People v. Vannesse
People v. Vannesse
Opinion of the Court
*442The Vehicle Code provides that, if a person is lawfully arrested for driving under the influence of a drug or a combination of a drug and alcohol, he shall be advised that he has the choice of submitting to either a blood or breath test. ( Veh. Code, § 23612, subd. (a)(2)(b).)
In a misdemeanor complaint, Alexander Vannesse was charged with driving under the influence of a drug. (§ 23152, subd. (e).) He appeals an order denying his Penal Code section 1538.5 (hereafter section 1538.5 ) motion to suppress the results of a chemical test of his blood contending that his consent to the blood draw violates statutory and constitutional law.
In an opinion certified for publication, the Appellate Division of the Ventura County Superior Court affirmed the order denying the motion to suppress. On our own motion, we transferred the matter to this court. We affirm.
*803*443Section 1538.5 Hearing
Appellant was the driver of a vehicle involved in a collision. Responding to the report of an accident, Officer Quinn Redeker, the first police officer to arrive at the scene, concluded that appellant "was possibly under the influence of drugs or alcohol." He "requested additional officers to respond for a DUI investigation."
Officer Matthew Baumann (hereafter the officer), a "certified drug recognition expert," responded to the scene of the collision. After his preliminary investigation, he arrested appellant "for driving under the influence." The officer then conducted a "drug recognition evaluation."
The officer read to appellant "verbatim" an advisement from a Ventura police department form: "Drugs slash -- drugs and alcohol: You are required to submit to a chemical test. Implied consent of your blood: A sample of your blood will be taken by nursing staff at the hospital. If you fail to adequately provide a sample, it will result in the suspension of your driving privilege for a period of one year." The officer did not advise appellant that he could choose whether the chemical test would be of his blood or breath. The officer also did not advise appellant that he could refuse to provide any sample.
Appellant verbally agreed to provide a blood sample and signed a consent form that gave him the option of refusing consent. He was transported to a hospital where a blood draw was performed. After the blood draw, he lost consciousness. The officer did not know the cause of the loss of consciousness.
At the section 1538.5 hearing, defense counsel said that appellant was not challenging "the probable cause for the arrest." Counsel asserted, "The focus of the motion is really a McNeely issue." In Missouri v. McNeely (2013)
The People argued that McNeely was inapplicable because "unlike the defendant in McNeely who was subjected to a nonconsensual blood draw, [appellant] freely and voluntarily gave his consent to have his blood drawn." (See People v. Harris (2015)
*804Schneckloth v. Bustamonte (1973)
Defense counsel responded: Appellant did not freely and voluntarily consent to the blood draw because the officer "did not give him an admonition that's in accord with California State Law .... [¶] ... [A] properly given implied consent admonition would give him the option to choose between a breath sample or a blood sample, and it would not say that he is required to give a blood sample." But defense counsel acknowledged that a breath test would not have shown whether appellant was under the influence of a drug. He further argued that appellant's consent was not voluntary because he lost consciousness after signing the consent form.
In denying the suppression motion, the trial court impliedly found that appellant had freely and voluntarily consented to the blood draw. It expressly found that he had consented pursuant to the "implied consent law." We do not dwell upon the latter reason for the court's ruling. "We may sustain the trial court's decision without embracing its reasoning . Thus, we may affirm the superior court's ruling on [appellant's] motion to suppress if the ruling is correct on any theory of the law applicable to the case, even if the ruling was made for an incorrect reason. [Citation.]" ( People v. McDonald (2006)
Standard of Review
When a defendant moves to suppress evidence pursuant to section 1538.5, the People have "the burden of proving that the warrantless *445search or seizure was reasonable under the circumstances. [Citations.]" ( People v. Williams (1999)
"In a suppression motion 'the power to judge the credibility of the witnesses, resolve any conflicts in the testimony, weigh the evidence and draw factual inferences, is vested in the trial court.' [Citation.] Consequently, if an inference is permissible under the evidence and it upholds the trial court's decision, we must presume that the trial court drew it. Thus, we must 'view the facts upon which the suppression motions were submitted in the light most favorable to the People, drawing therefrom all reasonable inferences in support of the trial court's order denying the motions.' [Citation.]" ( People v. Dominguez (1988)
Substantial Evidence Supports the Finding that Appellant Freely and Voluntarily Consented to the Blood Draw
"[A] court may exclude ... evidence [pursuant to section 1538.5 ] only if exclusion is ... mandated by the federal exclusionary rule applicable to evidence seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment." ( In re Lance W. (1985)
Appellant claims that he did not freely and voluntarily consent to the blood draw because the officer failed to give a proper advisement under the implied consent law. Instead of advising him that he was required to give a blood sample, appellant argues that the officer should have advised that he could *446choose either a blood or breath test.
The officer did not comply with the letter of section 23612, subdivision (a)(2)(B) because he did not advise appellant of his statutory right to choose either a blood or breath test. But this violation did not prejudice appellant and is of no constitutional significance. The administration of a breath test would have been inconclusive because it would not have disclosed whether appellant was under the influence of drugs or a combination of drugs and alcohol. "[A] breath test ... only tests for alcohol content." ( People v. Pickard (2017)
*447The failure to give an advisement in compliance with the implied consent law does not mandate the suppression of the test result. As previously noted, evidence *806may be suppressed pursuant to section 1538.5 only if the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights were violated and suppression is mandated by the federal exclusionary rule. ( In re Lance W. , supra , 37 Cal.3d at p. 896,
Moreover, exclusion of the test result is prohibited by the "Truth-in-Evidence" provision of Article I, section 28, subdivision (f)(2) of the California Constitution. "By its plain terms, section 28 (d) [now section 28 (f)(2) ] requires the admission in criminal cases of all 'relevant' proffered evidence unless exclusion is allowed or required by an 'existing statutory rule of evidence relating to privilege or hearsay , or Evidence Code , [s]ections 352, 782 or 1103, ' or by new laws passed by two-thirds of each house of the Legislature. (Italics added.)" ( People v. Wheeler (1992)
We agree with the rule and rationale of Harris , supra ,
A New Variation on "Diminished Capacity"
Appellant claims that he was in a state of "diminished capacity" and therefore unable to freely and voluntarily consent to the blood draw.
The "diminished capacity" issue is forfeited because appellant failed to raise it below. ( People v. Williams , supra , 20 Cal.4th at pp. 130-131,
The evidence is insufficient to show that appellant was injured at all. Officer Redeker testified that he had been informed over the police radio "that there was a noninjury traffic collision." Appellant alleges that he was "required ... to be transported to the emergency room for treatment [of his injuries]." In fact, he was transported to the emergency room to have his blood drawn. There is no evidence that he was treated in the emergency room for injuries sustained during the collision.
Conclusion
The record of the section 1538.5 hearing contains ample evidence that appellant freely and voluntarily consented to a chemical test of his blood. He verbally agreed to a blood draw and signed a consent form *808that gave him the option of refusing consent. *449Disposition
The order denying appellant's motion to suppress is affirmed.
We concur:
PERREN, J.
TANGEMAN, J.
Unless otherwise stated, all statutory references are to the Vehicle Code.
The only reasonable inference is that the officer did so because he suspected that appellant had been driving under the influence of a drug or the combined influence of a drug and alcohol.
At oral argument before this court, appellant also claimed that 1) he should have been expressly advised that he could refuse to submit to a blood test, and 2) the officer's failure to so advise him renders his consent invalid because it was coerced. The implied consent law does not require such an express advisement. The law provides, "The [arrestee] shall be told that his or her failure to submit to, or the failure to complete, the required chemical testing will result" in specified consequences. (§ 23612, subd. (a)(1)(D).) "The defendant need not be advised of the right to refuse as a prerequisite to a finding of voluntariness. But if so advised, this fact supports that a search was in fact voluntary as a product of free choice and not coercion. [Citation.]" (People v. Mason (2016)
There is a suggestion in the record that Officer Redeker administered a preliminary alcohol screening test (P.A.S.) which showed a .00 blood alcohol level. We do not factor this into our analysis because this evidence was not admitted at the 1538.5 hearing. But this suggestion may explain why the officer did not comply with the letter of section 23612, subdivision (a)(2)(B).
This new variation is not to be confused with the "diminished capacity" that was, at one time, a rule that could reduce culpability for crime. (See, e.g. People v. Wells (1949)
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.