State of Missouri, Plaintiff/Respondent v. Theresa Fortner

451 S.W.3d 746, 2014 Mo. App. LEXIS 1113, 2014 WL 4980305
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 7, 2014
DocketED100156
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 451 S.W.3d 746 (State of Missouri, Plaintiff/Respondent v. Theresa Fortner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri 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 Missouri, Plaintiff/Respondent v. Theresa Fortner, 451 S.W.3d 746, 2014 Mo. App. LEXIS 1113, 2014 WL 4980305 (Mo. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

PHILIP M. HESS, Judge.

Introduction

Theresa Fortner (Defendant) appeals from the judgment entered upon her convictions following a bench trial for second-degree felony murder, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and armed criminal action. Defendant was sentenced as a prior and persistent offender to concurrent terms totaling twelve and one-half years’ imprisonment. On appeal, Defendant challenges the seizure of a blood sample obtained by law enforcement, the admission of her blood alcohol test results, and the sufficiency of the evidence to support her convictions for child endangerment and armed criminal action. We affirm.

Factual Background

Viewed in the light most favorable to the State, the evidence shows that around 9:00 a.m., on July 4, 2011, Defendant was sitting in her car with her 19-month-old granddaughter, B.H., in the parking lot of her apartment complex in Arnold, Missouri. Defendant called her sister, Jennifer Outlaw, and said that she had been up since 5:00 a.m. and that B.H. was in the car. Defendant also told Outlaw that she had been drinking. Outlaw told Defendant not to drive and to take B.H. back to the apartment and give her to C.H. (B.H.’s mother). 1 At that point, Defendant ended the conversation and proceeded to drive her Toyota Camry, with B.H. in the back seat, onto 1-55 highway heading northbound toward St. Louis. At approximately 9:15 a.m., Defendant exited the highway at Loughborough Avenue and lost control of the car. The car struck a deflector, a one-way street sign, a tree, and then crossed through a residential yard before colliding into a brick house and landing “flipped up” and backwards against a tree. An eyewitness reported that the Camry was traveling at such a high rate of speed that two of its wheels were off the ground as it was coming off the highway exit. Both Defendant and B.H. were seriously injured and transported to the hospital. B.H. died the next day as a result of the injuries she sustained in the accident. Data recovered from the Camry’s air bag control module showed that in the 4.4 seconds before the air bags deployed, Defendant accelerated from approximately 65 mph to over 67 mph and the brakes were never applied. *750 Police also found four empty wine bottles in the car following the accident.

Defendant arrived at the hospital at approximately 9:52 a.m. In accordance with an order issued by the treating physician at 10:29 a.m., medical personnel drew two blood samples from Defendant. One sample was taken to the hospital lab while the second sample remained in the emergency room. Shortly after the accident, Officer Todd Grimes, a St. Louis police officer, who had initially responded to the scene of the accident, was sent to thé hospital to speak with Defendant. Officer Grimes read Defendant the Miranda 2 warnings, as well as the provisions of Missouri’s “implied consent” law, § 577.020, RSMo. 3 After indicating that she understood, Defendant gave her consent for the officer to obtain a blood sample to determine her blood alcohol level. Due to the condition of Defendant’s veins as a result of receiving a blood transfusion, medical personnel were unable to draw an additional blood sample from Defendant. Instead, Officer Grimes was given Defendant’s previously drawn blood sample that was still in the emergency room. Officer Grimes took the blood sample to the police lab and it was sent to the toxicology lab for testing on July 6, 2011. A gas chromatography test conducted on the blood sample revealed that Defendant’s blood alcohol content was .226 percent, more than twice the legal limit.

Defendant was subsequently charged by substitute information in lieu of indictment with sécond-degree felony murder, and, in the alternative, first-degree involuntary manslaughter; armed criminal action based on the felony murder charge, and, in the alternative, armed criminal action based on the involuntary manslaughter charge, and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Defendant waived her right to a jury trial and filed a motion to suppress the results of her blood alcohol test, which the trial court overruled. At trial, the blood test results were admitted into evidence over objection. Defendant was found guilty of second-degree felony murder, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and arméd criminal action, and sentenced to concurrent terms totaling twelve and one-half years’ imprisonment. Defendant filed a motion for new trial, which was denied. Defendant now appeals.

Point I: Motion to Suppress Blood Test Results

In her first point, Defendant contends that the trial court erred by overruling the motion to suppress the results of her blood alcohol test, and objections to its admission at trial, because her blood sample was collected for “medical purposes” and its seizure by a law enforcement officer violated her constitutional rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. 4 Specifically, Defendant complains that Officer Grimes did not obtain a warrant or her consent before seizing the blood sample.

In reviewing a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress, our inquiry is *751 limited to determining whether the decision is supported by substantial evidence, and we will reverse the ruling only if it is clearly erroneous. State v. Goff, 129 S.W.3d 857, 862 (Mo. banc 2004). The trial court’s ruling is clearly erroneous if we are left with a definite and firm belief that a mistake has been made. State v. Leavitt, 998 S.W.2d 557, 560 (Mo.App.W.D.1999). “We consider the evidence presented at the pretrial hearing, as well as any additional evidence presented at trial.” State v. Dillard, 158 S.W.3d 291, 297 (Mo.App.S.D.2005). The evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling. Id. We defer to the trial court’s factual findings and credibility determinations, but we review questions of law de novo. State v. Rousan, 961 S.W.2d 881, 845 (Mo. banc 1998).

In her motion to suppress, Defendant claimed that although she “impliedly consented” to having her blood drawn by medical personnel while being treated for her injuries, that consent was “limited” to use for medical purposes only. Defendant further claimed that she had a “privacy interest” with respect to the blood sample. At the hearing on the motion to suppress, defense counsel asserted that because the blood sample was obtained based on Defendant’s implied consent, a warrant or her additional consent was required before the blood sample could be lawfully seized.

In support of this contention, Defendant relies on State v. Copeland, 680 S.W.2d 327 (Mo.App.S.D.1984). Defendant’s reb-anee on that case is misplaced. In Copeland, the Court addressed the issue whether an unconscious person’s implied consent to receive medical treatment following an accident, which included a blood sample being drawn by hospital personnel for medical purposes, was protected by the “physician-patient privilege.” Id.

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Bluebook (online)
451 S.W.3d 746, 2014 Mo. App. LEXIS 1113, 2014 WL 4980305, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-missouri-plaintiffrespondent-v-theresa-fortner-moctapp-2014.