State v. Kelly

430 N.W.2d 427, 1988 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 290, 1988 WL 108531
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedOctober 19, 1988
Docket88-197
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 430 N.W.2d 427 (State v. Kelly) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Kelly, 430 N.W.2d 427, 1988 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 290, 1988 WL 108531 (iowa 1988).

Opinions

SNELL, Justice.

This is a discretionary review of a district court ruling suppressing evidence in a criminal prosecution for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, in violation of Iowa Code section 321J.2(1) (1987). The trial court granted the motion of defendant, JoAnne Lacy Kelly, to suppress evidence of an implied consent breath test that was offered two hours and nine minutes after Kelly was arrested and a preliminary breath test was administered. We reverse and remand for trial.

At approximately 3:00 p.m. on October 15, 1987, state trooper Rick Lampe was called to the scene of an automobile accident involving Kelly. At 3:54 p.m., while Kelly was at the hospital receiving treatment for her injuries, she was placed under arrest by Trooper Lampe, who shortly thereafter . administered a preliminary breath test. At 4:45 p.m., Kelly was released from the hospital and taken to the Boone, Iowa police station. At 5:10 p.m., Trooper Lampe made an oral request to Kelly for an intoxilyzer breath test, to which Kelly responded by requesting an opportunity to consult her legal counsel. Her attorney was located just before 6:00 p.m. After Kelly consulted briefly with him, she acceded at 6:03 p.m. to a written request for a breath test. The test was administered at approximately 6:10 p.m. and indicated Kelly had a blood alcohol concentration in excess of .10 percent.

In her motion to suppress, Kelly asserted evidence of the test was inadmissible because the written request for the test was not made within the two-hour limitation period provided by Iowa Code section 321J.6(2) (1987) as follows:

If the peace officer fails to offer a test within two hours after the preliminary [429]*429screening test is administered or refused or the arrest is made, whichever occurs first, a test is not required, and there shall be no revocation under section 321J.9.

The district court agreed, finding adherence to the two-hour limit to be a statutory foundational requirement for the admission of evidence of section 321J.6 tests. The State contends this conclusion was erroneous for two reasons. First, the State argues, the two-hour limit does not apply under the facts of this case, since much of the delay in making the written request was occasioned by Kelly’s need for medical attention. Second, the two-hour limit only applies to license revocations for the refusal to be tested pursuant to our implied consent law, and does not constitute a foundational requirement for admission of evidence of those tests.

In support of its first argument, the State relies on our decision in State v. Martin, 383 N.W.2d 556 (Iowa 1986). In Martin we determined the two-hour limit did not apply where the officer’s written request for the test was based solely on the defendant’s involvement in a motor vehicle accident or collision resulting in personal injury or death. Id. at 559 (discussing section 321B.4(l)(b), the predecessor to section 321J.6(l)(b)). We noted the two-hour limit was only imposed where a preliminary screening test was administered or refused, or where the defendant had been arrested, but that no similar triggering event was provided for cases falling under the subsection regarding accidents with personal injury or death. Id.

In this case, contrary to Martin, a preliminary screening test was administered and the defendant was arrested. By the express terms of section 321J.6(2), these triggering events imposed the two-hour limit. We decline to ignore these triggering events in cases which we could determine, in retrospect, also fell under the subsection regarding accidents with personal injury or death. The two-hour limit, commencing at 3:54 p.m., when Kelly was placed under arrest, applied to this case.

Moreover, it is not disputed the two-hour limit was not satisfied here. The written request was not made to Kelly until two hours and nine minutes after her arrest. The oral request at 5:10 p.m. was not sufficient, under our cases, to comply with the statute. See State v. Richards, 229 N.W.2d 229, 233 (Iowa 1975) (the written request is one of the foundational requirements for admissibility of blood analy-ses made pursuant to the implied consent statute).

We must now determine whether the two-hour limit is a foundational requirement for the admission of evidence of section 321J.6 tests in a prosecution for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, in violation of section 321J.2(1) (1987). In previous cases we have alternately implied the two-hour limit is and is not a foundational requirement. Compare State v. Sehlemme, 301 N.W.2d 721, 723 (Iowa 1981) (time limit was listed in an itemization of procedural requirements under chapter 321B) with State v. Jensen, 216 N.W.2d 369, 372 (Iowa 1974) (time limit was not listed under a similar itemization). We have not, however, yet addressed the issue directly. See State v. Stoneking, 379 N.W.2d 352, 355 (Iowa 1985).

In doing so now, we think it important to note the general purpose of chapter 321J and the specific purposes of the procedural requirements contained therein. Chapter 321J is designed “to reduce the holocaust on our highways part of which is due to the driver who imbibes too freely of intoxicating liquor.” See State v. Hitchens, 294 N.W.2d 686, 687 (Iowa 1980); Severson v. Sueppel, 260 Iowa 1169, 1174, 152 N.W.2d 281, 284 (1967). The purpose of its procedural requirements is “to protect the health of the person submitting to a test and to guarantee its accuracy for use in later judicial proceedings.” State v. Wallin, 195 N.W.2d 95, 97 (Iowa 1972). As stated in State v. Sehlemme, 301 N.W.2d at 723-24:

In effectuating these purposes and balancing them against the general purpose of the statute, we have not hesitated to hold evidence inadmissible when the [430]*430standards were not complied with and thus endangered health or the accuracy of the test. See, e.g., State v. DeBerg, 288 N.W.2d 348, 350 (Iowa 1980) (State failed to prove syringes and needles were originally factory wrapped and disposable); State v. Smith, 272 N.W.2d 859, 860-62 (Iowa 1978) (urine placed in blood test bottle containing anticoagulant with no testimony as to effect of this mixture); State v. Richards, 229 N.W.2d 229, 233 (Iowa 1975) (peace officer failed to make timely written request of defendant to submit to blood test); State v. Wallin, 195 N.W.2d at 98 (peace officer failed to make written request directing physician to withdraw blood, and syringe and needles did not meet statutory specifications); State v. Shelton, 176 N.W.2d 159

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State v. Kelly
430 N.W.2d 427 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1988)

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Bluebook (online)
430 N.W.2d 427, 1988 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 290, 1988 WL 108531, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kelly-iowa-1988.