State v. Binner

886 P.2d 1056, 131 Or. App. 677, 1994 Ore. App. LEXIS 1826
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided December 14, 1994·No. C93-06-34171; CA A81953·Published·Cited by 31 cases

Opinion

*679 EDMONDS, J.

In this criminal case, the state appeals from a pretrial order suppressing evidence of the results of drug tests performed on samples of defendant’s blood. We affirm.

Defendant was charged with manslaughter in the second degree, ORS 163.125, and with failure to perform the duties of a driver, ORS 811.705. The state alleges that on June 23,1993, defendant struck and killed a woman with the truck he was driving. The police officer called to the accident scene contacted defendant there and later at the hospital. In those contacts, the officer suspected that defendant was intoxicated and, as a result, asked if he would consent to a blood draw. She also requested if he would consent to a urine sample to check for drugs. Defendant refused to provide a urine sample, but did agree to have his blood drawn. The consent document, drafted by the officer and signed by defendant, said:

“I authorize/give consent to have my blood drawn for the purpose of checking the blood alcohol content. This 10th day of June, 1993 at Portland Adventist Hospital. The blood will be drawn two times, one hour apart.”

The results of the tests on his blood sample showed that his blood alcohol content was well below the legal limit. About two weeks after the initial blood draw, the police sent the blood samples to a lab for drug testing without informing defendant or requesting further consent. Also, the state did not apply fór a search warrant. The test results “indicat[ed] a high THC (marijuana) level in the blood.”

Defendant moved to suppress evidence of the “tests [sic] results of Defendant’s blood, other than for blood alcohol content,” arguing that any test beyond that for blood alcohol content exceeded the scope of defendant’s consent and, therefore, constituted an unreasonable search and seizure. The trial court granted the motion. On appeal, the state argues that the trial court erred in granting the motion to suppress.

Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution provides:

“No law shall violate the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable search or seizure; and no warrant shafi issue but upon *680 probable cause, supported by oath, or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or thing to be seized.”

To be constitutionally permissible under section 9, a search or seizure must be accompanied by a warrant, unless it falls into one of the recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement. Consent to a search is one such exception. State v. Weaver, 319 Or 212, 219, 874 P2d 1322 (1994). In this case, the parties agree that the blood drawn for the purpose of ascertaining defendant’s blood alcohol content was a constitutionally valid seizure, because defendant consented to it. Nonetheless, defendant argues, and the trial court found, that he did not consent to his blood being tested for any other purpose and, therefore, the test for drugs was an unreasonable search. “When the police are relying upon consent as the basis for their warrantless search, they have no more authority than they have been given by the consent.” 3 LaFave, Search and Seizure: A Treatise on the Fourth Amendment 160, § 8.1(b) (2d ed 1987). In State v. Allen, 112 Or App 70, 826 P2d 127 (1992), we said that “[a] consent to search maybe confined in scope to specific items, restricted to certain areas or limited in purpose or time.” 112 Or App at 74. In this case, defendant gave the police authority to take a blood sample for the purpose of checking blood alcohol content only, and any further “search” was outside the scope of consent.

Regardless of the scope of defendant’s consent, the state argues that defendant’s reasonable expectation of privacy in the drawn blood ended with the blood draw; therefore, no “search or seizure” occurred when the test for drugs was done. Alternatively, the state argues that defendant abandoned any privacy interest that he had in the sample. Defendant argues that his expectation of privacy in the contents of his blood continued even after it was removed from his body, and any testing beyond the test consented to constituted an unlawful search. See State v. Wacker, 317 Or 419, 426, 856 P2d 1029 (1993).

Article I, section 9, protects both privacy and possessory interests. In State v. Owens, 302 Or 196, 729 P2d 524 (1986), the court discussed the effect of section 9 on the testing of a substance lawfully seized from the defendant:

*681 “When there is probable cause to believe that a lawfully seized substance is a controlled substance, a chemical test, for the sole purpose of determining whether or not it is a controlled substance, is neither a ‘search’ nor a ‘seizure’ under Article I, section 9. It is not a ‘search’ if the purpose of the test of a lawfully seized item is to confirm the presence of whatever the police have probable cause to believe is present in that item. A test for such a limited purpose does not infringe any privacy interest protected by the Oregon Constitution. Likewise, a test for this limited purpose is not a ‘seizure.’ A ‘seizure’ occurs when there is a significant interference with a person’s possessory or ownership interests in property. The seizure of an article by the police and the retention of it (even temporarily) is a significant intrusion into a person’s possessory interest in that ‘effect.’ However, once the item has been lawfully seized, the person’s pos-sessory interest in that property has been substantially reduced. The additional retention of the item, for the limited purpose of chemical analysis or testing is not a substantial interference with that possessory interest.” 302 Or at 206-07. (Footnote omitted.)

Because this case concerns a limited consent by defendant to test his body fluid, it requires a different analysis than the one in Owens. First, the proper focus is not on defendant’s possessory interest in the blood sample, but on whether he has a privacy interest in its contents. 1 Generally, a privacy interest under section 9 is

“an interest in freedom from particular forms of scrutiny. The interest is not one of freedom from scrutiny in general, because, if that were the case, any form of scrutiny would infringe a privacy interest and thereby be considered a search. A court has never held, for example, that a police officer engages in a search by making unaided observations from a public place, and an individual therefore cannot be said to have a constitutionally protected interest in freedom from such scrutiny.

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

State v. Binner, 886 P.2d 1056, 131 Or. App. 677, 1994 Ore. App. LEXIS 1826 (Or. Ct. App. 1994).

886 P.2d 1056 (State v. Binner) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State of Arizona v. Ian Mitcham
559 P.3d 1099 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2024)
State v. Oxford
488 P.3d 808 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2021)
State v. Gregory
Washington Supreme Court, 2018
People v. Pickard
California Court of Appeal, 2017
People v. Pickard
222 Cal. Rptr. 3d 686 (California Superior Court, 2017)
State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. GP West, Inc.
190 F. Supp. 3d 1003 (D. Hawaii, 2016)
People v. Steen CA1/3
California Court of Appeal, 2015
Varriale v. State
119 A.3d 824 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2015)
State v. Benefield
Connecticut Appellate Court, 2014
People v. Thomas
200 Cal. App. 4th 338 (California Court of Appeal, 2011)
State v. White
154 P.3d 124 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2007)
State v. Munro
96 P.3d 348 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2004)
State v. Hauge
79 P.3d 131 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 2003)
Weber v. Oakridge School District 76
56 P.3d 504 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2002)
Somnuk Viriyahiranpaiboon v. Department of State Police
756 N.E.2d 635 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 2001)
Wilson v. State
752 A.2d 1250 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2000)
State v. Kruchek
969 P.2d 386 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1998)
Marino v. State
934 P.2d 1321 (Court of Appeals of Alaska, 1997)
State v. Barnum
902 P.2d 95 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1995)