People v. Young

42 Misc. 2d 540, 248 N.Y.S.2d 287, 1964 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2087
New York County Courts·Decided February 15, 1964·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

John H. Galloway, Jr., J.

Defendant moves to suppress as evidence upon the trial of the indictments pending against him the results of a certain test of his blood for its alcoholic content which he claims was taken illegally and without his consent, and of all testimony in connection therewith.

In the late evening of September 3,1962 defendant was operating a motor vehicle on the New York State Thruway in the Town of Greenburgh and became involved in a collision with several other vehicles which resulted in the deaths of two persons. Defendant and several other persons were injured. He was removed, unconscious and in grave condition, from the scene of the accident and taken to a hospital by ambulance. There, within two hours of the accident, and while he was still unconscious and after the Last Rites ” of his church had been administered to him, at the request of a New York State trooper a qualified attending physician withdrew a sample of defendant’s blood for chemical analysis to determine its alcohol content. The Distirct Attorney states, without controversion by defendant, that the blood sample was handled and analyzed according to standard police and chemical procedures at the Westchester County Laboratory at Grasslands Hospital, and that the toxicologist’s finding was .11% of alcohol by weight; that before the State trooper requested the blood test, he had reasonable grounds to believe defendant had been operating his motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol; and that defendant had not been placed under arrest before the blood sample was taken.

Subsequently, on August 1,1963, defendant was charged under two indictments with criminal negligence in the operation of a motor vehicle resulting in the deaths of two persons (Penal Law, § 1053-a). He was arrested and arraigned on the indictments on September 18, 1963, and pleaded not guilty. There being no dispute as to the essential facts underlying this application which are required for its determination, a hearing is [542]*542unnecessary for a determination of the questions of law presented.

Defendant urges four grounds for suppression: (1) The withdrawal of his blood while he was unconscious and without his consent and the blood test having been performed prior to his arrest, the withdrawal and test were improper under the New York “blood test ” statute (Vehicle and Traffic Law, § 1194, subd. 1) and the results thereof are inadmissible in evidence against him; (2) The aforesaid police action constituted an unreasonable search and seizure in violation of his rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution; (3) Such action constituted a violation of his privilege under the Fifth Amendment against self incrimination; and (4) that the police methods adopted in this case also constituted a violation of section 12 of article I of the New York State Constitution which insures defendant against an unreasonable search and seizure of his person or property.

The District Attorney seeks to sustain the blood test by reliance upon the provision of subdivision 1 of section 1194 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law that “ Any person who operates a motor vehicle * * * in this state shall be deemed to have given his consent to a chemical test of his breath, blood, urine, or saliva for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content of his blood provided that such test is administered at the direction of a police officer having reasonable grounds to believe such person to have been driving in an intoxicated condition or, while his ability to operate such motor vehicle * # * was impaired by the consumption of alcohol, and in accordance with the rules and regulations established by the police force of which he is a member ”.

The District Attorney emphasizes that these conditions were complied with.

The People likewise allude to the other provisions of the statute which subject the operator, after refusal to submit to a blood test after arrest, to temporary suspension and final revocation of his driver’s license. They contend that the lack of defendant’s affirmative consent to the blood test, due to his unconscious condition at the time his blood was withdrawn, does not render the results of the test inadmissible in this prosecution for vehicular homicide under section 1053-a of the Penal Law, although they concede that such a test might be inadmissible in a prosecution under section 1192 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law for driving while intoxicated or while one’s ability to drive is impaired by consumption of alcohol.

[543]*543We are asked by the People, in determining the reasonableness of the police action in this instance, to consider the substantial public interest in “ careful considerate police action ”, as here shown, in preventing and reducing the continually mounting toll of dead and injured victims of motor vehicle accidents on our highways, through the use of the methods here employed for the determination of intoxication. The People argue that in the light of such considerations the taking and testing of defendant’s blood was not, under the circumstances here present, an unreasonable search and seizure, and did not constitute a violation of his constitutional rights and privileges. They rely upon the 1957 decision of the United States Supreme Court in Breithaupt v. Abram (352 U. S. 432) and People v. Hargrave (40 Misc 2d 556 [1963, Supreme Ct., N. Y. County]), both of which will be hereinafter discussed.

I. As to defendant’s first ground for suppression: Section 1192 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law provides that on the trial of an action against a person arrested for operating a motor vehicle while in an intoxicated condition, ‘ ‘ the court may admit evidence of the amount of alcohol in the defendant’s blood taken within two hours of the time of his arrest, as shown by a medical or chemical analysis of his * * * blood”. (Emphasis supplied.) Subdivision 1 of section 1194 of that statute, after providing that a person who operates a motor vehicle in this State shall be deemed to have consented to a chemical test of his blood to determine its alcoholic content, further provides: “If such person having been placed under arrest and having thereafter been requested to submit to such chemical test refuses to submit to such chemical test the test shall not be given but the commissioner shall revoke his license or permit to drive (Emphasis supplied.)

In the application of that statute our courts have held that in a prosecution for criminal negligence (as here) and for reckless driving, evidence of alcohol content in the blood of the defendant driver, who was not under arrest and was unconscious at the time the blood sample was taken, was inadmissible before the Grand Jury and was illegal, and required the dismissal of the indictment founded thereon (People v. McConnell, 19 Misc 2d 1050, 1052; and see, to same effect, People v. Dietz, 5 Misc 2d 517, 519 — evidence of intoxication based on urinalysis made prior to arrest held inadmissible in prosecution for driving while intoxicated). And in other decisions our courts have held in effect that the provisions of sections 1192 and 1194 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, permitting the admission of evidence of alcoholic content of the blood of defendants in prosecutions [544]*544for driving while intoxicated, can only be construed constitutionally on the basis that the blood test be voluntary (People v. Butts,

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People v. Young, 42 Misc. 2d 540, 248 N.Y.S.2d 287, 1964 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2087 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1964).

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