State of Arizona v. Kenneth Allen May

CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedJune 3, 2005
Docket2 CA-CR 2004-0099
StatusPublished

This text of State of Arizona v. Kenneth Allen May (State of Arizona v. Kenneth Allen May) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Arizona v. Kenneth Allen May, (Ark. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

FILED BY CLERK JUN -3 2005 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS COURT OF APPEALS STATE OF ARIZONA DIVISION TWO DIVISION TWO

THE STATE OF ARIZONA, ) ) 2 CA-CR 2004-0099 Appellee, ) DEPARTMENT B ) v. ) OPINION ) KENNETH ALLEN MAY, ) ) Appellant. ) )

APPEAL FROM THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PIMA COUNTY

Cause No. CR-20031830

Honorable Christopher Browning, Judge

REVERSED AND REMANDED

Terry Goddard, Arizona Attorney General By Randall M. Howe and Joseph L. Parkhurst Tucson Attorneys for Appellee

Robert J. Hooker, Pima County Public Defender By Brian X. Metcalf Tucson Attorneys for Appellant

P E L A N D E R, Chief Judge.

¶1 After a jury trial, appellant Kenneth May was convicted of aggravated driving

under the influence of an intoxicant (DUI) while a person under fifteen years of age was in

the vehicle. See A.R.S. § 28-1383(A)(3). The trial court sentenced him to a presumptive prison term of 3.75 years. May raises six issues on appeal, but we find one dispositive. He

argues, inter alia, the trial court erred in admitting hearsay evidence. We agree and, because

that evidence was significant and prejudicial, we reverse his conviction on that ground. We

also preliminarily address a suppression issue because it is likely to recur on remand.

BACKGROUND

¶2 We view the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdict and

resolve all reasonable inferences against the appellant. See State v. Riley, 196 Ariz. 40, ¶

2, 992 P.2d 1135, 1137 (App. 1999). Late one evening in November 2002, a Pima County

sheriff’s deputy saw May driving in excess of the speed limit. He pulled behind May’s

vehicle, saw it temporarily veer off the road, and directed May to stop. In May’s car were

two passengers, an adult female and a minor male.

¶3 Another officer arrived on the scene and arrested May for DUI after observing

symptoms of intoxication. During the investigation, an adult male appeared on the scene

and told the arresting officer the male passenger was his thirteen-year-old son. With May’s

consent, Deputy Curtin, a sheriff’s department phlebotomist, drew a sample of May’s blood

at the scene. Testing showed he had a .195 percent alcohol concentration.

MOTION TO SUPPRESS

¶4 May first challenges the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence,

claiming the seizure of his blood violated the Fourth Amendment to the United States

Constitution. In reviewing this issue, we consider only the evidence presented at the

suppression hearing and view that evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom in the light

2 most favorable to upholding the court’s ruling. State v. Livingston, 206 Ariz. 145, ¶ 3, 75

P.3d 1103, 1104 (App. 2003); State v. Crowley, 202 Ariz. 80, ¶ 7, 41 P.3d 618, 621 (App.

2002). We will not reverse the ruling absent an abuse of discretion. Livingston, 206 Ariz.

145, ¶ 3, 75 P.3d at 1104. “We defer to the trial court’s factual findings that are supported

by the record and not clearly erroneous.” State v. Rosengren, 199 Ariz. 112, ¶ 9, 14 P.3d

303, 307 (App. 2000). We review questions of law de novo. State v. Estrada, 209 Ariz.

287, ¶ 2, 100 P.3d 452, 453 (App. 2004).

¶5 May specifically argues the procedure used to take his blood sample was not

“performed in a reasonable manner” and thus violated his Fourth Amendment right against

unreasonable search and seizure, citing Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 771, 86

S. Ct. 1826, 1836, 16 L. Ed. 2d 908, 920 (1966). In Schmerber, the Court ruled that a

blood sample “taken by a physician in a hospital environment according to accepted medical

practices” was reasonable. Id. at 771-72, 86 S. Ct. at 1836, 16 L. Ed. 2d at 920. The Court

further stated, albeit in dicta:

We are thus not presented with the serious questions which would arise if a search involving use of a medical technique, even of the most rudimentary sort, were made by other than medical personnel or in other than a medical environment–for example, if it were administered by police in the privacy of the station house. To tolerate searches under these conditions might be to invite an unjustified element of personal risk of infection and pain.

Id.

¶6 Although May relies on that language, Schmerber “did not attempt to set any

specific rules for blood tests conducted outside the hospital setting.” People v. Esayian, 5

3 Cal. Rptr. 3d 542, 549 (Ct. App. 2003); see also Wetsch v. North Dakota Dep’t of Transp.,

679 N.W.2d 282, ¶ 17 (N.D. 2004) (Schmerber “did not establish a requirement that blood

be drawn in a hospital in order to be reasonable.”); State v. Daggett, 640 N.W.2d 546, ¶ 14

(Wis. Ct. App. 2001) (noting that Schmerber “did not categorically reject the possibility that

a blood draw could take place in a non-medical setting” and that blood draws need not

“take place in a hospital setting in order to be constitutionally reasonable”). “The test for

lawful searches and seizures is the unreasonableness of the search under the circumstances.”

State v. Hutton, 108 Ariz. 504, 507, 502 P.2d 1323, 1326 (1972). Society recognizes that

“blood tests do not constitute an unduly extensive imposition on an individual’s personal

privacy and bodily integrity.” Winston v. Lee, 470 U.S. 753, 762, 105 S. Ct. 1611, 1617,

84 L. Ed. 2d 662, 670 (1985).

¶7 Deputy Curtin testified at the suppression hearing that he had drawn May’s

blood while they stood at the rear of a police car. Wearing protective gloves, Curtin cleaned

the surface of May’s arm, placed a tourniquet around it, applied an antiseptic to the site of

the venipuncture, and secured the arm with one hand while it rested on the trunk of the car.

He then drew two vials of blood. Curtin also testified that he had experienced no problems

during the blood draw and that May had not moved his arm. An expert witness May called

testified that Curtin had violated the standard of care by having May stand while his blood

was drawn. She testified that doing so creates a risk the individual could pass out or faint,

move his arm and cause the needle to fall out, and possibly cause nerve damage.

4 ¶8 The trial court found the seizure reasonable because the procedure Curtin used

resulted in only a “slightly higher” risk of complications “in a field setting” than those of a

clinical setting.1 We have no basis for disturbing that ruling. May consented to having his

blood drawn. And Curtin testified that, based on his knowledge and training, the standard

of care required him to clean the arm and “not caus[e] any injury to the patient.” Further,

May’s witness testified that on-site and clinical testing are equally reliable and both present

possible risks to the patient but, in her opinion, “the risk of injury goes up” with on-site

testing.

¶9 The trial court essentially determined that the possible increased risks

associated with on-site testing did not render the blood draw here unreasonable. See

Schmerber, 384 U.S. at 771-72, 86 S. Ct. at 1836, 16 L. Ed. 2d at 920. Based on this

record, we cannot say the trial court abused its discretion in so ruling. See State v. Clary,

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Related

Schmerber v. California
384 U.S. 757 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Burks v. United States
437 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Winston v. Lee
470 U.S. 753 (Supreme Court, 1985)
Lockhart v. Nelson
488 U.S. 33 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Crawford v. Washington
541 U.S. 36 (Supreme Court, 2004)
State v. Moody
94 P.3d 1119 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2004)
State v. Tucker
68 P.3d 110 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2003)
Wetsch v. North Dakota Department of Transportation
2004 ND 93 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 2004)
Korzep v. Superior Court
838 P.2d 1295 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1991)
State v. Salazar
774 P.2d 1360 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1989)
State v. McVay
622 P.2d 9 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1980)
State v. Riley
992 P.2d 1135 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1999)
State v. Medina
975 P.2d 94 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1999)
State v. Korzuch
920 P.2d 312 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1996)
State v. LeBlanc
924 P.2d 441 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1996)
State v. McGann
645 P.2d 811 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1982)
State v. Hutton
502 P.2d 1323 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1972)
State v. Rumsey
665 P.2d 48 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1983)
State v. Ruelas
846 P.2d 850 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1992)

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