Lowry v. State

768 A.2d 688, 363 Md. 357, 2001 Md. LEXIS 99
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedMarch 12, 2001
Docket36, Sept. Term, 2000
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 768 A.2d 688 (Lowry v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lowry v. State, 768 A.2d 688, 363 Md. 357, 2001 Md. LEXIS 99 (Md. 2001).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

On September 3, 1998, petitioner, Mariellen Lowry, was pulled over by Officer Douglass F. Catherman, of the Howard County Police Department, and charged generally with “driving while intoxicated” and related charges.1 At the police station, after the traffic stop, petitioner consented to a breath test for alcohol concentration and made several attempts, all but one of which were unsuccessful, to provide samples which could be analyzed by to the Howard County Police.2 In a bench trial before the District Court of Maryland, sitting in Howard County, petitioner was convicted of the lesser charge of “driving under the influence of alcohol” and the remaining traffic offenses.

Petitioner appealed to the Circuit Court for Howard County. Petitioner argued, in a motion to that court, that once she consented to the administration of a test for alcohol concentration and the breath test did not provide a percentage reading, [360]*360the State had a mandatory duty, upon her request, to administer a blood test to determine alcohol concentration, and the State’s failure to administer the blood test warranted, at the very least, a missing evidence instruction to the jury. The Circuit Court denied the request for the instruction, but did allow defense counsel to argue during closing arguments that because the State failed to produce a test result in evidence, an inference could be made that if the test had produced results, those results would have been favorable to petitioner. The jury convicted her of “driving under the influence of alcohol” and failure to display a registration card on demand.3 Petitioner presented two questions in her Petition for Certio-rari4:

I. Does Maryland’s implied consent statute, Transportation Article [section] 16-205.1, impose a mandatory duty upon officers to obtain a test for alcohol concentration when a detained person consents to the taking of a test?
II. If the court finds a duty exists, what is the appropriate remedy when an officer fails to obtain an evidentiary test for alcohol concentration?

We shall answer the second question, assuming that a duty exists, and hold that the appropriate remedy, in that event, would be the remedy afforded by the trial court in this case — permitting petitioner to argue appropriate inferences to the jury. It is, therefore, not necessary to address the first question. The appropriate remedy, under the circumstances here present, would be to allow defense counsel to argue an inference that had a blood test been subsequently adminis[361]*361tered, its results would have been favorable to petitioner. Defense counsel was afforded the opportunity, during closing argument, to argue an inference that had a blood test been administered, its results would have been favorable to petitioner. That is all to which she was entitled.

I. Facts

Petitioner testified5 that between 7:00 and 8:30 p.m. on September 3, 1998, she attended a wine and cheese reception in the office building in which she works. She further testified that at this reception she drank two glasses of Chardonnay. At approximately 8:30 p.m., she left the reception and went upstairs to her office in order to prepare for a contract presentation she was planning to give the following morning. She worked in her office until approximately 10:15 p.m. and was in her car driving home by 10:25 p.m. She testified that she was very tired from a long day at work and even tried to stop for a cup of coffee but the store was closed. At some point while driving home, she was utilizing her cellular telephone to talk with her husband. The phone disconnected and she was attempting to redial her husband’s telephone number when she looked into her rearview mirror and saw a police car with its flashing lights behind her. She initially thought that the officer was trying to pass her, but then realized that he wanted her to stop. She pulled over to the side of the road, put her car in park, and turned on her emergency flashers.

Officer Catherman testified that at approximately 11:15 p.m. while on the ramp from Route 108 to eastbound Route 32, he observed Ms. Lowry’s motor vehicle “swerve, crooked to the right, crossing the right side lane marker, the painted lane marker by a half a vehicle width. The vehicle then quickly swerved back into the center of the lane.” Officer Catherman then initiated his emergency lighting equipment and siren on [362]*362his police vehicle. The two vehicles traveled at approximately 50 miles per hour for another 0.2 miles before petitioner pulled over to the side of the road, put the car in park and turned on her four-way flashers.

Officer Catherman testified that when he approached the vehicle, the driver’s window was rolled down and he “detected a strong fruity odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from the car, from the driver’s window. [He] observed her eyes were bloodshot and watery.” When he asked petitioner for her driver’s license and registration, petitioner provided him with her license, however, she could not locate the vehicle’s registration. He “then asked her about the smell of the alcoholic beverage in her vehicle,” to which she replied “that she had not been drinking, she was just very tired.” Officer Cather-man also noted that petitioner’s speech was “slow and slurred.” At this point, he asked petitioner to exit her motor vehicle to perform several standardized field sobriety tests. Officer Catherman administered three field sobriety tests6 and subsequently informed petitioner that her performance on these tests was consistent with the presence of alcohol in the body. He further testified that petitioner responded by stating “okay, I’ll tell you the truth, I’ve had two drinks, but I’m really just tired.” At this point he determined that he had probable cause to place petitioner under arrest and had her transported to the Howard County Southern District Police Station. He further testified that her demeanor from the time of initial contact until she took the breath test was polite and cooperative.

At the police station, Officer Karen Slack advised petitioner of her rights pursuant to Maryland Code (1974, 1998 Repl. [363]*363Vol., 2000 Cum.Supp.), section 10-309(a) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article and section 16-205.1(b) of the Transportation Article7 to submit to or refuse to submit to a test to determine alcohol concentration.8 She elected to submit to the Breathalyzer test. Sergeant Mitchell, a State-certified toxicologist, administered the initial test at approximately 12:25 a.m. on September 4, 19989 by utilizing an Intoximeter 3000. As Sergeant Mitchell testified, under the regulations of the toxicologist for the State of Maryland, a test actually consists of two breath samples in order to compare the samples to ensure that the instrument is in proper working order. See Regulations of the Toxicologist Post Mortem Examiners Commission State of Maryland Regarding Tests of Breath and Blood far Alcohol (October 1, 1995) at 13-15.10 Petitioner’s first sample taken during the first test indicated a reading of 0.173, but her second sample in the first test read “insufficient breath.”11 Starting at approximately 12:44 a.m. [364]

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(2002)
87 Op. Att'y Gen. 154 (Maryland Attorney General Reports, 2002)
Lowry v. State
768 A.2d 688 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2001)

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Bluebook (online)
768 A.2d 688, 363 Md. 357, 2001 Md. LEXIS 99, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lowry-v-state-md-2001.