Rozario v. Commonwealth

647 S.E.2d 502, 50 Va. App. 142, 2007 Va. App. LEXIS 272
Court of Appeals of Virginia·Decided July 24, 2007·No. 1433052·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinions

BENTON, J.,

with whom ELDER and CLEMENTS, JJ., join, dissenting.

Anselmo M. Rozario appealed to the circuit court from an order entered by a judge of the general district court convicting him of summary contempt and imposing a sentence of ten days in jail. See Code §§ 18.2-456, 18.2-458, and 18.2-459 (authorizing district court judges to punish contempt and providing that such convictions can be appealed to circuit court). Rozario contends the circuit court judge erred in ruling that (1) the district court judge properly relied upon the results of an Alcosensor testing device and (2) the evidence was sufficient to prove an act of contempt. I would hold the district court judge erred in relying on the Alcosensor test results and the evidence was insufficient to prove contempt beyond a reasonable doubt.

I.

I disagree with the majority opinion’s ruling that Rozario invited the error that he now complains of by introducing into evidence in the circuit court the Alcosensor Worksheet, which the district court judge relied upon and put into the district court file when he convicted Rozario of summary contempt.

In the circuit court, the trial judge considered Rozario’s appeal at a trial without a jury. In a fairly perfunctory proceeding, the prosecutor offered as evidence a document styled “Statement of Facts,” which the circuit court judge apparently accepted as “a certificate of the conviction and the particular circumstances of the offense” pursuant to Code § 18.2-459. The document, which was signed by the district court judge, reads in its entirety as follows:

Statement of Facts
On February 7, 2005[,] while holding traffic court, I noticed Mr. Anselmo Rozario when he appeared in front of [148] me with bloodshot eyes and an odor of alcohol about him. I had my deputy test him and the reading was .10. I then gave him ten days in jail for summary contempt of court.

The prosecutor offered no other evidence in his case-in-chief.

In a motion to strike the evidence for insufficiency, Rozario’s attorney argued that nothing in the district court judge’s statement indicates Rozario “did anything to obstruct the court,” that the alcohol test result was inadmissible because it was obtained from an Alcosensor device, that the district court judge had improperly relied upon the test result, and that the evidence failed to establish Rozario obstructed the administration of justice. When Rozario’s attorney made this argument, the circuit court judge had no basis to know from the prosecutor’s evidence the source of the district court judge’s finding because the district court judge’s statement did not disclose the type of “test” he had ordered. The “Statement of Facts” merely recited tersely that the district court judge “had [a] deputy test [Rozario] and the reading was .10.”

Specifically noting that “nothing in this certificate ... says anything [about an Alcosensor],” the circuit court judge observed “it just says ... he took a test and the reading was .10.” The circuit court judge then acknowledged “there’s [a document] in the [district court’s] file, but that’s not in evidence.” After Rozario’s attorney and the prosecutor disagreed about whether another prosecutor had agreed to stipulate as evidence the “Alcosensor IV Worksheet” that was in the district court’s file, the circuit court judge overruled the motion to strike the evidence. Rozario’s attorney then offered as evidence a copy of the “Alcosensor IV Worksheet,” which was in the district court’s file and which the district court judge relied upon in finding “the reading was .10.” Rozario’s attorney offered no other evidence, rested his case, and renewed his motion to strike.

The prosecutor did not dispute that the district court judge had based his recitation of facts upon the result of an Alcosensor test. Although the district court’s file contained the “Alcosensor TV Worksheet,” the prosecutor simply opted not [149] to present it as evidence. When Rozario’s attorney proffered the Alcosensor Worksheet, he expressly argued it was the basis for the district court judge’s finding and said the judge improperly used it at the summary contempt proceeding. In other words, Rozario argued at trial, as he does now, that the district court judge improperly relied upon an Alcosensor test result to determine Rozario’s alcohol level, which was reported in the “Statement of Facts.” Before issuing his ruling, the circuit court judge ordered briefing of the issue. Each party filed a memorandum discussing the propriety of the district court judge’s use of the Alcosensor test results.

‘While the doctrine of invited error remains good law, it simply has no application where, as here, the record shows that a party clearly objected to a specific ruling of the trial court to which error is assigned on appeal----” King v. Commonwealth, 264 Va. 576, 582, 570 S.E.2d 863, 866 (2002) (citing Wright v. Norfolk & W. Ry. Co., 245 Va. 160, 170, 427 S.E.2d 724, 729 (1993)). “In order for a procedural waiver to apply, the record must show that a litigant invited a trial court to commit error, either by failing to object or by agreeing to the ruling.” State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Kendrick, 254 Va. 206, 208 n. 2, 491 S.E.2d 286, 287 n. 2 (1997). Waiver does not apply, when, as in this case, the circuit court judge was fully aware of the objection. Id. The error to which Rozario objected was the district court judge’s reliance upon an Alcosensor testing device to establish the level of alcohol in Rozario’s body.

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Rozario v. Commonwealth, 647 S.E.2d 502, 50 Va. App. 142, 2007 Va. App. LEXIS 272 (Va. Ct. App. 2007).

647 S.E.2d 502 (Rozario v. Commonwealth) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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