Werner v. Prins

812 P.2d 1089, 168 Ariz. 271, 80 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 17, 1991 Ariz. App. LEXIS 28
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedFebruary 14, 1991
DocketNo. 1 CA-CV 89-427
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 812 P.2d 1089 (Werner v. Prins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Werner v. Prins, 812 P.2d 1089, 168 Ariz. 271, 80 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 17, 1991 Ariz. App. LEXIS 28 (Ark. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

[272]*272OPINION

McGREGOR, Judge.

The issue in this case is whether the state violated appellee James Werner’s right to due process of the law when it was unable to provide him a reasonably reliable preserved breath sample for use in a civil driver’s license suspension hearing held pursuant to A.R.S. § 28-694.1

I.

Early on March 23, 1989, a Phoenix police officer stopped Werner’s car after noticing that the taillights were not illuminated. When Werner stopped, the officer saw that the headlights also were not on. The officer detected an overpowering odor of alcohol and observed that Werner’s eyes were watery and bloodshot. Following Werner’s poor performance in the field sobriety test, the officer arrested him and transported him to a station where a breath test was administered. The breath test indicated that Werner’s blood alcohol content (BAC) was .27 percent. The arresting officer seized Werner’s license pursuant to A.R.S. § 28-694.

Werner requested a preserved breath sample upon being advised of his right to do so. See Baca v. Smith, 124 Ariz. 353, 604 P.2d 617 (1979). Accordingly, eleven minutes after'collecting the first sample, the officer administered a second breath test using a field collection unit, sealed the sample in a standard kit and gave it to Werner.

Werner subsequently requested a hearing before the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) pursuant to A.R.S. § 28-694, subd. A to challenge his license suspension. At the hearing, Werner introduced testimony that the machinery used to take the second sample was defective and, as a result, the second sample was flawed.2

Werner argued that Baca required the state to provide him a reliable second breath sample for use at the hearing. The hearing officer concluded that Baca does not apply to civil license suspension hearings and upheld the suspension. After exhausting his administrative remedies, Werner appealed the decision to the superior court. The superior court reversed and ordered Werner’s license returned to him.

The Director of the Motor Vehicle Division of the State Department of Transportation appeals the superior court’s judgment. We reverse and reinstate the order of suspension.

II.

In Baca v. Smith, a criminal DUI action, the Arizona Supreme Court held that “when requested, the police must take and preserve a separate breath sample for the suspect by means of a field collection unit.” Id. at 356, 604 P.2d at 620. The supreme court reasoned that, without a second sample, “the defense has little or no recourse to scientific means of contesting the test results.” Id. See also State v. Harrison, 157 Ariz. 184, 755 P.2d 1172 (App.1988).

Werner seeks to extend the holding of Baca to civil DUI proceedings. Werner argues that his only means of attacking the validity of the state’s test at the ADOT hearing is the preserved second sample. The state’s inability to provide a reliable second sample, he contends, deprived him of “fundamental fairness” and therefore of due process of law. We disagree.

III.

To evaluate Werner’s argument, we first consider the statutory language of Arizona’s DUI laws, A.R.S. §§ 28-691 through -694. In addition to imposing criminal penalties under defined circumstances, our DUI laws establish license suspension proceedings that are civil in nature. Camp[273]*273bell v. Superior Court, 106 Ariz. 542, 550, 479 P.2d 685, 693 (1971). Arizona courts consistently have recognized and effectuated the distinctions between the civil and criminal aspects of DUI statutes. Compare, e.g., Desmond v. Superior Court, 161 Ariz. 522, 779 P.2d 1261 (1989) (BAC test results must relate back to time of driving for criminal conviction under section 28-692) with State ex rel. Ross v. Nance, 165 Ariz. 286, 798 P.2d 1295 (1990) (section 28-694 does not require relation back of BAC to time of driving to sustain civil license suspension); Kunzler v. Pima County Superior Court 154 Ariz. 568, 744 P.2d 669 (1987) (in criminal cases brought pursuant to section 28-692, defendant has right to consult with attorney prior to taking chemical breath test if DUI investigation will not be unduly delayed) with Kunzler v. Miller, 154 Ariz. 570, 744 P.2d 671 (1987) (driver has no right to consult with attorney prior to chemical breath test in civil license suspension proceeding); Baca v. Smith, (suspect in criminal action under section 28-692 must be told that second breath sample will be preserved for him) with White v. State, 144 Ariz. 39, 695 P.2d 288 (App.1985) (failure to give Baca advice does not prohibit suspension of driving privileges).

The statutory provisions relevant here make clear the legislative intent' to differentiate between the relationship of BAC test results and the showing required for the state to obtain a criminal conviction and that necessary to justify a civil license suspension. To convict a defendant of violating the criminal DUI statute, the state must establish that the person drove or physically controlled a vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. A.R.S. § 28-692.3 A BAC of 0.10 or more gives rise to the presumption that the defendant operated a vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor. A.R.S. § 28-692, subds. A, B and E, par. 3. In a criminal action, therefore, a defendant can use a reliable second sample directly to impeach the state’s objective evidence of intoxication. See Montano v. Superior Court, 149 Ariz. 385, 390, 719 P.2d 271, 276 (1986).

The civil provision, in contrast, directs a law enforcement officer to seize the license and serve an order of license suspension if a driver is arrested for violating section 28-692 and if a blood or breath test “indicate[s] 0.10 or more alcohol concentration in the person’s blood or breath____” A.R.S. § 28-694, subd. A.4

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

KAUFMAN v. GUEVARA
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2025
State v. Poshka
109 P.3d 113 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2005)
State of Arizona v. Tyla Naureen Poshka
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2005
Williams v. Thude
885 P.2d 1096 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
812 P.2d 1089, 168 Ariz. 271, 80 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 17, 1991 Ariz. App. LEXIS 28, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/werner-v-prins-arizctapp-1991.