State v. Mehl

602 So. 2d 1383, 1992 WL 200360
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedAugust 21, 1992
Docket91-186
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 602 So. 2d 1383 (State v. Mehl) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Mehl, 602 So. 2d 1383, 1992 WL 200360 (Fla. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

602 So.2d 1383 (1992)

STATE of Florida, Appellant,
v.
David MEHL, Appellee.

No. 91-186.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

August 21, 1992.

*1384 Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and James N. Charles, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellant.

Flem K. Whited, III, of Lambert & Whited, Daytona Beach, and Mark S. Troum of Troum & Wallsh, Winter Park, for appellee.

GRIFFIN, Judge.

The state appeals an order entered by the trial court granting the motion of defendant, David Mehl ("defendant"), to suppress the results of a test of the alcohol level in his blood.[1] We reverse.

After an automobile accident in which defendant and the occupants of a second vehicle suffered injuries, defendant was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center for treatment. At the request of law enforcement officers, an emergency room physician drew a sample of defendant's blood, which was sent to Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime lab ("FDLE") for testing.[2] The test was conducted using a machine known as a gas chromatograph and revealed a blood alcohol level of .10.

Defendant was subsequently charged with three counts of driving under the influence and causing serious bodily injury,[3] one count of failure to appear,[4] one count of reckless driving,[5] and one count of leaving the scene of an accident.[6] Defendant filed a series of pretrial suppression motions, including a motion to suppress/motion in limine in which he sought suppression of his blood alcohol test results, arguing that section 316.1932(1)(f), Florida Statutes, applies to all blood testing conducted in Florida and that the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services ("HRS") failed to comply with the requirements of this statute by not adopting rules for use, maintenance, calibration, testing, upkeep, or repair of the gas chromatograph. Defendant also contended the absence of specific and detailed testing methods in the rules adopted by HRS violated his constitutional rights of due process[7] and equal protection.[8]

*1385 At the hearing on the motion, the FDLE forensic toxicologist who conducted the test of defendant's blood testified about HRS rules governing the testing of blood for alcohol content. Only two quantitative procedures are authorized: alcohol dehydrogenase and gas chromatography.[9] Rule 10D-42.030, governs the issuance of permits by HRS to qualified technicians to conduct chemical analysis of blood using one of these two procedures. It requires the applicant for a permit to have certain professional qualifications and to submit to HRS a "complete description of procedures" used by the applicant in determining blood alcohol content.[10] To qualify for a permit utilizing this specific set of procedures the applicant must satisfactorily analyze and quantitate blood alcohol in "proficiency samples" provided by HRS. HRS approves this submitted procedure by issuing a permit to the technician. Rule 10D-42.030(3). ("The permit shall be issued for a specific method performed by the permittee in the designated laboratory facility.") Thereafter, every three months,[11] HRS sends the permittee control samples, denominated "proficiency" samples, which he or she must test. Test results from this analysis must match the analysis of these "proficiency" samples done by recognized referee laboratories around the country. These permits must be renewed annually based upon written application and are conditioned upon "regular participation and demonstration of proficiency" by the permittee in analyzing blood samples submitted by the department.[12] The rules also mandate automatic termination of the permit upon unsatisfactory performance on two of four consecutive sets of proficiency samples or for "failure to maintain blood or breath alcohol testing equipment in proper working order." Rule 10D-42.032(4). This permit must be renewed annually. As these rules illustrate, HRS has established a procedure of blind testing of permittees to insure the reliability of the testing performed and has not promulgated separate procedures for maintenance, calibration, testing, upkeep, or repair of blood testing equipment.

The trial court granted defendant's motion to suppress the blood test results, ruling that, because HRS had failed to promulgate rules and regulations establishing standards for use, maintenance, testing, and upkeep of the gas chromatograph, there was no procedure that assured accuracy of blood tests done on such equipment as required by section 316.1932(1)(f)1. The trial court similarly ruled that the lack of statewide standards governing the administration and analysis of blood samples as required by the same statute amounted to a violation of defendant's constitutional rights of due process and equal protection.

In State v. Burke, 599 So.2d 1339 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992), the First District Court of Appeal recently held that HRS has substantially complied with the mandate set forth by the legislature in section 316.1932(1)(f) by adopting the blood alcohol testing rules contained in rule 10D-42.028.030 of the Florida Administrative Code; therefore, the results of blood tests administered pursuant to these rules are admissible evidence.[13]

*1386 We agree with the First District that the rules adopted by HRS for blood alcohol testing meet the requirements of section 316.1932(1)(f)1, Florida Statutes;[14] but we also question whether, in the present case, section 316.192(1)(f)1 is the statute that must be complied with. The legislature has enacted two statutes that authorize the withdrawal of blood for the purpose of determining the alcohol content of the blood. Section 316.1932 provides that "any person who accepts the privilege extended by the laws of this state of operating a motor vehicle within this state" shall be deemed to have consented to an approved blood test for the purpose of determining the alcohol content of the blood if such person (1) appears for treatment at a hospital, clinic, or other medical facility as a result of his involvement as a driver in a motor vehicle accident, and (2) the administration of a breath or urine test is impractical or impossible. Section 316.1933 provides that if a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that a motor vehicle driven by, or in the actual physical control of, a person under the influence of alcoholic beverages has caused the death or serious bodily injury of a human being, such person shall submit, upon the request of a law enforcement officer, to a test of his blood for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content thereof. The latter statute applies to the present case.

Section 316.1933 does not have language paralleling the key language of paragraph (1)(f) of section 316.1932 relied on by defendant; instead, paragraph (2)(b) of section 316.1933 requires that the chemical analysis of the person's blood:

must have been performed substantially in accordance with methods approved by the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services and by an individual possessing a valid permit issued by the department for this purpose. The Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services may approve satisfactory techniques or methods, ascertain the qualifications and competence of individuals to conduct such analysis, and issue permits which will be subject to termination or revocation at the discretion of the department.

§ 316.1933, Fla. Stat. (1989).

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Related

Cole v. State
835 A.2d 600 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2003)
Mehl v. State
632 So. 2d 593 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1993)
State v. McRoberts
621 So. 2d 528 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1993)
Phillips v. State
621 So. 2d 734 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
602 So. 2d 1383, 1992 WL 200360, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mehl-fladistctapp-1992.