiSabatino’s license indicated her date of birth was January 20, 1980, and he therefore concluded DiSabatino was twenty years old. DiSabatino told Trooper Huston that she lost control of her vehicle as she was attempting to turn left from westbound Delaware Route 2 onto southbound Harmony Road. DiSabatino reported that she struck a center median curb, bounced off the curb and then came to rest after striking a “caution” sign. Huston detected the smell of alcohol on DiSabatino’s breath and noticed her eyes were glassy and bloodshot. Based upon these observations, Trooper Huston asked if she had consumed any alcohol. She admitted that she had consumed a couple of beers. Trooper Huston concluded that there was probable cause to believe DiSabatino had violated 21 Del. C. § 4177(L), zero tolerance for underage consumption. Violation of the zero tolerance statute requires evidence demonstrating a blood alcohol concentration of .02 or more.1 At this point, Trooper Huston took DiSabatino into custody and transported her to Troop 6 for further investigation of the suspected zero tolerance violation.

At Troop 6, Trooper Huston gave DiSa-batino Miranda warnings. This occurred at 1:12 a.m. He then questioned DiSabati-no further about the accident. She admitted that she consumed two or three “Miller Lite” beers at Valley’s restaurant between 10:30 p.m. and 10:45 p.m. and left Valley’s between 11:00 p.m. and 11:10 p.m. DiSaba-tino told Trooper Huston that she was driving when the accident occurred. She also told him the accident occurred at 11:30 p.m. Trooper Huston administered field coordination and physical tests. At 1:40 a.m. Trooper Huston administered an intoxilyzer test utilizing the Intoxilyzer 5000 machine. The result of this test was a Blood Alcohol Content (“BAC”) of .10. Because DiSabatino’s BAC was .10 within four hours of driving, she was charged with violating 21 Del. C. § 4177(a)(5) (Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence) and 21 Del. C. § 4176 (Careless or Inattentive Driving).

DiSabatino pled not guilty to both charges and waived her right to a jury trial. A bench trial commenced in the [1220]*1220Court of Common Pleas on the above charges on February 1, 2001 and continued on March 5, 2001. At the conclusion of the trial, the Court found DiSabatino guilty of Driving Under the Influence and not guilty of Inattentive Driving. This appeal followed.

DiSabatino raises four issues on appeal. First, she asserts that Trooper Huston’s failure to Mirandize her at the scene prior to interviewing her required the exclusion of all statements made by her at the scene as well as the results of Trooper Huston’s subsequent investigation. Second, because an internal calibration test of the Intoxilyzer 5000 machine yielded a result of .28 at the time DiSabatino’s breathalyzer test was administered, the State was unable to establish that the Intoxilyzer 5000 machine was operating properly at the relevant time and therefore the result should not have been admitted into evidence. Third, DiSabatino’s BAC of .10 represented an actual result somewhere in the range of .09 to .11, thus creating a reasonable doubt as to whether she was legally impaired at the time of the collision. Finally, because the BAC was administered two hours after DiSabatino had last driven, it failed to establish that she was “under the influence” while driving.

In response, the State asserts that the trial court properly denied DiSabatino’s motion to suppress as untimely because she failed to file a written pre-trial motion to suppress pursuant to Court of Common Pleas rules. Second, the State argues that through its expert, State Chemist David Sockrider, it was able to establish that the Intoxilyzer 5000 machine was working accurately and properly at the time of DiSabatino’s intoxilyzer test. Third, the State points to the plain language of 21 Del. C. § 4177(g), which precludes any consideration of a margin of error inherent in the test. Finally, the State argues that 21 Del. C. § 4177(a)(5) was properly applied to DiSabatino and is constitutional.

II. Standard and Scope of Review

Statutory authority provides for appellate review by the Superior Court of decisions rendered by the Court of Common Pleas.2 “Such appeal to the Superior Court shall be reviewed on the record and shall not be tried de novo.”3 In reviewing appeals from the Court of Common Pleas, this Court sits as an intermediate appellate court.4 Accordingly, its purpose reflects that of the Supreme Court.5 This Court’s role is to “correct errors of law and to review the factual findings of the court below to determine if they are sufficiently supported by the record and are the product of an orderly and logical deductive process.”6 The Court may “review de novo questions of law involved in the case.”7

III. Discussion

A. Suppression of Statements and Fruits of Subsequent Investigation

At trial, during the State’s case-in-chief, the State attempted to elicit testimo[1221]*1221ny from Trooper Huston on direct examination regarding statements DiSabatino made at the scene of the accident. Before Trooper Huston could answer, defense counsel objected, stating:

Your Honor, I’m going to object to anything that she said unless they Miran-dized her ahead of time. The facts in this case are that ... [Trooper Huston] was not the first officer at the scene. She was placed into custody by a county officer, and so, anything he asks her has to be Mirandized.8

Defense counsel told the Court that DiS-abatino was prepared to establish through her testimony that a County Police officer who arrived first on the scene effectively placed DiSabatino under arrest. The State objected to the untimeliness of defendant’s suppression motion and argued that DiSabatino was not in custody at the time the statements were given, but was only being detained by the County Police officer pending arrival of the State Police to investigate the accident.

It is undisputed that prior to trial defense counsel was provided with a copy of the Accident Report, Alcohol Influence Report and the Intoxilyzer 5000 printout. These documents included statements made by DiSabatino to Trooper Huston at the scene and later at Troop 6 during the zero tolerance investigation.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
808 A.2d 1216, 2002 Del. Super. LEXIS 21, 2002 WL 334895, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/disabatino-v-state-delsuperct-2002.