State v. Rader

597 N.W.2d 321, 1999 Minn. App. LEXIS 846, 1999 WL 508421
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedJuly 20, 1999
DocketCX-98-2177
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 597 N.W.2d 321 (State v. Rader) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Rader, 597 N.W.2d 321, 1999 Minn. App. LEXIS 846, 1999 WL 508421 (Mich. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinions

OPINION

DAVIES, Judge

Appellant argues that his conviction for gross misdemeanor driving with an alcohol concentration of .10 or more should be reversed because the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his alcohol concentration was above .10 at the point the Intoxilyzer registered an adequate sample. Appellant also argues that his substantive and procedural due process rights were violated when he was required to continue blowing into the machine after it registered an adequate sample and that, by doing so, the state destroyed possibly exculpatory evidence. We affirm.

FACTS

The stipulated facts are as follows. A state trooper stopped appellant Robert Allan Rader for speeding on Interstate 94. The officer noticed the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on Rader’s breath. Rader failed field sobriety tests administered by the officer. Rader was placed under arrest and submitted to a breath test. The breath test, performed on an [323]*323Intoxilyzer 5000, reported Rader’s alcohol concentration to be .13.

A complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court charged Rader with three drmng-under-the-influenee counts. At the omnibus hearing, Rader waived his right to a jury trial and agreed to submit the count of gross misdemeanor driving with an alcohol concentration of .10 or more to the district court on stipulated facts. The state dismissed the remaining counts.

Rader and the state stipulated that: (1) an adequate breath sample is given when the Intoxilyzer displays a zero to the left of the decimal point on the display screen; (2) the officer had Rader continue to blow after the machine registered an adequate sample; (3) the reported concentration continues to rise until the person is told to stop blowing; (4) the officer did not know the reported value when the zero appeared; (5) the reported value could have been under .10 at the point the machine reported an adequate sample; and (6) the training manual for the Intoxilyzer 5000 sets forth how the officer is to respond to information when it appears on the machine’s display.

The matter was continued pending this court’s decision in Brooks v. Commissioner of Pub. Safety, 584 N.W.2d 15 (Minn.App.1998), revieiv denied (Minn. Nov. 24, 1998). Following the Brooks decision, the district court found Rader guilty of gross misdemeanor driving with an alcohol concentration of .10 or more. The district court sentenced Rader to one year in the county jail and fined him $3,000. The sentence and payment of the fine were stayed and Rader was placed on probation.

ISSUES

I. Must the state prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the indicated alcohol concentration was .10 or more at the moment the Intoxilyzer registered an adequate breath sample?

II. Did the state violate appellant’s substantive and procedural due process rights by having him continue to blow into the Intoxilyzer after the machine registered an adequate breath sample?

III.Did the state destroy potential exculpatory evidence by having appellant continue to blow into the Intoxilyzer after the machine registered an adequate breath sample?

ANALYSIS

I. Valid and Reliable Test Results

Rader argues that the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his alcohol concentration was .10 or more at the time the Intoxilyzer registered an adequate sample. This argument was rejected in Weierke v. Commissioner of Pub. Safety, 578 N.W.2d 815 (Minn.App.1998), and later in Brooks v. Commissioner of Pub. Safety, 584 N.W.2d 15 (Minn.App.1998), review denied (Minn. Nov. 24,1998). In Weierke, this court held that

[t]he implied consent statute does not require testing at the precise point at which a minimum adequate breath sample is provided and it permits testing of a sample that is greater than the minimum adequate sample indicated by the Intoxilyzer machine.

Weierke, 578 N.W.2d at 816. The court noted, “[t]he governing statute dictates a minimum quantity for a sample but does not suggest that the sample may not be larger than the minimum.” Id. Relying on Weierke, the court in Brooks held that

[t]he implied consent statute permits testing of a sample that is greater than the minimum adequate sample * ⅞ * and is silent on the issue of a maximum standard for an adequate breath sample.

Brooks, 584 N.W.2d at 20.

An Intoxilyzer test is comprised of “one adequate breath sample analysis, one calibration standard analysis, and a second, adequate breath sample analysis.” Minn.Stat. § 169.123, subd. 2b(a) (1998). The legislature has provided that a test sample is deemed “adequate if the instru[324]*324ment analyzes the sample and does not indicate the sample is deficient.” Id., subd. 2b(b) (1998). If the above statutory procedures are followed, the test result is deemed proper and reliable. Brooks, 584 N.W.2d at 17-18. Once the state makes a prima facie showing of the test’s reliability, the burden shifts to the driver to introduce evidence of the test’s unreliability. See Przymus v. Commissioner of Pub. Safety, 488 N.W.2d 829, 833 (Minn.App.1992) (once state establishes prima facie reliability of test administration, test opponent must suggest reasons why test is untrustworthy), review denied (Minn. Sept. 15, 1992).

Here, the proper testing procedures were followed and the Intoxilyzer indicated that it received adequate samples. The state established the prima fa-cie reliability of the test results and the burden then shifted to Rader to present evidence that the test results were somehow untrustworthy. Rader failed to present any evidence that a quantity of breath greater than the minimum adequate sample may indicate a higher alcohol concentration result than actually exists. Even though the parties stipulated that the alcohol concentration continues to rise as a driver blows past the point the Intoxilyzer indicates an adequate minimum sample, Rader has not demonstrated that the test result measured an amount above his actual alcohol concentration or that the result was not consistent with the statutory mandates. Like the defendant in Weierke, Rader “has not shown that a quantity of breath greater than the minimum adequate sample * ⅞ * inaccurately reflects the actual alcohol concentration in the body.” Weierke, 578 N.W.2d at 816.

Consistent with the decisions in Weierke and Brooks, we hold that the state is not required to prove that a defendant’s alcohol concentration is indicated to be .10 or more at the precise moment the machine registers an adequate sample. The state is required only to show that the directions of the legislature are followed.

II. Substantive and Procedural Due Process

Rader challenges the method used by the police officer during the testing process, arguing that it violated his substantive and procedural due process rights.

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State v. Rader
597 N.W.2d 321 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1999)

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Bluebook (online)
597 N.W.2d 321, 1999 Minn. App. LEXIS 846, 1999 WL 508421, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rader-minnctapp-1999.