State v. Hartman

256 N.W.2d 131, 1977 S.D. LEXIS 167
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 7, 1977
Docket11902
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 256 N.W.2d 131 (State v. Hartman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota 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. Hartman, 256 N.W.2d 131, 1977 S.D. LEXIS 167 (S.D. 1977).

Opinions

ZASTROW, Justice.

The defendant, Bruce Hartman, appeals from his conviction of second degree manslaughter under SDCL 22-16-21 (hereinafter referred to as “DWI manslaughter”) for the death of Beverly Schulte in a traffic accident.

On September 11, 1975, the decedent was a passenger in an automobile owned and operated by the defendant. The one-car accident occurred on Highway 37 as the defendant drove north from Mitchell, South Dakota, and crossed a bridge near the Lake Mitchell spillway. The defendant testified that as he crossed the bridge his speed was [133]*13345 miles per hour, the posted speed limit. Just beyond the bridge, a curved concrete median separates the traffic lanes. The defendant’s car struck the median curb, skidding along the curb over 140 feet when the left wheels apparently jumped the curb and onto the median for another 140 feet. The car then returned to and across the traffic lane, leaving skid marks for a distance of over 200 feet until it left the highway, and was airborne for a distance of more than 30 feet. The car slid sideways into the ditch some 126 feet, then traveling another 60 feet before hitting a board fence along> the highway right-of-way. After striking the fence, the car then spun and continued backwards some 70 feet until it struck a large wooden utility pole.

Officer Reinesch of the Mitchell Police Department was advised-of the accident at 12:53 a. m. When he arrived at the accident scene, he found Beverly Schulte and Marjean Strand, a second passenger in the defendant’s car, lying on the ground some 70 feet from the defendant’s car. Both girls were quickly removed by ambulance to the hospital.

Officer Reinesch took.the defendant to the police station. Based upon his observations of the defendant, Officer Reinesch placed him under arrest for driving while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage (SDCL 32-23-1, hereinafter referred to as DWI). The arrest occurred at the police station at 1:15 a. m. He advised defendant of his constitutional rights and inquired whether the defendant would consent to a blood test. The defendant agreed to do so. The defendant and Officer Reinesch proceeded to the hospital where a blood sample was taken at 2:05 a. m. by a nurse at the direction of Officer Reinesch. The blood sample was mailed shortly thereafter to the State Chemical Laboratory in Vermillion, South Dakota. (The chemical analysis conducted at the state laboratory revealed a blood alcohol level of .12%.)

Although the record is unclear, it appears that the defendant was returned to the police station. At that time, Officer Rein-esch was advised that Beverly Schulte had died as a result of her injuries received in the accident. He advised defendant that he was being further arrested for second degree manslaughter.

Prior to the trial, the defendant moved to suppress the blood sample and the test results and any evidence relating thereto. At the trial, these objections were again presented to the court. Although several grounds for the inadmissibility were presented to the trial court, the defendant argues only one on appeal. Defendant contends that the failure of Officer Reinesch to advise the defendant of his right to refuse to give a blood sample under SDCL 32-23-10,1 32-23-11,2 and 32-23-123 (hereinafter [134]*134referred to as “implied consent statutes”)4 renders the sample and results of such test inadmissible.

The defendant relies exclusively upon this court’s decision in State v. Buckingham, 1976, S.D., 240 N.W.2d 84, which held that breath and blood test results were inadmissible in a DWI prosecution where it is shown that the arresting officer has failed to comply with the implied consent statutes. The defendant contends that because SDCL 32-23-10 refers to SDCL 32-23-75 which in turn refers to the DWI-manslaughter statute (SDCL 22-16-21),6 noncompliance with the implied consent statutes renders the blood sample and test results inadmissible in this prosecution for DWI-manslaughter.

The Buckingham decision was without the benefit of argument from the state on the question of whether use of the “exclusionary rule” was necessary where there is a violation of the implied consent statutes. Upon further consideration, this court feels that it is necessary to modify the Buckingham decision which approved the application of the exclusionary rule to bodily substance samples and test results taken in violation of the implied consent laws.

Our consideration of the implied consent statutes must be prefaced upon the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Schmerber v. California, 1966, 384 U.S. 757, 86 5.Ct. 1826, 16 L.Ed.2d 908. Schmerber held that bodily substance samples were not subject to the exclusionary rule under the Fourth Amendment if they are taken (1) incident to a lawful arrest,7 (2) by a reliable and accepted method of obtaining such sample,8 (3) in a reasonable, medically approved manner,9 and (4) where there is probable cause to believe that the evidence sought exists. It also held that the elimination of alcohol by natural bodily functions presents exigent circumstances which obviate the necessity of obtaining a search warrant.

The exclusionary rule is a judicially created means of protecting the rights of the citizens under the Fourth Amendment10 and Art. VI, § 11 of the South Dakota [135]*135Constitution 11 as a deterrent to unlawful police conduct. However, evidence obtained in violation of statutory rights is not inadmissible per se unless the statutory rights are of constitutional proportions or there exists no other method of deterring future violations of the rights which the legislature has granted to its citizens. People v. Brannon, 1973, 32 Cal.App.3d 971, 108 Cal.Rptr. 620; State v. Valdez, 1977, 277 Or. 621, 561 P.2d 1006.

A review of our implied consent statutes reveals the intent of the legislature to extend to the operators of motor vehicles a right beyond those embodied within the Fourth Amendment or Art. VI, § 11, South Dakota Constitution, i. e., the right to refuse to submit to a chemical test of their bodily substances for a determination of blood alcohol content. In return for that statutory right, the state is provided with several benefits in its efforts to identify, prosecute and remove intoxicated drivers from our highways. (1) Any person operating a motor vehicle is deemed to have impliedly consented to a withdrawal of bodily substances for a chemical test.

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Bluebook (online)
256 N.W.2d 131, 1977 S.D. LEXIS 167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hartman-sd-1977.