State v. Hernandez

403 N.E.2d 1022, 62 Ohio App. 2d 63, 16 Ohio Op. 3d 114, 1978 Ohio App. LEXIS 7688
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 7, 1978
DocketWD-77-58
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 403 N.E.2d 1022 (State v. Hernandez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio 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 v. Hernandez, 403 N.E.2d 1022, 62 Ohio App. 2d 63, 16 Ohio Op. 3d 114, 1978 Ohio App. LEXIS 7688 (Ohio Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

Connors, J.

From the final judgment finding defendant guilty of a violation of R. C. 2903.06(A) (aggravated vehicular homicide), and pursuant to Crim. R. 12(H), the defendant appeals the trial court’s overruling of (1) his motion to suppress evidence of a urine specimen analysis and the analysis results as to alcohol content of the defendant’s blood and ((2) his motion for a vacation of the “no contest” plea subsequent to the overruling of the motion to suppress.

Defendant’s sole assignment of error is as follows:

“The court erred in overruling the appellant’s motion to suppress evidence of a urine specimen analysis and analysis results as to alcohol content of the appellant’s blood.”

Both the defendant and the state agree on the statement of the facts. On August 8, 1977, a complaint was made by an officer of the Ohio State Highway Patrol against the defendant. The complaint charged that defendant had operated a motor vehicle recklessly and caused the death of one Kathleen Johnson, in violation of R. C. 2903.06(A).

A collision occurred between two automobiles on August 7,1977, at 1:45 a.m., at the intersection of U. S. route 23 and state route 105 in Wood County. One automobile involved in the above collision was driven by Dolly Arnold. The other was driven by the defendant. A passenger in the Arnold vehicle at the time of the collision was Kathleen Johnson, who was pronounced dead at the scene by the Wood County coroner.

*64 Rolando Hernandez, the defendant, was transported from the scene of the collision by private ambulance to Fremont Memorial Hospital, Fremont, Ohio. A urine specimen was collected from the defendant at the hospital, at 4:03 a.m. on August 7, 1977, by state trooper D. W. Kohli. It is stipulated that the urine specimen was collected 2 hours and 18 minutes after the collision.

The urine specimen was transported to the Ohio State Highway Patrol Laboratory in Columbus for analysis. The specimen was analyzed by the laboratory to determine the concentration of alcohol, if any, in defendant’s blood. As a result of such testing, it was shown that the concentration of alcohol in defendant’s blood was .25, as expressed in numerical form as equivalent to grams of alcohol per one hundred millimeters of blood.

Based upon the investigation and the results of the chemical test, the defendant was indicted by the Wood County Grand Jury for a violation of R. C. 2903.06.

A motion to suppress the evidence came on to be heard before the trial court on November 2,1977. Stipulations were filed on behalf of the defendant and the state. It was agreed that the urine specimen was taken from the defendant two hours and 18 minutes after the accident. It was further agreed that the results of the chemical test were expressed in numerical form as equivalent to grams of alcohol per one hundred millimeters of blood. It was further agreed that the prosecuting attorney would introduce an expert to testify as to the scientific correlation between the test results and the state of intoxication of the defendant at the time of the accident. It was further stipulated that the prosecution would not base its case upon any presumption set forth in R. C. 4511.19 (of being under the influence of alcohol), nor would the state request an instruction of law on any presumption.

Defendant in his memorandum, filed October 28, 1977, contends that the test results should not be admitted into evidence because of a failure to comply with regulation 3701-53-05 of the Director of Health, which provides, in part:

“3701-53-05. Collection and Handling of Blood and Urine Specimens.
“(a) All samples should be collected within two hours of the time of the alleged violation.”

*65 The above quoted regulation was adopted pursuant to a grant of authority set forth in R. C. 3701.143.

Defendant urges that the procedures set forth in the regulation referred to above are not limited to prosecutions for a violation of R. C. 4511.19 (driving under the influence). It is further urged that the two-hour requirement does not operate only to exclude the legal presumptions of intoxication.

Subsequent to his oral ruling on the motion to suppress, the trial court filed an excellent dissertation of his considered opinion in a memorandum decision. As is pointed out in that decision, we note that as authority for regulation 3701-53-05, Baldwin’s Ohio Administrative Code cites not only R. C. 3701.143, but also 4511.19 and 4511.191. R. C. 3701.143 was only a part of a total legislative change passed by the General Assembly in House Bill 380 (effective 1-1-68), being Section 1 of such Bill. That Bill also created R. C. 4511.191 (implied consent law) and further amended Section 4511.19 by adding the presumptions arising from the results of chemical analyses. It is apparent that House Bill 380 was directed solely to driving under the influence, and the methods whereby the prosecution could avoid the requirement of introducing scientific evidence in every case to establish intoxication. The legislatively created presumptions set forth in R. C. 4511.19 were designed for that sole purpose.

The question then becomes whether Regulation 3701-53-05 is applicable to other criminal code provisions, particularly aggravated vehicular homicide, and the failure to take a specimen within the two-hour period.

It is clear that in the prosecution of driving under the influence, evidence as to the alcohol content of a specimen of body fluid is ordinarily admissible as competent and relevant to the issue of intoxication. See 7 American Jurisprudence 2d 875, Automobiles and Highway Traffic, Section 332. The courts of Ohio have established certain guidelines for the admissibility of evidence establishing intoxication. See Mentor v. Giordano (1967) 9 Ohio St. 2d 140; State v. Miracle (1973), 33 Ohio App. 2d 289; State v. Hall (1973), 39 Ohio App. 2d 87; In re Brooks (1971), 27 Ohio St. 2d 66; Cincinnati v. Sand (1975), 43 Ohio St. 2d 79.

These cases speak of the admissibility of test results and set forth the conditions precedent. The issue of the use of test *66 results, in the absence of statutory presumptions, as applied to a case of vehicular homicide, has not, as yet, been decided in this state.

However, in Barber v. Curry (1974), 40 Ohio App. 2d 346, the Franklin County Court of Appeals was faced with a refusal to take a breathalyzer test. The defendant at trial and on appeal argued that a refusal could be revoked anytime within the two-hour limit set forth in the statute. While that case involved the implied consent law, rather than driving while under the influence, that court was required to examine the impact of the two-hour provision on the collection of specimens. The court stated, at 349:

“At first reading, State v. Sickles (1970), 25 Ohio App. 2d 1, State v. Miracle (1973), 33 Ohio App. 2d 289, and In re Brooks

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
403 N.E.2d 1022, 62 Ohio App. 2d 63, 16 Ohio Op. 3d 114, 1978 Ohio App. LEXIS 7688, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hernandez-ohioctapp-1978.