State v. Dominguez

2011 UT 11, 248 P.3d 473, 677 Utah Adv. Rep. 29, 2011 Utah LEXIS 14, 2011 WL 692811
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 1, 2011
Docket20090410
StatusPublished

This text of 2011 UT 11 (State v. Dominguez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Dominguez, 2011 UT 11, 248 P.3d 473, 677 Utah Adv. Rep. 29, 2011 Utah LEXIS 14, 2011 WL 692811 (Utah 2011).

Opinion

248 P.3d 473 (2011)
2011 UT 11

STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Petitioner,
v.
William Thomas DOMINGUEZ, Defendant and Respondent.

No. 20090410.

Supreme Court of Utah.

March 1, 2011.

*474 Mark L. Shurtleff, Att'y Gen., Jeffrey S. Gray, Asst. Att'y Gen., Salt Lake City, for plaintiff.

Randall W. Richards, Ogden, for defendant.

On Certiorari to the Utah Court of Appeals

Justice LEE, opinion of the Court:

¶ 1 The State challenges a decision of the court of appeals reversing the district court's denial of William Dominguez's motion to suppress evidence obtained pursuant to a warrant authorizing a blood draw. The court of *475 appeals held that evidence obtained from the blood draw should have been suppressed because the warrant-issuing magistrate failed to comply with Rule 40 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure when granting a telephonic search warrant. We reverse on the ground that Dominguez has not demonstrated that the magistrate's Rule 40 violation affected his substantial rights.

I

¶ 2 Shortly after 1:00 a.m. on June 3, 2007, Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Chris Turley pulled William Dominguez over for racing with another car. In speaking with Dominguez, Turley noticed that Dominguez "had red, bloodshot, glassy looking eyes" and "that his speech was noticeably slurred." When a records check revealed that Dominguez's driver's license had been revoked for alcohol-related offenses, Turley arrested him. Turley reported that during the course of the arrest he smelled a "strong odor" of alcohol on Dominguez's breath. Turley asked Dominguez to blow into a portable breathalyzer, but Dominguez refused. He also refused to submit to field sobriety tests.

¶ 3 After transporting Dominguez to the police station, Turley prepared a written affidavit in support of a search warrant authorizing a blood draw. Shortly after 2:00 a.m., Turley telephoned Judge Brent West and informed him of the reason for the stop, "all of the clues [he] observed," and the arrest. After being placed under oath, Turley read the probable cause statement contained in the written affidavit. Turley testified that he did not read every line of the affidavit, but that he read the following portion "establishing the grounds for issuance of [the] search warrant":

On June 3[,] 2007, at approximately [1:02 a.m.], I observed a red Honda Civic . . . racing a silver passenger car. The vehicle was stopped by the activation of my emergency lights. I approached the vehicle and William Dominguez was in the driver seat not wearing a seat belt. Dominguez had red, bloodshot, glassy looking eyes. As I spoke with Dominguez, I noticed that his speech was noticeably slurred. I conducted a records check on Dominguez using his name and date of birth. This information revealed that Dominguez had a[n] alcohol[-]revoked license and was an alcohol[-]restricted driver. Dominguez denied consuming any alcohol. I placed Dominguez under arrest and could smell a strong odor of an alcohol beverage coming from his breath in the open air.
I requested Dominguez blow into a portable breath tester[;] however he refused to blow. When asked if he would allow me to conduct [a] field sobriety test, Dominguez said no and that he had been through this before. Dominguez refused to submit to any DUI field sobriety tests. I read Dominguez his DUI admonitions[1] advising him of the consequences of not submitting to my tests. Dominguez still would not cooperate and refused to give a chemical test.
Dominguez has at least 4 prior DUI convictions in the past 10 years and he is currently on parole for a felony DUI conviction.

At the direction of the magistrate, Turley signed the magistrate's name to the warrant authorizing the blood draw at 2:27 a.m.[2]

*476 ¶ 4 The magistrate did not obtain a copy of the affidavit from Turley. Nor did the magistrate make or retain a copy of the search warrant.

¶ 5 Dominguez was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with alcohol in his body with a no-alcohol license, driving on a revoked license, driving a vehicle without proof of insurance, and engaging in a speed contest or exhibition. Dominguez filed a motion to suppress evidence, arguing that the warrant had been issued in violation of Rule 40(i)(1) of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure, which requires a magistrate, "[a]t the time of issuance, . . . [to] retain and seal a copy of the search warrant, the application and all affidavits or other recorded testimony on which the warrant [was] based." Dominguez did not challenge the probable cause element or the truth of any of the evidence contained in Turley's affidavit. See State v. Dominguez, 2009 UT App 73, ¶ 17, 206 P.3d 640.

¶ 6 The district court denied Dominguez's motion to suppress, and Dominguez entered a conditional plea to driving under the influence. Dominguez appealed.

¶ 7 The court of appeals reversed. It treated the appeal as presenting two questions: (1) "whether there was an error" in the application of Rule 40(i)(1), and (2), if so, "whether the error caused harm sufficient to merit suppressing the evidence." Id. ¶ 5.

¶ 8 As to the first question, the court of appeals concluded that the magistrate's failure to "make and keep a copy of the search warrant and supporting documents" violated Rule 40. Id. ¶ 11. As to the second question, the court noted that Rule 40(i)(1) had been implemented in direct response to this court's decision in Anderson v. Taylor, which mandated retention and filing of warrants and warrant-application materials and testimony by the warrant-issuing magistrate. 2006 UT 79, ¶¶ 22-23, 149 P.3d 352. The court then "assume[d] that the Utah Supreme Court wishes this rule to be followed strictly now that it has been implemented" and accordingly held that a violation of Rule 40(i)(1) justifies suppression. Dominguez, 2009 UT App 73, ¶ 17, 206 P.3d 640.

¶ 9 On certiorari, we review the decision of the court of appeals for correctness. State v. Visser, 2000 UT 88, ¶ 9, 22 P.3d 1242.

II

¶ 10 Rule 40(i)(1) requires the magistrate, "[a]t the time of issuance" of a search warrant, to "retain and seal a copy of the search warrant, the application and all affidavits or other recorded testimony on which the warrant is based" and to "file those sealed documents in court files which are secured against access by the public." UTAH R.CRIM. P. 40(i)(1). This rule implements our holding in Anderson v. Taylor, 2006 UT 79, 149 P.3d 352. In Anderson, we reviewed a district court's practice for issuing search warrants. Prior to Anderson, the district court customarily did not retain copies of search warrants or their supporting documentation. Instead,

after issuing a warrant, the issuing magistrate return[ed] both the warrant and the supporting material to the law enforcement officer seeking the warrant. After the warrant [was] executed, the officer deliver[ed] the original warrant, the supporting material, the return, and the inventory of items seized in the search to the magistrate, who then review[ed] it and either file[d] it with the court or return[ed] it to law enforcement with a request that law enforcement file it with the court.

Id. ¶ 2.

¶ 11 In Anderson, we found this practice "sufficiently troubling" to warrant the exercise of our "inherent supervisory authority over all courts of this state." Id. ¶ 20 (internal quotation marks omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
2011 UT 11, 248 P.3d 473, 677 Utah Adv. Rep. 29, 2011 Utah LEXIS 14, 2011 WL 692811, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dominguez-utah-2011.