State v. Relyea

2012 UT App 55, 288 P.3d 278, 702 Utah Adv. Rep. 47, 2012 Utah App. LEXIS 62
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedFebruary 24, 2012
Docket20100077-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2012 UT App 55 (State v. Relyea) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Relyea, 2012 UT App 55, 288 P.3d 278, 702 Utah Adv. Rep. 47, 2012 Utah App. LEXIS 62 (Utah Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

OPINION

McHUGH, Presiding Judge:

T1 The State of Utah appeals from an interlocutory order granting the defense's motion to suppress breath alcohol concentration results from an Intoxilyzer 8000 machine (Intoxilyzer). The State argues that the trial court erred in ruling that a foundational requirement for the admission of Intoxilyzer results, a fifteen-minute observation period, was not satisfied. In the alternative, the State contends that the trial court erred in excluding the test results because the fifteen-minute observation period required by State v. Vialpando, 2004 UT App 95, 89 P.3d 209, should no longer be required due to changes in equipment and technology. We reverse and remand.

BACKGROUND

12 On November 18, 2008, the Springville Police Department received a tip that an intoxicated driver was in a white car without license plates and proceeding westbound on River Bottom Road. Two patrol officers spotted a vehicle matching the description and attempted to pull it over. After a short pursuit, the vehicle pulled into the parking lot of a liquor store and stopped. As officers approached the vehicle, it started to roll back toward the officers' car. While one officer prevented the vehicle from rolling any further, the other officer instructed the driver to engage his emergency brake. After the car was stopped, the officers determined that the driver was Randall Matthew Relyea.

T3 While talking to Relyea, the officers noticed that his eyes were bloodshot and that his speech was slow and slurred, and at least one officer could smell alcohol on Relyea's breath. However, Relyea denied that he had been drinking. After performing three field sobriety tests, the officers determined that Relyea was too impaired to drive. Another officer (the Arresting Officer), who arrived at the seene during the field sobriety tests, then cuffed Relyea's hands behind his back and placed him under arrest.

T4 Following the requirements of State v. Baker, 56 Wash.2d 846, 355 P.2d 806 (1960), applied by the Utah Supreme Court in Salt Lake City v. Womack, 747 P.2d 1039 (Utah 1987), the Arresting Officer inspected Re-lyea's mouth to insure that it was free from "foreign objects." The officer made Relyea spit out chewing tobaceo and then rechecked his mouth, determining that it was empty. The Arresting Officer informed dispatch that the mouth inspection was performed at 8:07 p.m. Afterwards, the Arresting Officer transported Relyea to the police station in the backseat of a patrol car. Although he could see Relyea through his rearview mirror, the Arresting Officer admitted that he would not have noticed if Relyea "burped or regurgitated" during the drive. At 8:12 pm., the Arresting Officer and Relyea arrived at the police station. From that point forward, the Arresting Officer was able to observe Relyea, who was still handcuffed. The Arresting Officer did not recheck Relyea's mouth for foreign objects after arriving at the police station. At 8:28 p.m., the Arresting Officer administered the Intoxilyzer test. The results indicated that Relyea had a breath alcohol content of 0.237.

15 The State charged Relyea with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs pursuant to Utah Code section 41-6a-502. See Utah Code Ann. § 41-62-502 (2010)1 Subsequently, Relyea filed a Motion to Suppress Intoxilyzer Results, arguing that he was not adequately observed for fifteen minutes prior to the administration of the test. Specifically, Relyea asserted that the Arresting Officer would not have noticed if Relyea burped or regurgitated in the backseat of the patrol [281]*281car. In response, the State argued that the Arresting Officer's observation of Relyea during the twenty-one minute period between the arrest and the test was with sufficient "clarity and accuracy" to satisfy the Baker standard.2 In reply, Relyea requested an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Relyea "burped or regurgitated between the time [the Arresting Officer] checked [his] mouth and transported him to the police station to perform the [IIntoxilyzer test."

1 6 The court granted the request and held an evidentiary hearing on June 15, 2009. At that hearing, Relyea testified that he suffered from gastroesophageal reflux disease, commonly referred to as GERD, that caused him to "belch or regurgitate up through the back of [his] throat when ... sleeping ... [and] during the day." Relyea also explained that his symptoms were aggravated by alcohol use but that he could "mask" and "control" his symptoms so that there might not be sounds or other signs that he was experiencing the symptoms. Relyea stated that while seated in the backseat of the patrol car, he "was having severe regurgitation and belching" but quickly swallowed down any residue. Relyea did not notify the Arresting Officer of his condition. Further, Relyea could not recall when exactly he experienced these symptoms or whether he was burping "while breathing on the [Intoxilyzer]." Re-lyea did testify, however, that when drinking alcohol his condition is "almost constant."

T7 On June 18, 2009, the trial court entered a Ruling and Order on Defendant's Motion to Suppress Intoxilyzer Results, granting Relyea's motion. The court reasoned that under State v. Vialipando, 2004 UT App 95, 89 P.3d 209 (applying the requirements of Baker, 355 P.2d at 809-10), the ride to the police station with Relyea in the backseat "impeded the [Arresting Officer's] powers of observation ]" because the Arresting Officer would not have noticed if Relyea was burping or regurgitating. See id. 118 (holding that the purpose of the observation period is met if three criteria are satisfied, including that the "officer's powers of observation" were not impeded). Accordingly, the court determined that the State had not established the foundation required for the admission of the Intoxilyzer results. Even without the Intoxilyzer results, however, the court determined that there was "sufficient evidence to support probable cause to go to trial."

18 In response to the court's ruling, on July 16, 2009, the State filed a Notice of Intent to Appeal and Motion for Leave to Supplement the Record. In this Motion, the State requested that the court allow the State to supplement the record with expert testimony to demonstrate that, unlike the Breathalyzer machine (Breathalyzer) that was involved in Baker, the Intoxilyzer used to test Relyea did not require a fifteen-minute observation period to ensure an accurate result. The State conceded, however, that the court was bound to follow the holding of Vialpando because that case applied the analysis of Baker to Intoxilyzers3 The trial court scheduled an evidentiary hearing for August 10, 2009. In response, Relyea filed a motion to strike the evidentiary hearing, requesting instead that the trial court hold oral arguments on the issue of whether the State should be allowed to supplement the record. While the trial court did not strike the evidentiary hearing, it issued an order stating, "The Evidentiary Hearing scheduled for August 10, 2009, will proceed after Oral Arguments on [the] State's Motion to Supplement [the] Record if the defense motion is denied. If the defense motion is granted, the evidentiary hearing will be stricken." Thus, the trial court left open the possibility that the record would be reopened and additional evidence admitted.

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Bluebook (online)
2012 UT App 55, 288 P.3d 278, 702 Utah Adv. Rep. 47, 2012 Utah App. LEXIS 62, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-relyea-utahctapp-2012.