State v. West

279 P.3d 354, 250 Or. App. 196, 2012 WL 1950409, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 691
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided May 31, 2012·No. 081153828; A142519·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

SCHUMAN, P. J.

Defendant appeals his conviction for driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII), ORS 813.010, raising several challenges to rulings related to the Intoxilyzer 8000 breath testing device and to the admission of breath test results. We conclude that there was no error and affirm.

We first summarize the pertinent statutes, administrative rules, and case law. Under ORS 813.300, the amount of alcohol in a person’s blood at the time the person is alleged to have been driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants, as shown by chemical analysis of the person’s breath or blood, is indirect evidence that may be used at trial, along with other evidence, to determine whether the person was in fact under the influence of intoxicants.

ORS 813.160(l)(b) describes a “valid” chemical analysis of a person’s breath as one that “is performed according to methods approved by the Department of State Police.” The statute further sets forth the responsibilities of the Department of State Police in connection with approval of the chemical breath analysis and the testing and certification of equipment used for that purpose:

“For purposes of this paragraph, the Department of State Police shall do all of the following:
“(A) Approve methods of performing chemical analy-ses of a person’s breath.
“(B) Prepare manuals and conduct courses throughout the state for the training of police officers in chemical analyses of a person’s breath, which courses shall include, but are not limited to, approved methods of chemical analy-ses, use of approved equipment and interpretation of test results together with a written examination on these subjects.
“(C) Test and certify the accuracy of equipment to be used by police officers for chemical analyses of a person’s breath before regular use of the equipment and periodically thereafter at intervals of not more than 90 days. Tests and certification required by this subparagraph must be conducted by trained technicians. Certification under this sub-paragraph does not require a signed document.”

[199] We have held that compliance with the requirements of ORS 813.160(1) is the equivalent of a foundation for admissibility of a chemical breath test and that the evidence is admissible in a criminal prosecution if the test was conducted pursuant to ORS 813.160(1). See State v. Warner, 181 Or App 622, 634, 47 P3d 497, rev den, 335 Or 42 (2002) (using ORS 813.160(1) “to be valid” language as an example of a foundational requirement); State v. Chipman, 176 Or App 284, 294, 31 P3d 478 (2001); State v. Balderson, 138 Or App 531, 535 n 1, 910 P2d 1138 (1996); see also State v. O’Key, 321 Or 285, 293, 899 P2d 663 (1995) (in the case of legislative recognition, there is no need for the court to determine scientific reliability).

The Department of State Police has implemented its authority under ORS 813.160 through administrative rules. OAR 257-030-0110 sets forth the criteria for approval of breath testing equipment:

“Any instrument or equipment to be used for the testing of a person’s breath to determine the alcohol content of the blood may be approved by the Oregon State Police if one or more of the following criteria are met:
“(1) Submission by the manufacturer or distributor of the instrument of at least two reports of studies correlating blood analysis and breath tests performed with this instrument, conducted by two separate laboratories of governmental health or law enforcement agencies, or independent organizations, financially unrelated to the manufacturer or distributor of such instruments.
“(2) Provision of a production model of the instrument by the manufacturer or distributor to the Oregon State Police for a sufficient period of time to allow Oregon State Police technician(s) to conduct sufficient investigation and laboratory tests to adequately ascertain accuracy and reproducibility of the breath testing equipment.
“(3) Those instruments which have been found by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to conform to the model specifications for evidential breath testing devices, and which are listed on the Conforming Products List in the Federal Register.
“(4) Subsequent series of above instruments, so long as the subsequent changes and series do not diminish the [200] instrument’s ability to accurately determine blood alcohol content.
“[.Publications: Publications referenced are available from the agency. ]”

(Brackets in original; emphasis added.) OAR 257-030-0120 specifically approves the Intoxilyzer 8000:

“The following breath testing equipment is approved under OAR 257-030-0110 for performing chemical analysis of a person’s breath: The Intoxilyzer 8000:
“Correlation studies performed with the Intoxilyzer 8000 by Oregon State Police technician(s) are incorporated as Appendix 2: Studies Performed with the Intoxilyzer TM 8000”

(Brackets in original; emphasis added.)

Pretrial discovery in a criminal proceeding is governed by ORS 135.805 to 135.873. ORS 135.815(2) provides:

“Except as otherwise provided in ORS 135.855 and 135.873, in prosecutions for violation of ORS 813.010 in which an instrument was used to test a person’s breath, blood or urine to determine the alcoholic content of the person’s blood the district attorney shall disclose to a represented defendant at least the following material and information within the possession or control of the district attorney:
“(a) Any report prepared by a police officer relating to field tests, interviews, observations and other information relating to the charged offense;
“(b) Any report relating to the test results;
“(c) A copy of the form provided to the defendant under ORS 813.100(3)(b); and

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State v. West, 279 P.3d 354, 250 Or. App. 196, 2012 WL 1950409, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 691 (Or. Ct. App. 2012).

279 P.3d 354 (State v. West) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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