People v. Ehley

887 N.E.2d 772, 381 Ill. App. 3d 937, 320 Ill. Dec. 628, 2008 Ill. App. LEXIS 392
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 21, 2008
Docket4-07-0150
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 887 N.E.2d 772 (People v. Ehley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Ehley, 887 N.E.2d 772, 381 Ill. App. 3d 937, 320 Ill. Dec. 628, 2008 Ill. App. LEXIS 392 (Ill. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinions

JUSTICE MYERSCOUGH

delivered the opinion of the court:

In October 2006, defendant, Earl G. Ehley, was involved in a motor-vehicle accident and transported to the emergency room at Carle Hospital. Once there, medical personnel performed chemical testing on defendant’s blood, which revealed a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.204. Thereafter, Deputy Jeff Verckler of the Champaign County sheriff’s department arrested defendant for driving under the influence (DUI) (625 ILCS 5/11 — 501 (West 2006)) of alcohol, read him the warning-to-motorists notice, and requested defendant submit to chemical testing but did not tell defendant of the test performed by medical personnel. Defendant refused to submit to chemical testing. After the Secretary of State suspended defendant’s license for the refusal, defendant filed a petition to rescind his statutory summary suspension. Following a hearing, the trial court found defendant failed to make a prima facie case for rescission and granted the State’s motion for a directed finding.

On appeal, defendant argues that once blood is drawn and tested pursuant to emergency medical treatment, implied consent is satisfied and no further request for chemical testing by law enforcement is necessary or appropriate. This argument requires an examination of two sections of the Illinois Vehicle Code (Vehicle Code) (625 ILCS 5/11 — 501.1, 11 — 501.4(a) (West 2006)). Section 11 — 501.1 of the Vehicle Code (625 ILCS 5/11 — 501.1 (West 2006)) (the law-enforcement-directed testing provision) provides as follows: (1) an arresting officer may request that a motorist submit to chemical testing; (2) a motorist’s refusal to submit to testing will result in statutory summary suspension; and (3) the test results are admissible in any civil or criminal action arising out of the DUI arrest. 625 ILCS 5/11— 501.1(a), (c) (West 2006). Section 11 — 501.4(a) of the Vehicle Code (625 ILCS 5/11 — 501.4(a) (West 2006)) (the medical-personnel-directed testing provision) provides that the results of chemical testing performed by medical personnel — but not at the request of the arresting officer — while a person is receiving medical treatment in a hospital emergency room for injuries resulting from a motor-vehicle accident are admissible in criminal prosecutions for DUI. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

On October 7, 2006, defendant was arrested for DUI (625 ILCS 5/11 — 501(a)(2) (West 2006)). The arresting officer, Deputy Verckler, prepared a sworn report indicating defendant refused to submit to chemical testing. The sworn report identified the following as reasonable grounds for believing defendant violated section 11 — 501 of the Vehicle Code: (1) defendant was at fault in a two-vehicle accident when he ran a red light; (2) defendant had an odor of alcohol on his breath and a bar stamp on his hand; and (3) blood taken at the hospital for emergency treatment disclosed a BAC of 0.204. The citation issued to defendant indicated personal injury (“driver injury only” was not marked on the citation) had occurred as a result of the accident. Thereafter, the office of the Secretary of State notified defendant that his driver’s license was suspended for three years, effective November 22, 2006.

On December 4, 2006, defendant filed a petition to rescind the statutory summary suspension. Defendant asserted that he did not refuse to submit to or fail to complete chemical testing upon the request of the arresting officer.

On January 26, 2007, the trial court held a hearing on defendant’s petition to rescind the statutory summary suspension. Defendant testified that on October 7, 2006, he was involved in a motor-vehicle accident that rendered him unconscious. Defendant was taken by ambulance to the hospital and admitted to the intensive-care unit (ICU). Defendant had no recollection of having a conversation with a police officer. Defendant did not recall being asked to give a breath or blood test or consenting or refusing to consent to such testing. Before defendant left the hospital, a nurse told him that his blood had been tested to determine his BAC.

On cross-examination, defendant recalled that on Saturday, October 6, 2006, from approximately 9 p.m. to 11:45 p.m., he was at a bar. He drank eight beers. Defendant recalled driving toward the railroad tracks on Airport Road and trying to stop. The next thing he remembered was waking up in the ICU.

After defendant’s testimony, the State moved for a directed finding. Because defendant recalled nothing, the State argued he had failed to make a prima facie case that he did not refuse chemical testing. The State pointed out that the arresting officer’s sworn report indicated defendant’s blood had been drawn and testing disclosed a BAC of 0.204. The State argued, however, that this did not demonstrate defendant consented because it was not chemical testing performed at the request of the arresting officer.

Defendant argued he made a prima facie case that he did not refuse chemical testing. Defendant argued that Deputy Verckler knew defendant’s BAC when he completed his report. Defendant claimed that Deputy Verckler’s report, indicating defendant refused testing, was “disingenuous at best.”

The trial court noted that defendant had presented no evidence indicating that the chemical test disclosing the 0.204 BAC was administered at the direction of the arresting officer as provided in section 11 — 501.1(a) of the Vehicle Code (625 ILCS 5/11 — 501.1(a) (West 2006) (providing that any person who drives a motor vehicle is deemed to have given consent to testing to determine whether he is intoxicated and that such test “shall be administered at the direction of the arresting officer”)). The court asked defendant what evidence he presented would enable the court to make that finding.

Given the evidence that the citations were issued and defendant’s BAC had been obtained before he left the hospital, defendant argued he could reasonably assume that he had consented. Defendant stated that if testimony from the officer was necessary, he wanted to reopen the evidence. Over the State’s objection, the trial court allowed defendant to reopen the evidence.

Deputy Verckler testified that on October 7, 2006, he investigated an accident that occurred on Airport Road in Champaign County. Deputy Verckler briefly talked to witnesses at the scene, had the vehicles towed, and took a few measurements. Thereafter, Deputy Verckler went to Carle Hospital to make contact with defendant.

Upon his arrival at the hospital, Deputy Verckler spoke to hospital staff about defendant’s condition and asked the staff whether blood had been taken. Hospital staff told him defendant’s BAC was 0.204.

Deputy Verckler went to the ICU to see defendant. Defendant had four or five nurses working around him. Defendant had a breathing tube down his throat, and his arms were restrained because he was struggling with the nurses.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
887 N.E.2d 772, 381 Ill. App. 3d 937, 320 Ill. Dec. 628, 2008 Ill. App. LEXIS 392, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-ehley-illappct-2008.