State of Minnesota v. Todd Eugene Trahan

870 N.W.2d 396, 2015 Minn. App. LEXIS 78
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedOctober 13, 2015
DocketA13-931
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 870 N.W.2d 396 (State of Minnesota v. Todd Eugene Trahan) 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
State of Minnesota v. Todd Eugene Trahan, 870 N.W.2d 396, 2015 Minn. App. LEXIS 78 (Mich. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinions

OPINION

HALBROOKS, Judge.

On remand from the Minnesota Supreme Court in this combined direct and postconviction appeal, appellant challenges his conviction of first-degree test refusal, arguing that criminalizing refusal to submit to a warrantless blood test is unconstitutional under the rule announced in Missouri v. McNeely, — U.S.-, 133 S.Ct. 1552, 185 L.Ed.2d 696 (2013). Because we conclude that conducting a warrantless blood test would have been unconstitutional, charging appellant with a crime based on his refusal to submit to the test implicates his fundamental right to be free from unconstitutional searches. And because the test-refusal statute as applied is not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest, it fails strict scrutiny and violates appellant’s right to due process under the United States and Minnesota Constitutions. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for withdrawal of appellant’s guilty plea.1

FACTS

Just after midnight on October 24, 2012, a Ramsey County sheriffs deputy stopped appellant Todd Trahan based on his erratic driving and speed. When the deputy approached the car, Trahan was screaming that he would be “looking at doing 67 months.” The deputy observed that Tra-han was agitated, smelled strongly of alcohol, had red and watery eyes, and had difficulty standing up. A check of Tra-han’s driving record revealed that his license was cancelled as inimical to public safety based on multiple previous driving-while-impaired (DWI) convictions. Because Trahan was “so agitated and unpredictable,” the deputy did not administer field sobriety tests.

At the jail, Trahan was read the implied-consent advisory, and he asked for his cell phone to contact an attorney. At 1:53 a.m., after making several phone calls, Trahan stated that he was finished with the phone. The deputy offered Trahan a blood test or a urine test, and Trahan chose urine. The parties’ accounts differ on Trahan’s compliance with providing a urine sample. Trahan contends that he provided a valid urine sample, but the deputy deemed his conduct a refusal.2 The deputy then asked Trahan to take a blood test, which he refused.

The state charged Trahan with first-degree refusal to submit to a chemical test in violation of Minn.Stat. § 169A.20, subd. 2. The prosecutor agreed to a sentence at the low end of the presumptive range, and Trahan pleaded guilty. Trahan testified in his plea colloquy that he had provided an adequate urine sample, but acknowledged that the deputy stated that the sample did not “look right” and that Trahan “must have tampered with it.” Trahan further [400]*400testified, “I did refuse the blood test, so 1⅛ guilty of that.” The district court sentenced Trahan to 60 months in prison, a downward departure from the presumptive sentencing range of 65-84 months.

Trahan then filed a direct appeal but requested a stay pénding postconviction proceedings, which we granted. In his postconviction petition, Trahan argued that (1) his plea was invalid because the factual basis did not support á refusal to test and (2) the test-refusal'statute is unconstitutional because it violates due process and the doctrine of unconstitutional conditions. The district court denied Trahan’s petition, determining that (1) Trahan’s acknowledged refusal to submit to an alternative test requested by the police supported his guilty plea and (2) Trahan did not meet his burden of establishing the unconstitutionality of the test-refusal statute beyond a reasonable doubt. After reinstating Tra-han’s appeal, we affirmed. State v. Tra-han, No. A13-0931, 2014 WL 4798876 (Minn.App. Sept. 29, 2014).

On December 16,, 2014, the supreme court granted Trahan’s petition for further review with respect to the.constitutionality of the test-refusal statute and stayed review pending its decision in State v. Bernard, 859 N.W.2d 762 (Minn.2015). On April 28, 2015, the supreme court reversed our'holding on the constitutionality of the test-refusal statute and remanded to this court for reconsideration of that issue in light - of Bernard. The parties then submitted supplemental briefing. On remand, Trahan focuses his constitutional argument on substantive due process.

ISSUE

Does the test-refusal statute violate appellant’s right to due process by criminalizing his refusal to submit to a warrantless test of his blood?

ANALYSIS

Minnesota’s test-refusal statute makes it a crime to refuse to submit to a chemical test of blood, breath, or urine administered to detect the presence of alcohol under certain conditions. Minn.Stat. § 169A.20, subd. 2. These conditions include when the person has been lawfully placed under arrest for driving while impaired and an officer has read the person the implied-consent advisory. Minn.Stat. §§ 169A.20, subd. 2, .51, subds. 1-2 (2012). Trahan argues that the test-refusal statute as applied to him violates his right to substantive due process because it criminalizes his refusal of an unconstitutional search of his blood.

A. The Fourth Amendment

Because Trahan’s due-process argument is premised on a Fourth Amendment violation, we first consider whether' a warrant-less blood test would have been reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. See Bernard, 859 N.W.2d at 766. A blood draw is a search. See Skinner v. Ry. Labor Execs.’ Ass’n, 489 U.S. 602, 616-17, 109 S.Ct. 1402, 1412, 103 L.Ed.2d 639 (1989); State v. Brooks, 838 N.W.2d 563, 568 (Minn. 2013), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 1799, 188 L.Ed.2d 759 (2014). The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation.... ” U.S. Const, amend. IV.

“The ultimate measure of a permissible government search under the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness.” Bernard, 859 N.W.2d at 766 (quotation omitted). “A warrantless search is generally unreasonable, unless it falls into one of the recognized exceptions to the warrant [401]*401requirement.” Id. It is the state’s burden to establish an exception to the warrant requirement. State v. Ture, 632 N.W.2d 621, 627 (Minn.2001). When evaluating whether a warrant exception applies to a given search, courts assess “on the one hand, the degree to which it intrudes upon an individual’s privacy and, on the other, the degree to which it is needed for the promotion of legitimate governmental interests.” Riley v. California, — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 2473, 2484, 189 L.Ed.2d 430 (2014) (quotation omitted). Two exceptions to the warrant requirement — search incident to a lawful arrest and exigent circumstances — are' relevant to our analysis.

1. Search Incident to Arrest

“A search incident to a lawful arrest is a well-recognized exception to the warrant requirement under the Fourth Amendment.” Bernard, 859 N.W.2d at 766. The search-incident-to-arrest exception historically derives from concerns over officer safety and evidence preservation. See Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332, 338, 129 S.Ct. 1710, 1716, 173 L.Ed.2d 485 (2009).

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Bluebook (online)
870 N.W.2d 396, 2015 Minn. App. LEXIS 78, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-minnesota-v-todd-eugene-trahan-minnctapp-2015.