Synnott v. State

1973 OK CR 426, 515 P.2d 1154, 1973 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 663
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 29, 1973
DocketM-73-71
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 1973 OK CR 426 (Synnott v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Synnott v. State, 1973 OK CR 426, 515 P.2d 1154, 1973 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 663 (Okla. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

OPINION

BRETT, Judge:

Appellant, Joe Dean Synnott, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried and convicted in the District Court, Cleveland County, Case No. CRM-72-1440, for the offense of Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Intoxicating Liquor in violation of 47 O.S.1971, § 11-902(a). He was sentenced to serve a term of ten (10) days in the county jail and a fine of twenty-five dollars ($25) in accordance with the verdict of the jury. A timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.

The nature of the errors urged for reversal of this case makes a summary of the evidence adduced at trial unnecessary.

The defendant contends in his first proposition that the court erred in admitting the results of a breathalyzer test for intoxication for the reason that such evidence was obtained in violation of his constitutional right under Article 2, Section 21, of the Oklahoma State Constitution which provides:

“No person shall be compelled to give evidence which will tend to incriminate him.”

He correctly states that this prohibition of the Oklahoma Constitution goes further then the analogous provision of the Fifth Amendment to the Federal Constitution in prohibiting non-testimonial evidence such as a chemical test for intoxication. Compare Cox v. State, Okl.Cr., 395 P.2d 954 (1964) with Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 16 L.Ed.2d 908 (1966).

The sole compelling influence to which defendant points is that he was not explicitly informed that the results of a breathalyzer test could and would be used against him in court. Thus, he asserts, he was insufficiently informed of the consequences of relinquishing his right to refuse to take that test and, hence, his consent cannot be said to have been voluntarily given.

In support of his contention, he cites the requirement set forth by the United States Supreme Court that prior to in-custody interrogation, an individual must not only be informed of his right to remain silent, but also afforded the explanation that anything he says can and will be used against him in court, Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L,Ed.2d 694 (1966), and the case of Lorenz v. State, Okl.Cr., 406 P.2d 278 (1965), which held that a blood sample taken from an unconscious defendant violated his privilege against self-in *1156 crimination under the Oklahoma Constitution.

The fallacy of defendant’s argument is that it presumes that the situation in which an individual is requested to consent to take a chemical test for intoxication is directly analogous to the situation in which an individual, in custody, is interrogated by the police, and that, therefore, in logic if not in law, before it can be found that the consent to be tested was voluntary and not the product of a coercive influence, it must be first shown that the defendant was given, in the specific context of that test, all the information required by the Miranda court. This is not true. There are in fact essential differences between the making of an oral statement and the taking of a chemical test which makes the giving of warnings precisely analogous to those set down in Miranda neither necessary nor practicable. Cf. Flynt v. State, Okl.Cr., 507 P.2d 586 (1973); Fritts v. State, Old.Cr., 443 P.2d 122 (1968).

In the instant case the defendant was fully conscious at the time the breathalyzer test was given. The evidence at trial reveals that he consented to take that test only after the arresting officer had: 1) read to him the Miranda warnings; 2) ascertained that he understood those warnings; 3) told him he was under arrest for driving while under the influence of intoxicants and fully informed him of his rights and options under the law in regard to the taking of the chemical test, including his right to refuse to take either a blood test or a breathalyzer test.

This procedure was wholly adequate to protect the defendant’s privilege under Article 2, Section 21, of the Oklahoma State Constitution and we find no merit in his contention that he was compelled to give evidence in violation of that provision.

The defendant further contends under his first proposition that the trial court committed reversible error in permitting evidence of the results of the breathalyzer test to go to the jury without having first conducted a hearing outside the presence of the jury on the question of the volun-tariness of his consent to take that test. There was no error. The record reveals that no motion to suppress that evidence was filed and no request for an evidentiary hearing was made either prior to or during trial. See Davis v. State, Okl.Cr., 437 P.2d 271 (1968).

The defendant’s next proposition is not supported by argument or citation of authority. We have previously held that it is necessary for the defendant to support his assertions of error by citations and authority. When this is not done and it is apparent that the defendant has been deprived of no fundamental right, this Court will not search the books for authority to support a mere assertion of error. Wolfenbarger v. State, Okl.Cr., 508 P.2d 694 (1973).

Defendant contends in his third proposition that §§ 11-902 and 756(c) of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes are unconstitutional as a violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution and Article 2, Section 7, of the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma.

This is so, he first asserts, because 11-902 (a) is arbitrary and unreasonably criminalizes innocent conduct because it does not explicitly state that the public must be endangered by the prohibited conduct. This contention is wholly without merit. It is readily apparent that this provision is designed to promote public safety by protecting members of the travelling public from those who while under the influence of intoxicating liquor attempt to operate an automobile on the highways of this State. This interest is sufficiently strong to justify regulation of the conduct under the police power of the State.

He next asserts that 11-902 (a) is impermissibly vague and uncertain because it does not set forth a precise criteria of intoxication by informing the individual to what extent he must be under the influence of intoxicating liquor before his conduct may be held to have violated this provision. This vagueness, he contends, prevented his knowing what conduct was forbidden and *1157 rendered him unable to prepare a defense to the charge against him. The concept that a facially vague statute is unconstitutional rests upon the constitutional foundation of procedural due process which requires in the interest of fundamental fairness adequate notice of what conduct is proscribed and adequate standards for the adjudication of the offense by judge and jury. If this statute is so obscure that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application, it is unconstitutional. See e. g. Connally v. General Construction Company, 269 U.S. 38S, 391, 46 S.Ct. 126, 70 L.Ed. 322 (1926); Baggett v. Bullitt, 377 U.S.

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24 V.I. 244 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 1989)
Harris v. State
1989 OK CR 15 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1989)
Wood v. State
1986 OK CR 47 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1986)
Pratt v. State
1982 OK CR 31 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1982)
State v. Knous
313 N.W.2d 510 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1981)
Brooks v. State
395 A.2d 1224 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1979)
Profit v. City of Tulsa
1978 OK CR 9 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1978)
Washington v. State
568 P.2d 301 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1977)
Findlay v. City of Tulsa
1977 OK CR 113 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1977)
Dunaway v. State
1977 OK CR 86 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1977)
Edwards v. State
1975 OK CR 226 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1975)
Westerman v. State
1974 OK CR 151 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1973 OK CR 426, 515 P.2d 1154, 1973 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 663, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/synnott-v-state-oklacrimapp-1973.