State v. Unruh

658 So. 2d 1011, 1994 Fla. App. LEXIS 12451, 1994 WL 708318
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedDecember 22, 1994
DocketNo. 93-2314
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 658 So. 2d 1011 (State v. Unruh) 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. Unruh, 658 So. 2d 1011, 1994 Fla. App. LEXIS 12451, 1994 WL 708318 (Fla. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinions

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING EN BANC

THOMPSON, Judge.

We have elected to rehear this case en banc.

The state filed a petition for writ of certio-rari seeking review of an order entered by the circuit court of Volusia County sitting in its appellate capacity. In the case, Ronald J. Unruh (“Unruh”) was convicted of driving under the influence (“DUI”).1 The circuit court’s order reversed the county court’s judgment and sentence in the traffic criminal misdemeanor case because the state’s actions violated Unruh’s due process. We grant the petition for writ of certiorari and quash the circuit court order.

Unruh was arrested by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and charged with DUI. Un-ruh was transported to the Ormond Beach Police Department where he was asked to take a breathalyzer test after being advised of his implied consent warnings. Unruh told the trooper that he did not like the breathalyzer test because of his experience with breathalyzers in the Army. He stated he preferred a blood test because breathalyzers did not work. He was advised that availability of a blood test was not presently provided for by the state. He was told that his choices were to take the breathalyzer test or to refuse to take the breathalyzer test. He [1012]*1012was told, however, that if he wanted a blood test, he could arrange for the test after he was processed and booked into the Volusia County Jail. Unruh took the breathalyzer test. After taking the breathalyzer test, he never again requested a blood test. He was never told that he could not have a blood test if he arranged it. It is undisputed that he had a phone available to place calls.

Unruh filed a motion seeking to suppress the results of the breathalyzer test due to the state’s alleged denial of the defendant’s request for a blood test. The trial judge denied Unruh’s motion after an evidentiary hearing, finding that the defendant was not denied an opportunity to obtain an independent blood test and that law enforcement does not have an affirmative duty to insure that a defendant receives an independent blood test. Finally, the trial court found that the trooper’s actions did not actively prevent Unruh from receiving an independent blood test. Unruh was tried, convicted of DUI and sentenced.

Unruh appealed to the circuit court, challenging denial of the motion to suppress. The circuit court, sitting in its appellate capacity, reversed the conviction and remanded for a new trial. The circuit court found that Unruh requested but never received the blood test even though the facilities were available in the immediate area. The circuit court noted the apparent conflict between section 316.1932(l)(f)3, Florida Statutes,2 which provides for the test, and section 311.193(9), Florida Statutes,3 which requires that a person arrested for driving under the influence shall not be released until the person is no longer under the influence, has a blood alcohol level of less than 0.05 per cent or eight hours has elapsed from the time the person was arrested.

The circuit court reasoned that in order to effectuate section 316.1932(l)(f)3, a person in custody had to be released to go to the nearest hospital or lab for a blood test or be transported there by the custodians when the person was in custody. The court further reasoned that mere access to a telephone and telephone book was insufficient to comply with the legislative requirements set out in the statutes. The court noted that if the arrested person is held for a minimum of eight hours, the exculpatory evidence, i.e. the blood alcohol level content, has dissipated or been eliminated by the normal functions of the human body. The passage of time, in essence, destroyed evidence that could be quantified by an independent blood test. Therefore, the circuit court held that if an accused is to receive a meaningful independent blood test, but may not be released from custody until no longer under the influence, law enforcement has an affirmative duty to transport the accused to a facility which can administer the blood test. Since the state failed to assist Unruh, his due process rights have been violated and the breathalyzer test results should have been suppressed. The circuit court reversed Un-ruh’s conviction and sentence and remanded the ease to the county court for a new trial. The state timely filed this petition for writ of certiorari claiming that the circuit court’s ruling constituted a departure from the essential requirements of law resulting in a miscarriage of justice.

We find that there was a departure from the essential requirements of law and hold that law enforcement did not have an affirmative duty to assist Unruh in securing an independent blood test. The departure constituted a violation of a clearly established principle of law which resulted in a miscar[1013]*1013riage of justice. Combs v. State, 436 So.2d 93 (Fla.1983); see also Fieselman v. State, 566 So.2d 768 (Fla.1990). The circuit court violated the principle that appellate courts must view the evidence below, as well as all reasonable inferences and deductions therefrom, in a manner most favorable to sustaining the trial court’s ruling. See Owen v. State, 560 So.2d 207, 211 (Fla.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 855, 111 S.Ct. 152, 112 L.Ed.2d 118 (1990); McNamara v. State, 357 So.2d 410, 412 (Fla.1978). “The ruling of the trial court on a motion to suppress comes clothed to us with a presumption of correctness and we must interpret the evidence and reasonable inferences and deductions in a manner most favorable to sustaining the trial court’s ruling.” Owen, 560 So.2d at 211; see also Sommer v. State, 465 So.2d 1339, 1343 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985) (appellate court should not overturn an order denying suppression of evidence if any legal basis to sustain the trial court exists). We do not find that there is a conflict between the two sections. We find that the circuit court has misinterpreted section 316.1932(1)(f)3. When read together, the two sections of the statute can be implemented without doing violence to Unruh’s due process rights.

Initially, we review the statutes in question to determine how the legislature intended that they be implemented from their plain reading. First, by requesting a Florida driver’s license, a driver agrees to be subjected to testing for impairment. § 316.1932(l)(a), Fla.Stat. (1991). Since driving is a privilege and not a right, the state can impose restrictions on the use of the driver’s license. Submitting to an examination to determine one’s impairment is one of the restrictions that the state has imposed. The state can evaluate the degree of impairment by use of a breathalyzer, blood test or urine test. § 316.1932(l)(a), (c), Fla.Stat. (1991). In this particular case, the state chose to test Unruh’s degree of impairment by use of a breathalyzer. Unruh makes no argument as to the validity of the breathalyzer test. He argues that the test should be suppressed, regardless of whether it was accurate or inaccurate, because he was refused the right to a blood test. We do not agree.

The issue is whether law enforcement has an affirmative duty to assist Unruh in obtaining an independent blood test or whether the duty is limited to not interfering with Un-ruh’s attempts to obtain the blood test.

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Related

Unruh v. State
669 So. 2d 242 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1996)

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Bluebook (online)
658 So. 2d 1011, 1994 Fla. App. LEXIS 12451, 1994 WL 708318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-unruh-fladistctapp-1994.