People v. Stone

128 Misc. 2d 1009, 491 N.Y.S.2d 921, 1985 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3046
CourtCriminal Court of the City of New York
DecidedJune 12, 1985
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 128 Misc. 2d 1009 (People v. Stone) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Criminal Court of the City of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Stone, 128 Misc. 2d 1009, 491 N.Y.S.2d 921, 1985 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3046 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1985).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Pasquale Bifulco, J.

The defendant, Thomas Stone, is charged with the violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192 (2), (3), operating a motor vehicle while in an intoxicated condition and/or while he has .10 of 1% or more of alcohol in his blood. Defendant moves for an order suppressing the breathalyzer and coordination test results on the grounds that he did not voluntarily consent to take the breathalyzer test and that he was denied his right to counsel.

A hearing on the issues was held before me on May 9, 1985 and May 13,1985. At that hearing, Police Officer Jusselli of the 120 Precinct, Staten Island, New York, testified for the People and a video cassette was viewed and introduced in evidence. Thomas Stone testified in his defense.

[1010]*1010FINDINGS OF FACT

On October 24, 1984 at about 10:25 a.m. at Clove Road and Narrows Road, Staten Island, New York, Police Officer Jusselli arrived at the scene of an automobile accident involving two vehicles. Defendant was the driver of one of the vehicles. The police officer observed defendant had slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and an odor of alcohol on his breath. Defendant was thereby arrested and taken to the 120 Police Precinct. While defendant was in the RMP on the way to the 120 Precinct defendant was given his Miranda warnings.

At first, defendant refused to take the coordination test and breathalyzer test. Then he asked the police officer if he refused to take the breathalyzer test would he get a DAT, i.e., desk appearance ticket. The police officer said, “if you take the test you get a DAT, if you refuse no DAT, that’s the bottom line”. The police officer further testified that it is the policy of the police department not to issue DAT’s if a defendant refuses to take the breathalyzer test and that the defendant would be incarcerated until he could be arraigned in court, that it was possible that defendant might be in jail up to five days before he would be brought before a judge for arraignment.

The defendant asked to make a phone call to his family to tell them what happened to him and to have them get him a lawyer. The police officer refused to let him use the phone until after the sobriety test was given. The time was approximately 11:24 a.m., one full hour before the two-hour limit for the giving of this test. The defendant’s testimony requesting the aid of legal counsel was supported by the video cassette recording.

The record is void of any testimony from either the police officer or defendant in which the court could infer that a telephone call by defendant when requested by him would interfere unduly with the taking of the tests. The defendant then took the breathalyzer and coordination tests.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

The first issue is whether evidence of defendant’s breathalyzer test may be admitted into evidence in this case if the defendant was threatened with incarceration, i.e., “no DAT”, if he did not consent to taking the breathalyzer test.

The second issue to be decided is whether evidence of defendant’s test results from the breathalyzer test and coordination test may be admitted into evidence in this case if the police denied him his right to counsel.

[1011]*1011I. Impermissible coercion to take breathalyzer

The Supreme Court has held that admission into evidence of defendant’s refusal to submit to a blood-alcohol test does not violate his 5th Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. (South Dakota v Neville, 459 US 553 [1983].) The basis of the court’s decision was that there was no impermissible coercion exerted on the defendant to take the test or refuse the test. Hence, the court reasoned that “a refusal to take a * * * test * * * is not an act coerced by the officer, and thus is not protected by the privilege against self-incrimination” (South Dakota v Neville, supra, at p 564).

The very important distinction between South Dakota v Neville (supra) and the case at bar is the police policy and use of a desk appearance ticket (DAT) for defendants arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI). The People have stipulated that the police policy for DWI arrest is to give a defendant a DAT if he consents to take the breathalyzer test as required by law under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1194, and on the other hand, if a defendant refuses to take the breathalyzer he will not be issued a DAT. If such a person refuses to take the breathalyzer test he must then go through the arrest proceeding procedure, including arraignment.

CPL 150.10 (“Appearance ticket”) states: “An appearance ticket is a written notice issued and subscribed by a police officer or other public servant authorized by state law or local law enacted pursuant to the provisions of the municipal home rule law to issue the same, directing a designated person to appear in a designated local criminal court at a designated future time in connection with his alleged commission of a designated offense”.

An appearance ticket (DAT) is a substitute procedure for an arrest without a warrant. It must be returnable in the same local criminal court in which the police officer would have been required to take an arrested defendant. (CPL 150.40, 100.55, 140.20 [1].)

CPL 150.20 (2) states that: “[w]henever a police officer has arrested a person without a warrant for an offense other than a felony * * * such police officer may, instead of bringing such person before a local criminal court and promptly filing * * * [a] misdemeanor complaint therewith, issue to and serve upon such person an appearance ticket” (emphasis added). The issuance of a DAT is at the discretion of the arresting police officer. The defendant has no right to receive a DAT. The use of a DAT contemplates an arrest by a police officer who, after taking the defendant to a station house, determines that, in view of the [1012]*1012defendant’s roots and all the surrounding circumstances of the case, prompt booking, formal charges, court arraignment and bail are unnecessary.

The Legislature in the enactment of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1194 embodies in it two penalties or adverse consequences of refusal to taking the test: (1) license revocation and (2) disclosure of the refusal in a prosecution for operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs. (See, People v Thomas, 46 NY2d 100,108 [1978].) The defendant argues that the policy use of a DAT by the police in DWI cases provides an impermissible third penalty. This court agrees.

This policy and procedure is followed by the police department in all five boroughs in every arrest for a violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192. The People’s stated justification for this policy is that a refusal to submit to the breathalyzer test requires immediate suspension of such person’s license by a judge pursuant to Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1194 (2). Nowhere can this court find this language in Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1194 (2).

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Related

People v. Cole
178 Misc. 2d 166 (Brighton Justice Court, 1998)
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151 Misc. 2d 961 (Suffolk County District Court, 1991)
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150 Misc. 2d 662 (Criminal Court of the City of New York, 1991)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
128 Misc. 2d 1009, 491 N.Y.S.2d 921, 1985 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3046, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-stone-nycrimct-1985.