State v. Christopher Drew Helwig

CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedJune 4, 2020
Docket2019AP000448
StatusUnpublished

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

Bluebook
State v. Christopher Drew Helwig, (Wis. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS DECISION NOTICE DATED AND FILED This opinion is subject to further editing. If published, the official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports. June 4, 2020 A party may file with the Supreme Court a Sheila T. Reiff petition to review an adverse decision by the Clerk of Court of Appeals Court of Appeals. See WIS. STAT. § 808.10 and RULE 809.62.

Appeal No. 2019AP448-CR Cir. Ct. No. 2018CT282

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT IV

STATE OF WISCONSIN,

PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT,

V.

CHRISTOPHER DREW HELWIG,

DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

APPEAL from a judgment of the circuit court for Jefferson County: BENNETT J. BRANTMEIER, Judge. Affirmed.

¶1 GRAHAM, J.1 Christopher Helwig appeals a judgment convicting him of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OWI). During his trial, the

1 This appeal is decided by one judge pursuant to WIS. STAT. § 752.31(2)(f) (2017-18). All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2017-18 version unless otherwise noted. No. 2019AP448-CR

circuit court admitted evidence of his blood alcohol concentration test result without requiring testimony from the registered nurse who collected the sample of his blood. On appeal, Helwig argues that the court erred by admitting evidence of the test result, and also by admitting a form that documents basic details about the arrest and the blood draw. For the reasons that follow, I reject Helwig’s arguments and affirm the circuit court.

BACKGROUND

¶2 After Helwig was arrested for OWI, a sample of his blood was drawn by a registered nurse pursuant to WIS. STAT. § 343.305, commonly referred to as Wisconsin’s implied consent law. The arresting officer and the nurse filled out a preprinted “Blood/Urine Analysis” form (the “blood/urine form”). The officer then sent the sample and the blood/urine form to the state laboratory of hygiene, where a lab analyst later determined that Helwig’s blood alcohol concentration was .188 grams per 100 milliliters of blood. The analyst prepared a one-page laboratory report stating this result.

¶3 Prior to trial, the parties disagreed about the showing that the State was required to make before the blood test result could be admitted into evidence.2 This disagreement stemmed from the parties’ differing interpretations of WIS. STAT. § 343.305, including its provision that test results “are admissible” if the State shows the blood sample was “administered in accordance with this section.” See § 343.305(5)(d). Helwig argued that the State had to show that the nurse used certain approved methods when she collected the blood sample. He further argued

2 Separately, Helwig moved to suppress the blood test result on Fourth Amendment grounds, but the circuit court denied his motion and Helwig does not appeal that ruling.

2 No. 2019AP448-CR

that the nurse was the only person who could testify on this subject, and without her testimony, the test result was hearsay and its admission would violate the Confrontation Clause. The State contended that neither the statute nor the Confrontation Clause required the nurse’s testimony.

¶4 Based on documentary evidence submitted by the State, the circuit court found that Helwig’s blood “was drawn by a qualified person, namely, a Registered Nurse,” and that Helwig had not challenged that fact. The circuit court determined that the nurse was not a “necessary witness,” and neither party called the nurse to testify at trial.

¶5 The arresting officer and the lab analyst both testified at the trial. Among other things, the officer described the blood/urine form as a document that “comes in the blood kit,” “goes to the State Hygiene Lab,” and has “the defendant’s name, incident number, my name, that sort of information just so that whoever processes the blood at the State of Wisconsin Hygiene Lab knows whose blood it is.” The State moved to admit the blood/urine form, and then later to publish it to the jury. Helwig’s attorney did not object to either of these requests, which were granted by the circuit court.

¶6 The lab analyst testified about the procedures he used to analyze the sample and the result of his analysis. In the course of this testimony, the State moved to admit the analyst’s one-page laboratory report, and Helwig preserved the objection that the circuit court had previously overruled. The court received the lab report over Helwig’s objection. The analyst did not testify about the circumstances of Helwig’s blood draw, and on cross-examination, he confirmed that he would have no way of knowing whether the person who drew the blood followed any specific protocol.

3 No. 2019AP448-CR

¶7 The jury found Helwig guilty, and he appeals.

DISCUSSION

¶8 Helwig argues that the blood/urine form and the test result are inadmissible hearsay, and that the admission of this evidence without the nurse’s testimony violated his constitutional right to confront witnesses against him. Because many of Helwig’s arguments hinge upon his interpretation of WIS. STAT. § 343.305, I begin by considering the proper interpretation of that statute.

I. Interpretation of WIS. STAT. § 343.305

¶9 Statutory interpretation presents a question of law that appellate courts review de novo. Nowell v. City of Wausau, 2013 WI 88, ¶19, 351 Wis. 2d 1, 838 N.W.2d 852. When interpreting a statute, we begin with its language, and if the meaning is plain, that ordinarily ends the inquiry. State ex rel. Kalal v. Circuit Court for Dane Cty., 2004 WI 58, ¶45, 271 Wis. 2d 633, 681 N.W.2d 110.

¶10 WISCONSIN STAT. § 343.305(5)(d) governs the admissibility of blood, breath, and urine tests obtained under Wisconsin’s implied consent law. If a test is “administered in accordance with” § 343.305, it is “admissible on the issue of whether the person was under the influence of an intoxicant ....” See § 343.305(5)(d). The Wisconsin Supreme Court has explained that a test that complies with the statutory requirements is admissible “by legislative edict.” State v. Disch, 119 Wis. 2d 461, 473, 351 N.W.2d 492 (1984) (considering an earlier version of the statute with the same admissibility provision). The question, then, is what § 343.305 requires.

¶11 Helwig argues that WIS. STAT. § 343.305 requires that blood samples be collected properly, according to procedures that were approved by the

4 No. 2019AP448-CR

state laboratory of hygiene, as a threshold requirement of admissibility. The State contends that § 343.305 requires only that the blood be collected by a person who is statutorily authorized to draw blood. Neither party cites any cases interpreting the relevant statutory language, and this appears to be a question of first impression.3

¶12 I begin with WIS. STAT. § 343.305(5), titled “Administering the Test; Additional Tests.” Paragraph (5)(a) provides that “[a] blood test is subject to par. (b).” See § 343.305(5)(a). Paragraph (5)(b) sets forth the following requirements for blood draws:

Blood may be withdrawn from the person arrested for [an OWI offense] to determine the presence or quantity of alcohol [or controlled substances] in the blood only by a physician, registered nurse, medical technologist, physician assistant, phlebotomist, or other medical professional who is authorized to draw blood, or a person acting under the direction of a physician.

WIS. STAT. § 343.305(5)(b).

¶13 Plainly, there is nothing in the text of paragraph (5)(b) that requires blood to be drawn in a particular manner or consistent with any particular protocol. Id. The sole requirement set forth in paragraph (5)(b) is that the blood was drawn by a person authorized to draw blood. Id.

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State v. Christopher Drew Helwig, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-christopher-drew-helwig-wisctapp-2020.