State of Indiana v. David Bisard

973 N.E.2d 1229, 2012 WL 3985445, 2012 Ind. App. LEXIS 453
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 12, 2012
Docket49A04-1109-CR-459
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 973 N.E.2d 1229 (State of Indiana v. David Bisard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Indiana v. David Bisard, 973 N.E.2d 1229, 2012 WL 3985445, 2012 Ind. App. LEXIS 453 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

SHEPARD, Senior Judge.

Officer David Bisard of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department had his blood drawn by a medical assistant following an accident in which one person died *1230 and two people were seriously injured. The State later charged him with several counts of operating while intoxicated and reckless homicide.

Bisard moved to suppress the blood test on multiple grounds. He contended that the medical assistant on duty had not followed appropriate protocols, and that in any event the Indiana Code prohibits medical assistants from drawing blood for these purposes. Largely agreeing, the trial court ruled that Indiana Code section 9-30-6-6 (2010) compels suppressing the evidence for purposes of the DUI charges, but not for the reckless homicide count.

We conclude that the medical assistant did in fact draw the blood in a way that followed physician-approved protocols, and that the statutes cited by Bisard do not reflect that the General Assembly intended to suppress blood evidence taken in a medical facility by a trained operator in the presence of the suspect’s lawyer. We therefore reverse.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In August 2010, Bisard was on duty in his patrol car when he collided with two motorcycles that were stopped at the intersection of 56th Street and Brendon Way South Drive. Eric Wells died, and Mary Mills and Kurt Weekly were seriously injured.

Bisard went to Methodist Occupational Health Center (“MOHC”) for treatment of his injuries. 1 There, Officer Stan Stephens of the Lawrence Police Department advised him of Indiana’s implied consent law, and Bisard consented to a blood draw. Appellant’s Amended App. pp. 15, 50, 319— 20.

Stephens asked medical assistant Michelle Maga to perform the blood draw and handed her two blood collection tubes. Tr. p. 88. Maga noticed that the tubes had expired, discovered that MOHC’s available tubes had also expired, and called another clinic to have unexpired tubes sent over. Id. at 88-90, 55.

Stephens and other officers and Bisard’s attorney were in the room during the draw. Id. at 56-57. Maga used a swab to clean an area on Bisard’s right arm. Id. at 99, 119. She immediately realized that she had used an alcohol swab, which is not to be used when blood is drawn for alcohol screening. Id., at 56, 99, 130. She took off her gloves, washed her hands, gathered new equipment, and started the process over. Id. at 56, 99. She used Betadine, a non-alcohol swab, to clean an area on Bisard’s left arm and drew two tubes of blood from that arm. Id. at 56, 57, 119, 52. She then inverted the tubes eight to ten times to mix in the additive in the tube to preserve the blood, applied a bandage, and discarded the needle. Id. at 53-54, 104-05.

Although MOHC’s protocol required Maga to label the tubes, Ex. pp. 6, 10, 16, Stephens insisted on following police procedures. Tr. pp. 49, 61, 78. So, Stephens labeled the tubes as Maga watched, and she then initialed them as the collector. Id. at 88. MOHC also had a policy that the capped tubes be given a seal and placed in a drug screen bag. Ex. p. 6; Tr. pp. 58-59. Although Maga tried to insist on using a seal, Stephens did not do so before placing the capped tubes in a sealed bag. Tr. pp. 58, 81, 88.

The blood results showed a blood alcohol content of 0.19. These test results are the only evidence of intoxication in the record.

The State, by then-Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, charged Bisard in multiple counts: class B felony operating a *1231 motor vehicle with a BAC of 0.15 or higher causing death, C felony operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing death, C felony reckless homicide, two counts of D felony operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury, two counts of D felony operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of 0.08 or higher causing serious bodily injury, and two counts of D felony criminal recklessness. It later moved to dismiss the alcohol-related charges, which the court granted.

In January 2011, the State, under newly-elected Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry, dismissed the remaining charges and immediately re-filed the reckless homicide and six operating while intoxicated charges under a new cause number.

Bisard moved to suppress the blood evidence and/or dismiss the charges, and the court held a hearing. On May 31, 2011, the court issued an order determining that Maga was not qualified to draw blood under the implied consent statutes and that there was no clear evidence that she followed any of MOHC’s protocols for drawing blood. The court found that Maga did not place a seal on the tubes or package them for transport (the evidence being that Stephens packaged the tubes for transport in a police evidence bag). The court also found “significant conflict in the evidence” as to “whether the tubes were properly handled in order to mix the anticoagulant in the tubes with the blood” and “whether or not blood was drawn from an arm that had been swabbed with alcohol rather than a proper cleansing solution.” Appellant’s Amended App. p. 353. The court thus suppressed the blood evidence as to the Title 9 charges for DUI but allowed the evidence for the reckless homicide count. The same day, the State amended the information to add the two original counts of criminal recklessness, which were apparently inadvertently omitted during the earlier re-filing.

Upon requests by both parties, the court certified its order for interlocutory appeal, and this Court accepted jurisdiction.

ISSUES

The State contends that the court erred by suppressing the blood evidence for the Title 9 charges.

On cross-appeal, Bisard contends that the court erred by allowing the blood evidence for the Title 35 charges and by rejecting his claim that his consent to take the chemical test was invalid because the offer to do so was illusory inasmuch as Maga was not qualified to perform the blood draw.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

If a driver appears intoxicated, the Fourth Amendment would surely permit an officer with a search warrant to obtain a sample of breath or bodily substance for purposes of a chemical test. Obtaining a warrant takes time, of course, and alcohol begins to dissipate soon after drinking ceases. By the time an officer prepares the appropriate documents, finds a magistrate, presents evidence of probable cause, receives a warrant, and arranges for a test, the evidence of blood alcohol would typically be substantially dissipated.

States have adopted implied consent statutes as a means of obtaining such evidence more expeditiously. These statutes proceed on the legal notion that any person who operates a vehicle consents to submit to a chemical test upon lawful request by an officer. 1 Edward Louis Fiandach, Handling Drunk Driving Cases § 8:1 (2d ed. 1995); 1 Donald H. Nichols & Flem K. Whited III, Drinking/Driving Litigation: Criminal and Civil § 11:2 (2d ed. 2006).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State of Indiana v. Dennis R Poland, Jr.
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2025
Morgan Mannix v. State of Indiana
54 N.E.3d 1002 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2016)
Connie Kidd v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2015
David Bisard v. State of Indiana
26 N.E.3d 1060 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2015)
Cardinal Ritter High School, Inc. v. Aleesha Bullock
17 N.E.3d 281 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2014)
Frank T. Grannan v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013
Courtney A. Wuethrich v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013
Tyler A. White v. State of Indiana
978 N.E.2d 475 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
973 N.E.2d 1229, 2012 WL 3985445, 2012 Ind. App. LEXIS 453, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-indiana-v-david-bisard-indctapp-2012.