State v. Williams

138 P.3d 885, 206 Or. App. 691, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 928
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in State v. Williams. Read the opinion of the Court — 197 Or. App. 21
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided July 5, 2006·No. 04CR0347; A126263·Published

Opinion

WOLLHEIM, J.

Defendant was convicted by jury of driving while under the influence of intoxicants, ORS 813.010. On appeal, defendant assigns error to the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence of his refusal to take a breath test, arguing that the state denied him the opportunity to privately consult with an attorney in violation of Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution. We vacate and remand to the trial court for additional findings.

Defendant was stopped by a police officer for failure to stop at a stop sign. That officer and another officer independently observed signs that defendant was impaired, including slurred speech, glassy eyes, and an odor of alcohol. Defendant subsequently failed field sobriety tests. He was then arrested and transported to jail. At the jail, defendant refused to submit to a breath test.

Prior to trial, defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence of his refusal to submit to a breath test because he had been denied an opportunity to call an attorney before deciding whether he should submit to the breath test. In cross-examination, the following colloquy took place:

“Q. Isn’t it true that you were given the opportunity to call your attorney but you said that the attorney wouldn’t be in the office until tomorrow morning and you would call then?
“A. No. What was stated [is that] I would like to call my attorney and not off a phone that had been taped. And, they said that’s the only phone. And, then I said, ‘Well, I don’t want to use that phone.’
“Q. But, you were given an opportunity to make a phone call, weren’t you?
“A. On a taped phone, which is (not understandable) client privilege. You don’t have to use.
“Q. The answer is yes or no. You were given the opportunity to make a phone call, weren’t you?
“A. No, I was not.”

In comments to the omnibus hearing court, defense counsel conceded that he had not anticipated that the issue of [694]*694whether defendant’s right to a private consultation had been violated would be raised. Nonetheless, he urged the court to grant defendant’s motion to suppress on that basis, among others.

The court denied defendant’s suppression motion. The court noted that defendant had the right to a confidential call to his attorney, but it determined that

“[t]he fact that [defendant] is offered a phone that may have a tape recording doesn’t mean it lacks its confidentiality, because the State would not have the right to listen to that conversation. The only requirement of the officer is that he leave the room so [defendant] can have a confidential or private conversation. And, it appear [s] that the officer was willing to do that.”

On appeal, defendant argues that the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress was erroneous in several different respects, including the court’s assumption that there is no violation of a defendant’s right to privately consult with counsel where no representative of the state subsequently listens to the recording.1 Defendant maintains that, to the contrary, requiring him to use a recorded phone line violated his right under Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution to a meaningful opportunity to privately consult with his attorney.2

The state concedes that the court’s reasoning was erroneous. We accept the state’s concession. In State v. Riddle, 149 Or App 141, 941 P2d 1079, rev den, 326 Or 68 (1997), we held that the recording of a defendant’s phone call with her counsel, when that defendant had sought legal advice prior to submitting to a breath test, constituted “a serious infringement on the defendant’s right to a private consultation,” id. at 147, one that is not “cured later simply because no one listened to the tape,” id. at 148. Pursuant to [695]*695Riddle, we hold that the trial court erred in its reasoning in denying the motion to suppress.

As a remedy, the state urges that we remand to the trial court with instructions to render a finding on whether, in fact, telephone conversations occurring over the telephone line were subject to being recorded. Such a remedy would be consistent with our instructions in several decisions cited by the state, including State v. Braga, 185 Or App 494, 499, 60 P3d 551 (2002) (remanded to trial court to determine whether defendant invoked his right to counsel before questioning), and State v. Lyman, 134 Or App 212, 216, 894 P2d 1219 (1995) (remanded for findings as to authority of tenant to enter the defendant’s room without permission). The state explains that, here, the trial court rendered no finding on the “crucial fact” of whether the phone line offered to defendant was recorded because the court wrongly believed that the confidential nature of the call would be maintained even on a recorded line. The state asserts that if the court finds that the phone line was recorded, defendant should receive a new trial with the evidence that he refused the breath test suppressed. But if the court finds that the telephone line offered to defendant was not recorded, the state argues that the trial court should affirm defendant’s conviction.

Defendant argues that the proper remedy is reversal of his conviction and remand for a new trial without the admission of evidence of his refusal to take the breath test, with no additional factfinding on whether the line was recorded. Specifically, defendant argues that he had filed a pretrial motion in which he argued “that the state had denied him the opportunity to privately confer with his attorney” and that the state “presented no evidence to rebut that argument.” Defendant reasons that

“the state bore the burden before the trial court to develop a record showing that the telephone line was not recorded. It failed to do so. Therefore, the evidence in the record supports only one reasonable inference: that the telephone fine was tape recorded. Therefore, the proper remedy on appeal is reversal of the order denying defendant’s motion to suppress and remand for a new trial.”

(Emphasis in original.)

[696]*696As an initial matter, we reject defendant’s position that the state bore the burden of showing that the telephone line was not recorded. In his motion to suppress, defendant simply did not assert that his right to privately consult with his attorney was violated when police officers allowed him to use only a recorded telephone. The relevant portion of defendant’s motion stated, in its entirety, “Also, contrary to the police report, defendant claims that he was not afforded an opportunity to make a phone call.” That sentence is most plausibly understood to mean that no opportunity to make a telephone call was offered, rather than that an opportunity to make a telephone call was offered to defendant on a line that was recorded. Put another way, in his motion to suppress, defendant did not assert that the state had failed to offer him the right to privately consult with counsel. Even defendant’s counsel conceded, in his comments to the omnibus hearing court, that he had not anticipated that the right to a private confidential conversation with counsel would be an issue in the hearing.

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State v. Williams, 138 P.3d 885, 206 Or. App. 691, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 928 (Or. Ct. App. 2006).

138 P.3d 885 (State v. Williams) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State v. Durbin
63 P.3d 576 (Oregon Supreme Court, 2003)
State v. Lyman
894 P.2d 1219 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1995)
State v. Riddle
941 P.2d 1079 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1997)
State v. Braga
60 P.3d 551 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2002)