Palmaka v. State

634 S.E.2d 883, 280 Ga. App. 761, 2006 Fulton County D. Rep. 2489, 2006 Ga. App. LEXIS 939
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJuly 27, 2006
DocketA06A1060
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 634 S.E.2d 883 (Palmaka v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Palmaka v. State, 634 S.E.2d 883, 280 Ga. App. 761, 2006 Fulton County D. Rep. 2489, 2006 Ga. App. LEXIS 939 (Ga. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

Mikell, Judge.

This is the second appearance of this DUI case before this Court. In State v. Palmaka1 (“Palmaka F’), we reversed the grant of Kasia C. Palmaka’s motion to suppress the results of her breath test, holding that the state satisfied its burden, under OCGA § 40-6-392 (a) (1) (A), of proving that the test, which was performed on an Intoxilyzer 5000, was conducted in accordance with methods adopted by the Division of Forensic Sciences of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (the “DFS”), and that any deviation from the operator’s manual affected the weight and not the admissibility of the results.2 We further held that the practice of waiting 20 minutes between taking samples, as outlined in the manual, was not part of the approved methods of testing which must be satisfied in order to render the results admissible,3disapproving of language to the contrary in Casey v. State 4 We noted that Casey was decided before the DFS promulgated Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 92-3-.06 (12) (b) (“Rule (12) (b)”), which provides that “administrative, procedural, and/or clerical steps performed in conducting a test shall not constitute a part of the approved method of analysis.”5 In State v. Naik,6 we took judicial notice of Rule (12) (b).7 Thus, in Palmaka I, a whole-court decision, we determined that Casey, in which we held that the trial court erred in admitting breath test results where the officer testified that he did not wait 20 minutes between samples, was inconsistent with both Rule (12) (b) and Naik.

Following our reversal of Palmaka’s motion to suppress the results of her breath test, the case proceeded to a bench trial. The parties stipulated that the test was administered in compliance with OCGA § 40-6-392 (a) (1) (A). The test results were then admitted into evidence. They reflect that two breath samples were obtained from Palmaka; the results were 0.116 and 0.120, respectively. The former officer8 who tested Palmaka testified that initially, she did not blow into the machine properly, resulting in an invalid sample; that based on his training, he was supposed to wait twenty minutes to perform another test but only waited seven minutes; and that the test results [762]*762could have been compromised by his failure to wait twenty minutes. He testified that the reason for the waiting period is to ensure that residual mouth alcohol had dissipated. On redirect examination, however, the officer testified that if, as happened here, the two test results are within 0.02 grams of each other, then mouth alcohol likely has not contaminated the sample.

The court adjudicated Palmaka guilty of violating OCGA § 40-6-391 (a) (5), which, prior to its amendment in 2001, prohibited having an alcohol concentration of 0.10 grains or more within three hours after being in actual physical control of a moving vehicle. The court gave weight and credit to the state-administered breath test results based on testimony that the small margin between the two samples was a strong indicator that no residual mouth alcohol contaminated the results.

Palmaka filed a motion for a new trial. In an amended motion, Palmaka argued that Rule (12) (b) violated the due process rights of citizens arrested for DUI in that it eliminated meaningful procedures for conducting breath tests. The court denied the motion, ruling that the elimination of “administrative, procedural, and/or clerical steps performed in conducting a test” from the approved methods for testing did not create a system which eliminated safeguards for the accuracy and reliability of the tests, in violation of the Due Process Clause of either the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution or Ga. Const, of 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Par. I. Palmaka appealed to the Supreme Court, which transferred the appeal to this Court, stating in its order that the case did not fall within its jurisdiction because it does not raise any issue regarding the constitutionality of “a law, ordinance, or constitutional provision.”9 Rule (12) (b) is not a “law, ordinance, or constitutional provision”; it is a regulation promulgated in accordance with the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”).10

In her appellate brief, Palmaka concedes that she raised the constitutional issues for the first time in an amended motion for new trial. “It is settled law that issues concerning the validity and constitutionality of statutes and regulations must be raised at the first opportunity.” 11 It has been held, for example, that it is too late to raise a challenge to the constitutionality of a statute after a guilty verdict has been returned by the jury.12 We see no reason to deviate [763]*763from this rule in the instant case, where a regulation was first attacked following the trial court’s adjudication of guilt. It follows that Palmaka’s challenge has not been preserved for appellate review.

In addition, because the regulation at issue was duly promulgated under the APA, Palmaka had an alternative remedy. “As an allegedly aggrieved individual, [Palmaka] had an available administrative remedy and could have contested the validity of the rules or procedures at issue by filing an action for a declaratory judgment. OCGA§ 50-13-10. See also OCGA § 50-13-19.”13

Finally, even if the constitutional challenge had been timely raised, we would reject it. Palmaka asserts that the absence of procedures which must be followed in the performance of the testing “renders the entire testing system vague and in violation of basic [d]ue [p]rocess protections.” The only authority cited in support of this sweeping proposition is Botts v. State,14 in which the Supreme Court held that OCGA § 17-10-17, the statute which permitted enhanced punishment for hate crimes, was unconstitutionally vague because it failed to provide fair warning of the proscribed conduct, in violation of the due process clauses of the federal and state constitutions.15 Rule (12) (b) prohibits no conduct and thus cannot be compared to the statute struck down in Botts. That case is wholly inapposite.

Moreover, Palmaka has failed to demonstrate that the DFS eliminated meaningful procedures for conducting breath tests when it promulgated Rule (12) (b).

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668 S.E.2d 495 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2008)

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Bluebook (online)
634 S.E.2d 883, 280 Ga. App. 761, 2006 Fulton County D. Rep. 2489, 2006 Ga. App. LEXIS 939, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/palmaka-v-state-gactapp-2006.