Ruffenach v. Commissioner of Public Safety

528 N.W.2d 254, 1995 Minn. App. LEXIS 293, 1995 WL 78111
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedFebruary 28, 1995
DocketC7-93-1338
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 528 N.W.2d 254 (Ruffenach v. Commissioner of Public Safety) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ruffenach v. Commissioner of Public Safety, 528 N.W.2d 254, 1995 Minn. App. LEXIS 293, 1995 WL 78111 (Mich. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

*255 OPINION

MARTIN J. MANSUR, Judge. *

Thomas Ruffenach appeals 1 from an order sustaining the revocation of his driving privileges, arguing that the arresting officer’s failure to advise him of his statutory right to additional independent chemical testing violated his right to due process by precluding him from preserving potentially exculpatory evidence.

FACTS

The parties stipulated to the following facts. On April 1, 1993, Roseville police arrested Thomas Ruffenach for driving while under the influence of alcohol. At the station, the police read the Minnesota Implied Consent Advisory. Ruffenach stated that he understood the advisory and that he -wished to consult with an attorney. Ruffenach was not informed of his right to procure additional independent testing. The record does not reflect whether Ruffenach reached an attorney, but he had access to the telephone from 1:43 a.m. until 2:19 a.m. (36 minutes). Ruffe-nach consented to a breath test. The test disclosed an alcohol concentration of .10, and the Commissioner of Public Safety revoked his driving privileges.

At the judicial review hearing, the only issue before the district court was whether the officer’s failure to inform Ruffenach of his statutory right to additional independent testing (1) prevented or denied his ability to obtain an independent alcohol concentration test and (2) violated his right to due process of law. The court found that the advisory read to Ruffenach complied with the Minnesota law and sustained the revocation.

ISSUE

Does a police officer’s failure to inform an allegedly intoxicated person of the statutory right to additional independent testing violate procedural due process, even though Minnesota implied consent law does not require notice of such right?

ANALYSIS

Determination of the constitutionality of a statute is a question of law, reviewed de novo by an appellate court. In re Blilie, 494 N.W.2d 877, 881 (Minn.1993). Where the facts are not disputed, an appellate court will reverse only if it concludes that the district court erroneously construed and applied the law to the facts of the case. Berge v. Commissioner of Pub. Safety, 374 N.W.2d 730, 732 (Minn.1985).

Effective in 1993, the Minnesota Legislature amended the implied consent advisory to remove the language informing drivers of their right to additional independent chemical testing. 1992 Minn. Laws ch. 570, art. 1, § 16. In response to a procedural due process challenge, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the amended advisory. Davis v. Commissioner of Pub. Safety, 517 N.W.2d 901, 904 (Minn.1994).

In Davis, the supreme court recognized that federal courts had rejected similar due process challenges regarding inadequate warnings, but it observed that these cases did not “create[] an insurmountable barrier to holding that the due process clause of the Minnesota Constitution requires the giving of a more complete implied consent advisory.” Id. at 903-04 (citing California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479, 104 S.Ct. 2528, 81 L.Ed.2d 413 (1984); South Dakota v. Neville, 459 U.S. 553, 103 S.Ct. 916, 74 L.Ed.2d 748 (1983); Mackey v. Montrym, 443 U.S. 1, 99 S.Ct. 2612, 61 L.Ed.2d 321 (1979)). While it did not foreclose future challenges, the court declined to hold that drivers are entitled to a more complete advisory.

While we are troubled by the deficiencies of the current advisory, we are unwilling at this time to say that the advisory violates procedural due process under the Minnesota Constitution.

Davis, 517 N.W.2d at 904.

Ruffenach argues that Davis is not disposi-tive because the court did not address the impact of an officer’s failure to inform a *256 driver of the right to additional testing on the driver’s right to obtain potentially exculpatory evidence. Ruffenach contends that the supreme court anticipated this challenge in Davis:

Those who take the test can still complain about the absence of a warning concerning their statutory right to a second test by an independent tester while still in custody. Those who do not [take the test] or cannot reach counsel have a practical basis for arguing that if they had been given a proper advisory they might have taken the test.

Id.

Ruffenach’s interpretation of this passage is inconsistent with the ultimate holding in Davis. While the supreme court acknowledged “deficiencies” in the amended advisory, the court expressly rejected the very argument that Ruffenach now asserts. The holding of Davis is that neither Minnesota law nor the Minnesota Constitution confer a right upon drivers to a more detailed advisory. Id.

Ruffenach’s asserted constitutional right to have access to potentially exculpatory evidence is rooted in the criminal justice system. See, e.g., Trombetta, 467 U.S. at 485, 104 S.Ct. at 2532 (access to evidence “protect[s] the innocent from erroneous conviction and ensur[es] the integrity of our criminal justice system”); Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 1196-97, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963) (“suppression * * * of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment”). The supreme court has expressly held, however, that an implied consent hearing is not a de facto criminal proceeding and that due process rights associated with criminal trials do not apply. Davis, 517 N.W.2d at 905.

We recognize that other jurisdictions have acknowledged a state’s obligation to inform a driver of the right to independent testing. See Montano v. Superior Ct., 149 Ariz. 385, 719 P.2d 271 (1986); State v. Meshurle, 164 Ariz. 405, 793 P.2d 558 (Ct.App.1990). Additionally, we note that Davis authorizes criminal DWI defendants to argue Trombetta. But we conclude that neither Trombetta nor the foreign cases cited by Ruffenach bears directly on the facts of this case.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
528 N.W.2d 254, 1995 Minn. App. LEXIS 293, 1995 WL 78111, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ruffenach-v-commissioner-of-public-safety-minnctapp-1995.