| People v Marietta |
| 2007 NY Slip Op 52476(U) [18 Misc 3d 1109(A)] |
| Decided on December 31, 2007 |
| Supreme Court, Kings County |
| Goldberg, J. |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports. |
The People of the State
of New York
against Ronald Marietta, DEFENDANT. |
By an Omnibus motion, dated May 16, 2007, the defendant, who is charged with Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree, Operating a Motor Vehicle Under the Influence of Alcohol, and related charges, moved to suppress police-administered Intoxilyzer results, contending that the test was given more than two hours after the defendant's arrest and that the defendant did not voluntarily consent to take it. See CPL 710.20 (5). Although the blood alcohol reading was .046 percent which would be prima facie evidence that the defendant was neither driving while intoxicated nor impaired (VTL 1195 [2] [a]), it is the People's intention to show by "retrograde extrapolation evidence" that the defendant's blood alcohol content at the time he was driving was .106 percent.
The People opposed the motion to suppress in an undated, unsigned response filed with the Court on June 19, 2007.
The defendant filed a reply affirmation dated July 5, 2007.
A hearing was held on this motion on October 15 and October 23, 2007. The hearing also included the defendant's motion to suppress his statements to the police. At the conclusion of the hearing, the defendant withdrew his request to suppress the statements.
Following the hearing, the parties submitted memoranda, each dated October 30, 2007.
On November 19, 2007, the Court orally denied the motion to suppress the Intoxilyzer
results. This written decision amplifies the Court's oral decision.
THE HEARING - FINDINGS OF FACT
The People called Police Officer Andrew Gilsenan, retired Police Officer Joseph Argento,
and Detective Michael O'Conner. The defense called Police Officer Scott Lothrop and Bryon
Mankuso. The defendant also testified. To the extent indicated, I find all the witnesses to be
credible .
The Scene
[*2]
On March 13, 2005, at approximately 3:38 Officer Gilsenan went to one of the ambulances and asked the three people being treated if
they had been involved in the accident, what car they had been in, and who had been driving.
Officer Gilsenan learned all three occupants of the ambulance had been in the Nissan at the time
of the collision and that the defendant, identified as Ronald Marietta, had been driving. The other
two individuals in the ambulance were Bryon Mankuso and Joseph Pullio who had been
passengers in the defendant's car.
Officer Gilsenan then approached the red Suburban where he observed an unconscious
individual on the ground being attended to by EMS.
Officer Gilsenan returned to the ambulance and spoke with the defendant who stated that he
had been traveling eastbound on the Belt Parkway when he was cut off and did not remember
exactly what happened after that. The defendant said he had been at Club Legacy and drank one
Long Island Iced Tea prior to the collision.
In addition to Officer Gilsenan, Police Officer Scott Lothrop, also of Highway Two,
responded to the scene. He arrived at approximately 3:52 Officer Lothrop administered a portable breath test known as an Alco-Sensor to each of the
three men in the ambulance including the defendant. The defendant was advised that the test was
being administered because there was a fatality and was not told he could refuse the test. The
defendant's Alco-Sensor was administered at 4:15 Both officers independently observed the defendant to have bloodshot, watery eyes and each
noticed the slight smell of alcohol when they were speaking with him in the ambulance.
Although Officer Gilsenan believed there was probable cause to arrest the defendant, the
defendant was not handcuffed or informed that he was being arrested. Officer Gilsenan explained
that his intention was to document the scene not to arrest anyone at that time.
Instead, the defendant, along with Mr. Mankuso and Mr. Pullio, were taken in the ambulance
to Lutheran Hospital. According to Officer Gilsenan, the defendant was taken to the hospital for
examination based on the defendant's loss of consciousness, his not remembering what happened,
and his use of alcohol. No police officers traveled with them inside the ambulance. Officer
Gilsenan was aware that other police officers would continue the investigation at the hospital.
The ambulance arrived at Lutheran Hospital at approximately 4:30 The officers directed the defendant and his two friends to a waiting area inside the
emergency room and stayed within close proximity, approximately 10 to 15 feet from where the
three were sitting together The officers did not question the defendant or his friends, never said
anyone was under arrest, and no one was handcuffed. The defendant testified that while waiting
for the Highway Officer to arrive at the hospital, he did not believe he was going to be arrested or
charged with any crime, because he did not think he had done anything wrong.
Police Officer Joseph Argento of Highway Unit Two (now retired) was notified of the
accident at approximately 4:30 At about 6:10 The defendant was given his Miranda warnings shortly after being placed under
arrest, either in the hospital or soon after being placed in the police car. The defendant agreed to
answer questions. However, Officer Argento did not question the defendant at that time. The
defendant was then driven to the 78th Precinct Intoxicated Driver Testing Unit (IDTU).
After arriving at the 78th Precinct, Officer Argento questioned the defendant in order to
obtain certain information to complete a four-page IDTU form that contains questions routinely
asked prior to the administration of a chemical breath test. The defendant was asked what he was
doing prior to the accident, when he last ate, where he had been, what he had to drink, how much
he had to drink, and what time he began and finished drinking.
After completing the required IDTU paperwork, Officer Argento brought the defendant to
the room where breath tests are administered. The examination was videotaped and a DVD copy
was provided to the Court and admitted in evidence.
[*3] On the video recording Officer Argento identified
himself and stated the date, March 13, 2005, and time, 7:44 After completing the breath test, Officer Argento asked the defendant if he would take a
physical coordination test. The defendant agreed and performed each of those tests which were
also videotaped.
At the hearing, the defendant testified that he agreed to take this breath test because he had
been told prior to each of the two Alco-Sensor tests that he had to take them by law because there
was a fatality.
Detective Michael O'Connor of Highway Patrol Investigations was called as a witness,
because he obtained statements from the defendant at the 78th Precinct after re-advising the
defendant of his Miranda rights. These statements were made after the breath test.
Although reflecting the defendant's continued cooperation with the investigation, these
statements concern the events leading up to and including the collision. The substance of these
statements do not bear on the issues involved in this decision, and, therefore, need not be
discussed.
The defendant contends that the Intoxilyzer test result taken at the 78th Precinct at about
7:44 Pursuant to VTL 1194 (2) (a) (1), an operator of a motor vehicle is deemed to have
consented to a chemical test of the operator's breath to determine blood alcohol level if the test is
given within two hours of arrest based on a police officer's having reasonable grounds to
believe such person operated a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
Alternatively, pursuant to VTL 1194 (2) (a) (2), consent to a chemical test of an operator's
breath is also deemed to have been given if it is administered within two hours of a breath test
indicating that alcohol has been consumed. In this case, the defendant's breath tested positive
for alcohol at 4:15 While the two-hour rule of VTL 1194 (2) (a) (1) may at one time have been intended to
insure that chemical tests were administered within a reasonable period of time from when [*4]the operator was driving so as to insure a reliable correlation
between the blood alcohol level revealed in the test result and the blood alcohol level at the time
of the vehicle's operation, current case law interpreting this statute does not require as a
pre-requisite to admissibility a showing of the probative value of a test administered more than
two hours after the defendant's arrest. People v. Atkins, 85 NY2d at 1009 (no time limit
for tests based on an operator's consent, or tests based on a court order, or tests given by a
physician of the operator's own choosing). Compare People v. Victory, 166 Misc 2d 549
(Crim Ct, Richmond County 1995)(test given after two hours would require expert testimony
demonstrating test result was indicative of blood alcohol level at time of vehicle's operation).
Therefore, although the collision in this case occurred at approximately 3:38 Thus, the time of the defendant's "arrest" must be established in order to determine if the
defendant can be deemed, pursuant to VTL 1194 (2) (a) (1), to have consented to the chemical
test of his breath administered at the 78th Precinct at approximately 7:44 The People contend that the two-hour time clock did not begin until approximately 6:10
Defining the term "arrest" in this context is of critical importance. However, the parties have
not supplied and the Court is unaware of an appropriate definition to apply, other than the
standard for determining when a person is deemed to be "in custody" and, therefore, entitled to
be given Miranda rights by the police. As stated in Kamins, New
In determining whether an arrest has been made, the Court of
Appeals has refused to consider the subjective belief of the officer or
the suspect as the dispositive factor. Instead, the Court has looked to
"what a reasonable man, innocent of any crime, would have thought
had he been in the defendant's position." People v. Yukl, 25 NY2d
585, 589 (1969).
Under this test, the defendant was not "arrested" at the scene of the collision. At the scene the
defendant was treated by ambulance personnel, only briefly questioned by the police along with
his two friends, given an Alco-Sensor test, and then allowed to ride with his friends in an
ambulance to the hospital unaccompanied by the police. A reasonable person in the defendant's
position who had not been drinking or driving recklessly would not have believed he or she was
in custody at that point in time, especially after being allowed to leave unaccompanied by the
police.
Even though the police had probable cause to arrest the defendant and did not intend [*5]to allow him to leave after arriving at the hospital, the subjective
state of mind of the police is not controlling on the question of whether the defendant was in
custody.
Therefore, the time of "arrest" for determining the application of the two-hour rule in this
case did not occur until after the defendant left the scene in the ambulance.
Once the defendant arrived at the hospital at approximately 4:30 After being examined, the defendant and his two friends were told by uniformed police
officers that they could not leave pending further questioning by an investigator. The defendant
and his friends were required to wait at the hospital, apparently in a public area of some sort,
while the uniformed police officers remained nearby. They waited for approximately 50 minutes
until Officer Argento arrived at 5:50 The defendant argues that if he had not been "arrested" earlier, his being told by uniformed
police at 5:00 However, not every detention by the police constitutes an "arrest." Under certain
circumstances, the police may, after making a lawful stop, detain a suspect for a brief period of
time to investigate criminal activity. People v. Hicks, 68 NY2d 234 (1986); Kamins at
2-108. In People v. Ortiz, 232 AD2d 898 (1st Dept. 1996), rev'd on other
grounds, 90 NY2d 533 (1997), a temporary detention of one and one-half hours to enable
police officers to arrive to identify the defendant was held to be reasonable. See also People
v. Lyng, 104 AD2d 699 (3rd Dept. 1984)(defendant transported to police station and held
less than an hour pending an investigation).
In this case, the police at the hospital were responsible for not letting the defendant leave
until the Highway Officer later assigned to investigate the case, Officer Argento, had arrived. The
defendant was kept there in the company of his friends under no other restriction for
approximately 50 minutes before Officer Argento arrived to question the defendant and
administer an Alco-Sensor test. In fact, the defendant testified at the hearing that even though he
knew he was not free to leave, he did not believe he was under arrest or that the police had any
reason to arrest him.
The record does not establish the reason for the apparently administrative decision to assign
Officer Argento to respond to the hospital and continue the investigation in the case rather than
have the Highway Unit officers who initially responded to the scene, Gilsenen and Lothrop,
respond to the hospital. It appears Officer Lothrop gave an Alco-Sensor test at the scene but this
was not supposed to be his case, so he was re-deployed to where he belonged, and Officer
Gilsenen remained at the scene to document the physical conditions and take witness statements.
The delay in Officer Argento responding to the hospital and ultimately administering the
Intoxilyzer test was not at all due to "incompetent police officers who dally in their effort to bring
a defendant to the police station" to administer a chemical [*6]breath test as in People v. Morris, 8 Misc 3d 360, 365 (Crim Ct, Richmond County
2005).
It is clear that the police knew the defendant was taken to Lutheran Hospital for examination
and would not be available for further questioning, arrest processing, or a chemical test until the
hospital examination had been completed. Under these circumstances, it is understandable that
police officials responsible for assigning Highway Officers to investigate cases would not wish to
have one of these officers spend time in a hospital simply waiting for the suspect's examination
to be completed when there were other officers available to detain the defendant pending the
arrival of the Highway Officer. Bearing in mind that only police officers with specialized training
are qualified to administer chemical breath tests and that this was a homicide case as well as a
case involving intoxicated driving, the police department was entitled to a reasonable time to
send a qualified investigator to the hospital.
Under these circumstances, I find the approximately 50 minute detention of the defendant
pending the arrival of Officer Argento to be a reasonable period during which the defendant was
"detained" rather than "arrested" for purposes of determining when the two-hour clock of VTL
1194 (2) (a) (1) should start. Once Officer Argento arrived at the hospital and administered his
own breath test, the defendant was informed he was under arrest at 6:10 Even if a chemical breath test is given two hours after arrest and, therefore, not within the
"deemed consent" provisions of VTL 1194 (2) (a) (1), where a defendant "expressly and
voluntarily" consents to the administration of the test, the two-hour limitation of the statute does
not preclude admissibility of the result. People v. Atkins, 85 NY2d at 1009.
The defendant testified at the hearing that he was told at the scene that he "had to take" a
breath test because there was a fatality. (See VTL 1194 [1] [b] which states, in part:
"Field testing. Every person operating a motor vehicle which has been involved in an accident ...
shall, at the request of a police officer, submit to a breath test to be administered by the police
officer." Pursuant to VTL 1800 [a], refusal to submit to this test is a traffic infraction.) The
defendant took this test at approximately 4:15 The defendant also testified that after being examined at the hospital and being told that he
could not leave pending the arrival of an officer assigned to investigate the matter, Officer
Argento arrived and told him that he "had to take" a "portable breathalyzer test" at the hospital
because there was a fatality. The defendant took this test at the hospital at approximately 6:10
As reflected on the videotape of the Intoxilyzer test given at the 78th Precinct at about 7:44
By the words reflected on the videotape, the defendant
"expressly" consented to take the chemical breath test at the 78th Precinct. Whether his consent
was "voluntary," that is, a product of his own free will, is the issue.
It should be noted that Officer Argento did not give the defendant the so-called "refusal
warnings" contained in VTL 1194 (2) (c) and (f) prior to asking the defendant if he would take
the test to the effect that a refusal to take the test would result in immediate suspension and
subsequent revocation of his driver's license and that evidence of his refusal could be introduced
in evidence against him. Because the defendant agreed to take the test, there was no need to give
the refusal warnings, which only need be given to a person who persists in refusing the test in
order to effectuate the statutory consequences of a refusal after being warned of the
consequences. People v. Rosado, 158 Misc 2d 50, 52 n.1 (Crim Ct, Bronx County 1993);
Gerstenzang, Handling the DWI Case in New York, §41:23, at 795-797 (2007-08 ed).
Thus, no argument can be made that the refusal warnings themselves coerced the defendant to
take the test. See People v. Dillin, 150 Misc 2d 311, 314-317 (Crim Ct, NY County
1991); People v. Hochheimer, 119 Misc 2d 344, 353 (Sup Ct, Monroe County 1983)(the
statutory refusal warnings, although arguably coercive in nature, do not constitute impermissible
coercion).
The defendant argues, based on procedure 209-40 of the July 2007 Patrol Guide of the New
York City Police Department, that Officer Argento, rather than merely asking the defendant if he
"would like to take a breath test," should have told the defendant that he had a right to choose
whether or not to take the breath test. (The Patrol Guide procedure states that where more than
two hours have elapsed from the time of arrest, the prisoner should be told, in part, "You may
take the test or refuse to do so. Will you submit to a chemical test [to determine the presence of
absence of alcohol in your blood]?").
Assuming more than two hours had passed from the time of the defendant's arrest and,
therefore, there would be no adverse legal consequences to the defendant for refusing to take the
test (other than possibly losing the opportunity to generate exculpatory evidence), informing the
defendant that he had a right to choose whether or not to take the breath test was neither required
by law nor a pre-requisite to a finding that he voluntarily took the test. Although the Court in
People v. Kenny, 9 Misc 3d 1104(A)(Crim Ct, Richmond County 2005), stated that a
defendant taking a chemical test more than two hours after arrest should be told that taking the
test was not required, that view was specifically rejected in People v. Burns, 13 Misc 3d
1208(A) (Nassau Dist Ct 2006). (It should be noted that, contrary to the Patrol Guide's statement
of advice to be given more than two hours after arrest, some courts have held that because a
defendant may consent to take a chemical test more than two hours after arrest, a refusal to take
the test more than two hours after arrest is probative of consciousness of guilt and is admissible.
People v. Ward, 176 Misc 2d 398 [Sup Ct, Richmond County 1998]; People v.
Morales, 161 Misc 2d 128 [Crim Ct, Kings County 1994]).
In cases where the police claim a person voluntarily waived the Fourth Amendment's
probable cause/warrant requirements and consented to a warrantless search, the law does not
require that the person be specifically told that the request to search may be refused, although
whether or not this was done may be considered in determining whether the consent was
genuinely voluntary or the result of yielding to police pressure. People v. Gonzalez, 39
[*8]NY2d 122, 130 (1976). In cases where a warrantless
search is based on a claim of consent, the People have a "heavy burden" of proving voluntariness.
People v. Gonzalez, 39 NY2d at 128; People v. Whitehurst, 25 NY2d 389, 391
(1969).
However, where the question is whether a defendant voluntarily consented to take a
chemical breath test more than two hours after being arrested a question which has no
Constitutional implicationsand where by statute the Legislature could "deem" consent to be given
for more than two hours after an arrest if it saw fit to do so the People's burden to show the
consent was voluntarily given should only be by a preponderance of the evidence. See People v. Davis, 8 Misc 3d
158, 159 (Sup Ct, Bronx County. 2005); People v. Lynch, 195 Misc 2d 814,820
(Crim Ct, Bronx County 2003); People v. Walsh, 139 Misc 2d 161, 163-164 (Nassau Dist
Ct 1988)(People's burden to show refusal warnings properly given within two hours of arrest is
by a preponderance of the evidence).
In this case, when Officer Argento asked the defendant if he would take the chemical
breath test, the defendant was under arrest in the Precinct, a factor tending to show he may have
felt some pressure to please the police. On the other hand, there was only one other police officer
present at the time, and the defendant had been totally cooperative with the police up to that
point. He did not ask for an attorney when given his Miranda rights, and he continued to
be cooperative after the chemical breath test by submitting to various coordination tests and later
giving a statement. The police had not engaged in any overt or subtle coercive or other improper
behavior, other than correctly telling the defendant, hours before, that he was obliged under the
law to take the Alco-Sensor tests which the defendant never said he did not want to take.
In this case, the defendant was mistaken in his belief that he was required under the law to
take the chemical breath test. This mistake was not the result of police misconduct or other
improper tactics designed to obtain his consent. The police, assuming two hours from the time of
arrest had elapsed, would not have been required by law to inform him that, unlike the previously
given Alco-Sensor tests, he was not required to take this chemical test, just as they would not be
required by law to tell a defendant that there was a right to refuse to consent to a warrantless
search. As reflected on the videotape, Officer Argento said, "I would like you to take a
breath test. Will you take the test?" The defendant (bearing in mind that he did not believe
he had done anything to warrant being arrested, was sober at the time with a blood alcohol
reading of .046 percent, and subsequently performed well on the videotaped coordination tests),
more probably than not, positively responded because he believed the test would tend to
exculpate him and he was more than willing to demonstrate that he "had nothing to hide," not
because he believed he had no choice other than to consent to take the test and inculpate himself.
As stated in Atkins, the required consent after two hours must be "voluntarily" given.
There is no requirement that, as in guilty plea situations or Miranda waivers, the consent
also be "knowingly" and "intelligently" given. In other words, a mistake of fact, a failure to
appreciate the consequences, or a lack of understanding of the situation on the part of a defendant
may invalidate a guilty plea or a Miranda waiver, but these circumstances will not render
involuntary a consent to take a chemical breath test after two hours, a consent that does not
implicate a waiver of a Constitutional right.Indeed, in these situations the individual may very
well be so heavily intoxicated that under the law the individual would [*9]be incapable of either validly pleading guilty or waiving
Miranda rights, but, nevertheless, may validly consent to take a chemical breath test after
two hours as long as the person's choice to do so was not improperly influenced by police
misconduct. See Gagliardi v. Department of Motor Vehicles, 144 AD2d 882 (3rd Dept.
1988); Carey v. Melton, 64 AD2d 983 (2nd Dept. 1978) (intoxication at the time of
refusal warnings resulting in an inability to comprehend the adverse consequences of a refusal
does not excuse the refusal); cf Jentzen v. Tofany, 33 AD2d 532 (4th Dept. 1969).
Therefore, the defendant's mistaken belief that the law required him to consent to take the
chemical breath test did not per se render his decision to do so involuntary.There being
no other claim with regard to the defendant's decision to take the chemical breath test, the People
have established to the satisfaction of the Court that had the test been given more than two hours
after the defendant's arrest, the result would be admissible based on the defendant's express and
voluntary consent to take it, notwithstanding his claim that he believed the law did not allow him
to refuse.
Accordingly, the defendant's motion to suppress the chemical breath test result is denied.
JOEL M. GOLDBERG
JUDGE
The Hospital
The 78th Precinct
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The Two-Hour Issue
York Search and Seizure, §2.06 [2] at 2-110 (2007 ed):
Actual Voluntary Consent
SO ORDERED